VILLAGE HALLS

A warm, comfortable and safe public meeting place is essential to community life. Most village halls and community centres are run by a committee of volunteers. The fund raising and legal requirements can make this a daunting task, especially in small villages. The Community Council offers a comprehensive advice and information service for management committees. Help is available on any topic: building a new hall, improvements and extensions, licences and legal aspects, VAT, insurance, fundraising, grant-aid, constitution of the committee, or new activities in the hall. There are a lot of excellent halls in Northumberland and Community Action can help people to learn from the experience of others.

Since 1997 Alan Hedley has been the dedicated Village Halls Adviser (VHA) as part of his wider remit as an Assistant Director. Based in our Morpeth office the VHA has, in conjunction with CCN’s Community Development Officers, responded to queries covering a wide range of topics. Advice has been given on many issues including planning a refurbishment or new build project, insurance, licences, constitutions, VAT, legal aspects, hiring charges, employing staff and lastly (but certainly not least) grants available and fund raising generally.

The term village hall is used generically to cover all community buildings in Northumberland. There are around 180 “true” village halls whose trust deed identifies them as being facilities provided specifically for multi user groups with each of the user groups having a representative on the management committee of the hall. There are almost as many community buildings such as Women’s Institute halls, church halls, scout huts, recreational pavilions, day centres and community centres which have initially been set up to serve a single specific user group but many of which now open their doors to a wider community. Such buildings also fall within the remit of the village halls advice service, whether in urban or rural areas.