News

NAVACH produces a newsletter for members every other month which contains updates on legislation and funding, and general advice for village hall management committees. This news section contains only a precis of news items related to NAVACH and news from halls in Nottinghamshire.

NAVACH News

Fragile future for village halls

Use of England’s rural community-owned buildings has trebled since 1988, according to the research undertaken in ACRE’s 2009 national survey of rural community buildings. The key findings celebrate the success of volunteers and the buildings they manage in supporting local action and service delivery.

The 9,000 halls represent the largest network of community-owned facilities in the country with a total asset value of over £3 billion. They are a crucial but largely hidden aspect of community empowerment, and many have proved ‘hard to reach’ in efforts to support their sustainability. Although there are significant success stories to tell, the future for most is quite fragile.

The survey responses from 2,355 rural community buildings shows that volunteers contributed 18.5 hours per week on average to run their halls and that this volunteer support was the most significant factor in whether the halls were able to sustain themselves financially. Only 3% of halls received regular funding from their local authority. The remainder generating their income through hire charges, services and fundraising support from the local community and parish councils.

The survey also includes feedback on the valuable support service provided by the Rural Community Action Network to volunteers managing the halls; 83% of hall committees seeking their advice had rated it good or excellent.

ACRE’s Chief Executive, Sylvia Brown said: “We need national and local policy makers and funders to appreciate that the work of managing and financing this vast network of community facilities falls almost entirely to local volunteers, not to local authorities. The traditional village hall still underpins much of community life in rural areas. The research demonstrates its role in supporting local democratic participation and in helping those most in need because of lack of transport with which to access more distant services”.

“The Rural Community Action Network already recognises the incremental burden of increasing regulation and taxation that falls on local volunteers when few halls have any paid management staff to support their work. The data from the survey shows just how many of the 9,000 halls need appropriate external advice and support if they are to remain viable. Whilst public policy is focused on transferring new assets to communities, we are now very concerned to raise awareness of existing community owned assets that perform such a crucial role for local people”.

ACRE’s Village Hall Information Officer, Deborah Clarke concluded: “As a result of this survey, we have made 10 recommendations which we believe could make a huge difference to volunteers and the future of these community assets which have significant value in both financial terms and the outcomes they produce for communities” .

Click here to download the full report.

NAVACH AGM

The NAVACH AGM was held at County Hall on 14th October 2009. Full minutes are available to download from the members' page of the website, but the key points to note were as follows:

NAVACH had 98 members in 2009. A good number, but we need you to spread the good word as ultimately the more members, the more income, which means we can provide a wider range of services for you. The target for 2010 is to break the 100 mark!

The 2010 membership fee will remain at £25 but visits from the village halls advisor will be limited to 7 hours plus travelling time. This should not pose a problem for most of you but it is something of which to be mindful. This does not affect telephone and e-mail advice which will still be available as much as needed.

Jeffrey Keays has joined the NAVACH professional services team as Historic Buildings Advisor: great news for all the halls with old (particularly listed) buildings.

Best Run Village Hall Competition 2009

Headon-cum-Upton Village Hall in Bassetlaw has been crowned Nottinghamshire’s Best Run Village Hall 2009. After a tense wait, the results were announced at the Nottinghamshire Association of Village and Community Halls’ AGM on 14th October 2009. Hosted at County Hall, the event recognised the hard work of volunteer village hall management committees and promoted good practice.

Car Colston and Screveton Village Hall in Rushcliffe was the County Runner Up – losing out on first place by only half a mark! Prizes were also awarded to district winners and runners up:

Bassetlaw: Winner, Headon cum Upton Village Hall; Runner Up, Beckingham cum Saundby Village Hall

Broxtowe: Winner: Trowell Parish Hall; Runner Up, Beeston Girlguiding HQ

Gedling: Winner: Papplewick and Linby Village Hall; Runner Up, Woodborough Village Hall

Newark and Sherwood: Winner, Edwinstowe Village Hall; Runner Up, Boughton Village Hall

Rushcliffe: Winner, Car Colston and Screveton Village Hall; Runner Up, Whatton Jubilee Hall

Hall committees commented on the useful advice, support and feedback they received from the process. They also had fun, assessing how they measured up against other halls in Nottinghamshire. As spokesperson for Headon-cum-Upton Village Hall, Janet Landon, enthused:

“Our Committee has worked hard to transform a 19th century building with few facilities into a modern and well-equipped village hall which is truly the centre of our small community. We think we do a good job in managing the hall and decided to put this to the test by entering this competition. Needless to say we, and indeed our whole village, are delighted to have been judged the Best Run Village Hall in Nottinghamshire”.

The competition was supported by Rural Community Action Nottinghamshire with sponsorship from:

Nottinghamshire County Council

Bassetlaw District Council

Broxtowe Borough Council

Gedling Borough Council

Rushcliffe Borough Council

Newark and Sherwood District Council

Churches Purchasing Scheme: quality and value for money on a wide range of furnishings and supplies for churches, village halls, schools and play groups, social clubs and other community organisations

Wilkinson: everyday essentials and home decoration items at affordable prices

Thanks go to all our sponsors and all the entrants, without whom the competition would not have been possible.

So that all halls can learn from the entrants, a top tips guide has been produced following the close of the competition. This is available to download here.

The next competition is likely to run in 2012 with 2011 acting as a preparatory year for halls to get their house in order. We would very much like to see more entrants, especially from those halls with new committees and those who would like some additional guidance as to how to make the mark! If you’d like to get ahead of the game, why not order our Guidelines and Best Practice to Managing Your Community Building via the publication order form in the members’ area.

