£1.4m community hub to bring major boosts to Wiltshire village
Queen Camilla officially opened the building on Tuesday
Last updated 29th Oct 2025
The opening of a new £1.4 million Community centre in Bromham is going to bring major benefits to the village, people living there have told us.
The newly built Bromham Community Hub (BCH) was officially opened on Tuesday (28/10) by Queen Camilla, during a Royal Visit to Wiltshire.
The hub replaces the old social centre, which burnt down in a blaze in 2021, leaving groups across the community using a temporary classroom to host their meetings.
Chair of Trustee's at BCH, Sue Wilkinson, told us it meant a lot that the Queen took the time to come and open the building: "We've had to overcome a number of obstacles, not least time and money, and to have actually achieved this is something remarkable and to have that endorsed by Her Majesty is absolutely perfect."
Now that the site is officially back in use, Sue told us community groups now have a "purpose-built facility".
"It can deal with all sorts of different activities," she said. "We're hoping to host birthday parties, wedding receptions, wakes, all the things that you need in a village."
With the building having audio-visual and staging provision, there is also the hope of hosting corporate events to bring in extra money, which would help discount rates for community groups.
Sue added: "There is a business plan in place so that we hopefully will become self-sustaining very quickly."
Overcoming challenges to deliver "immense" boost
The project had been handed £300,000 in grant funding from the Community Ownership Fund that needed to spent within a year, but once the plans came back, the costs far exceeded that total.
Sue said: "We had to use every means at our disposal to pull the money together and in the end the people of Bromham endorsed the project to the extent that they agreed a raise in their council tax to pay for a grant that we were able to get from the parish council."
But still that wasn't quite enough, and an application was made to the National Lottery Community Fund for extra backing, which resulted in an additional £150,000 being granted.
However, this wasn't the only source of funding, with local people taking to land and air to boost the money pot.
Sally Price wing-walked for her 80th birthday to raise £1,500 for the project.
"We were out for a meal and my family said 'what would you like for your birthday?' and I said I'd like a wing walk," she said. After explaining to her family what it was, Sally took to the skies to support the Community Hub project.
Sally told us the building is "amazing" and said the new café was already so popular that they'd run out of bacon sandwiches when she visited the site on the weekend before the official opening.
Phil Dyke, who is part of the Wednesday Club in Bromham, also helped raise tens of thousands of pounds by cycling from Newcastle to Bromham.
He took on the challenge in memory of his friend, Craig Dalby, who was a former Wiltshire Police officer and was part of the Queen's royal protection team in the county before she became Queen.
He passed away earlier this year and Camilla helped plant a tree at the hub in his memory.
Phil said he'd done several cycling challenges alongside Craig and this was a fitting way to honour his friend, while also raising cash to support the project.
However, that wasn't the only way he aided the project, as the money raised was spent on materials for the landscaping around the new Hub, which Phil also helped install, with the help of other members of the Wednesday Club.
Speaking on how the new centre will boost the community, he said: "This has enhanced what we had before.
"The café is going to be a great asset to the village, young and old can use it whenever they want and it's a great meeting point for especially people living on their own and things like that.
"It's going to benefit the community immensely here."
Artist's "honour" at meeting Her Majesty
During her visit to Bromham to open the Community Hub, Queen Camilla was presented with two drawings of her dogs.
One featured her Jack Russell Terriers Beth and Bluebell, whom Camilla adopted from Battersea Dogs and Cats Home.
Sadly, Beth passed away in 2024 with an untreatable tumour, though the Queen returned to the rehoming team at Battersea to adopt another pup, called Moley.
Hannah Hurst was commissioned to draw the portraits of the Queen's dogs, and told us about the honour of meeting Her Majesty.
"Being asked to draw some really close personal animals of Her Majesty is a real honour," she said. "I just feel very privileged that I was able to not only capture her three beloved pets, but actually present her with them after I've drawn them."
It's not the first time Hannah has been asked to produce work for Camiila, having created a piece of Beth and Bluebell last year where they were wearing the Royal pearls and beads.
Hannah added that she felt a bit of pressure to get the drawings right, but said: "I think I feel the pressure whoever I'm drawing for."
She took four months to ensure the work was up to the standard she wanted it to reach, and described Her Majesty's reaction as "very humane".
The artist added that she was "very honoured" to be part of such a special occasion for the Bromham community.