VILLAGERS hope younger people might be more eager to help run their century-old hall under changes removing their legal liability.

Volunteers who look after South Hinksey village hall have bid to make themselves a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO). Under this new kind of legal status, created in 2013, trustees are not legally liable for the financial assets or losses of their charity.

One of the four current trustees, Peter Rawcliffe, said they had struggled to attract new members because people worried they would be liable.

He said: “We actually know some people in the village who would like to be trustees, but decided not to because they would be personally liable.

“It has stopped people coming forward, and we need younger people coming in – the average age of trustees is getting on a bit.

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“This new CIO status limits trustees’ liability, so if something goes wrong, you won’t lose out yourself.”

The hall, in Manor Road, South Hinksey, was built in 1914 as a Baptist chapel, and villagers last year threw a party to celebrate its centenary.

In the 1940s, residents raised the money to buy the chapel and make it their own.

It now hosts the September village fete, Halloween and Christmas parties and South Hinksey Parish Council meetings.

Last year the trustees raised £10,000 to give the hall its first refurbishment in a decade.

While the walls were being given a new lick of paint and new, energy-efficient lights were installed, builders discovered a hidden stained-glass window.

A false ceiling had been hiding the colourful feature, so the trustees decided to carve around it and the window now illuminates the hall on sunny days.

Trustee Linda Slater said there had never been a better time to join the trustees and help care for the village asset.

The retired English teacher said: “We have done all the work. With the beautiful window we uncovered it is very light and warm. It’s a very active hall, but we need more people.

“There are four of us and we’re all much the same sort of age and we need younger members.”

She said the village hall was one of the few hubs the community of South Hinksey, including Hinksey Hill on the other side of the A34, could share.

She said: “We feel a sense of responsibility, trying to foster community spirit. South Hinksey suffers from being split in half by the A34, so the village hall has to be attractive enough for people to come into the village.”

The group of trustees is completed by Mr Rawcliffe’s wife Maggie, chairman of South Hinksey Parish Council, and villager Ann Allsworth.

After the new status is approved the trustees will meet on average every two months.