Hall News

Hoveringham Village Hall

Hoveringham Village Hall has a long history: the original church hall was built in 1845 as a schoolroom and in 1908 a Men’s Institute was built at the side of the schoolroom. The Church found the burden of maintenance of the two rooms too great, offered the Parish Council a lease, and a committee was formed to manage the use of the building.

In 2006 it became apparent that the hall was in need of major work: the 1960s lightweight roof held together only by the ceiling underneath needed urgent replacement, the floors of the two rooms were of different heights and the building unfriendly to the disabled. The hall has been completely refurbished as an emergency flood refuge and community hall at a cost of over £350,000.

To book the hall contact Sarah Allwood on 0115 966 3231.

St John the Baptist, Bilborough: Flushed with success!!

St John the Baptist, Graylands Road Bilborough has successfully secured funding for DDA adaptations to their social centre. The works include a new ramp to the front door along with a brand new toilet facility for the disabled.

These valuable adaptations have been generously funded through 100% grants. £5,000 for the toilet adaptation has been donated by the One Nottingham Grant Scheme along with the Nottingham Community Foundation. £2,500 has been given by the Nottingham City Disability Access Fund. Thanks are extended to those who have provided the funding organisations for their generosity without which the work could not have gone ahead.

The work has been carried out to a very high standard by GPS Construction (Nottingham) Ltd. Adam Smith instructed his team of skilful workers who only took 10 days to complete the whole project. The adaptations mean that the centre is fully compliant to DDA regulations and has opened up the use of the centre to the whole community.

To book the hall contact Sheila Hayward: 0115 9196017.

North Muskham Rural Community Centre

North Muskham Rural Community Centre, opened in November with a blessing from the local vicar, it is a totally new build encompassing a main hall, small hall and meeting room, along with changing facilities for the adjacent sports field.

At a cost of over £600,000, the new hall is a vast improvement on the old wooden hut and will better serve the needs of the numerous village groups which use the building: out of school club, parish council, luncheon club, playgroup, parents and toddlers, brownies, bowls, karate club, history group, private functions and many more.

The new building seeks to reduce its environmental impact with rainwater harvesting and an air source heat pump.

To book the hall, contact Joan Sincliar: 0779297 0841; jag65sinc@hotmail.co.uk

Gotham Memorial Hall

Gotham Memorial Hall houses a local health centre and library as well as providing much needed space for community activities.

A significant refurbishment at a cost of £180,000 has re-distributed the existing floor space of the large and under-used old youth club annexe, to provide an imposing new entrance and reception area, a new kitchen and three new multi-use rooms which will accommodate a resource/educational area and part-time library, a medium sized meeting room doubling as a community café, and a further room for indoor sports/keep fit. The refurbishment has freed space for expansion of the doctors’ surgery which is due to be completed by Spring next year.

Grants, donations and fundraising efforts provided sufficient money for the majority of the work, but the remaining £20,000 was sourced from ACRE’s Village Hall Loan scheme: providing low interest rate loans to community buildings to ensure projects keep moving.

To book the hall, contact Sharon Bevin: 0115 9831533.

Bleasby Village Hall

Bleasby Village Hall has been extremely fortunate to have received three grants during 2009 and as a result now have a warm, comfortable and welcoming hall for the many groups who use the building regularly. It will also mean that they have more to offer to others looking for a venue.

Thanks to a grant of £10,000 from Awards for All, the kitchen in the hall has been completely refurbished and everyone is delighted with all the new fixtures and fittings. A new hot water boiler has been much appreciated and now making tea and coffee is so efficient and quick! There is more cupboard space, as well as a new cooker and fridge. The grant also enabled the fitting of a new window and back door which has added greatly to the improved look of the kitchen. Since the completion of the work, there have been two coffee mornings and a Scrabble afternoon, as well as all the regular bookings; everyone has commented on what a difference the new facilities have made.

A further £10,500 was awarded by WREN, to which Bleasby Parish Council generously added a further £500. This money covered the replacement of the rest of the windows and a new suspended ceiling with loft insulation which will make a huge difference to the running costs.

Finally, £5,000 was received from Grassroots Grants, administered by the Nottinghamshire Community Foundation, which enabled the purchase of new tables and chairs for the hall.

The management committee would like to extend thanks to all those who helped make the project a success, not only the funders, but also the local contractors, too many to name, but you know who you are!

To book the hall, contact Dorothy Elmer on 01636 830691.

Treswell: Work starts on new build village hall

A long held dream for the residents of Treswell is about to be realised, with a start to building a brand new village hall for the community.

A number of hard years’ work fundraising and producing detailed plans and proposals has finally come to an end. All the necessary funding has now been secured, all the relevant planning and building control approvals received and a contractor has been appointed.

Hillsden Construction Ltd of Sheffield are about to start work on the £341,000 project which is being funded with major grant support from the BIG Lottery Community Buildings fund (£275,000), the Waste Recycling Environmental Landfill Community Fund (£50,000), Wilkinson Stores (£5,500), with the remaining funding has being made up from local fundraising events and activities.

If all goes to plan the new hall should be completed and ready for use in March 2010.

Albert Light, the committee’s treasurer and project leader said “a new hall has been a long held dream for the villagers, who have worked extremely hard to raise a lot of money towards the project. We have done well to compete for the funding against hundreds of other village halls across the county”.

The new hall will also be good for the environment, as the latest under floor heating systems will be installed in conjunction with a ground source heat pump, which will take advantage of natural heat obtained from deep bore holes in the ground, to save on energy use and costs. Grant funding has also been secured from the Government’s Low Carbon Building Programme to support the cost of the new installation.