Village Halls Week 2022 set out to challenge England’s 10,000 + rural community buildings to do something different.

Connecting Communities in Berkshire (CCB), alongside national charity Action with Communities in Rural England (ACRE), launched Village Hall’s Week from the newly renovated and extended Victory Room in Bucklebury on Monday 24th January 2022. CCB’s President and undersecretary of state at the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA), The Right Honourable Lord Benyon, made a visit to meet the Trustees of the Victory Room and officially opened Village Halls Week.

#VillageHallsWeek is in its fifth year and took place from Monday 24th January to Sunday 30th January 2022. The week helped raise awareness of the contribution village halls make to rural communities as well as inspire volunteers who run them to get more creative and improve their offer to their community.

CCB is part of the ACRE Network, England’s largest rural grouping of community support charities that provide year-round support and advice to village halls.

Richard Quallington, Executive Director at ACRE welcomed everyone that attended the meeting in person and via an online live stream.

Richard said: ““This is the fifth year of Villages Halls Week; our campaign which aims to recognise the huge contributions village halls make to their local communities. The tens of thousands of volunteers who run them and the many services they offer deserve a special thank you this year. Many provided a lifeline during the pandemic and as society opens up again we are focusing this campaign on looking to the future – at innovation and encouraging village halls to do something different to benefit their community.”

Tim Parry, Chief Executive at CCB said it was an honour to hold the launch event in Berkshire; “Village Halls Week is a celebration of many things, but most importantly it draws attention to the dedication of the many hundreds of volunteers in West Berkshire who give their time free-of-charge to keep village halls open, safe and welcoming to the whole community. The event at the Victory Room, live-streamed to halls across England, launched Village Halls Week and our celebration of the many activities we attend at village halls and the hard work of everyone taking responsibility for our welfare while we are there. Activities at halls are a lifeline for many people, which is why CCB is dedicated to providing all the support that village hall management committees need to ensure they are always open and available to their community.”

John Brims, Chair of Trustees at Victory Room spoke about the importance of saving a hall that dated back to its first meeting on 7^th July 1920 and from the outset had a sense of being a hall for the community. With the renovation taking place he stressed the importance of continuing the life of the hall and thus ensuring that it would go on being an important resource to the local community. It is currently used by children, youths, sports events, wellbeing functions as well as key community events like quiz nights, wine tasting, and family fun days.

Kate Meads CCB’s Community Buildings Adviser said “We estimate that in Berkshire alone there are over 900 volunteer Trustees running Village Halls and Community Buildings in their spare time. These facilities are often the only community-owned assets in an area and may often be the last meeting place in a rural community. The hub holds a community together at times of celebration, crisis and for regular affordable recreation and social activities. CCB’s Community Buildings Advice Service supports Trustees with information, training, and guidance. It is an absolute pleasure to work with such community-spirited volunteers.”

Lord Benyon, Minister for Rural Affairs said:

“I was delighted to visit the Victory Room, Bucklebury, to mark the launch of Village Halls week – an initiative which celebrates the important role village halls play in bringing rural communities closer together.”

“Defra works alongside Action with Communities in Rural England and its network of councils, to support the growth and upkeep of these vital institutions for the communities they represent”.

If you were unable to join on the day but would like to view a recording of the event you can find them on the links below.

Link to Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ACREnational

Link to You Tube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUGcU7HyX2fe71sh5rW9n8Q

By Phillip Vincent, ACRE

Next week will see many of England’s 10,000+ rural community buildings posting pledges on social media as part of a popular national campaign.

Volunteers managing these important charitable community hubs are being encouraged to think outside of the box and consider what can be done to improve their operations for the benefit of local residents.

Action with Communities in Rural England (ACRE) which organises Village Halls Week – a one-of-a-kind annual celebration of halls and the contribution they make to rural communities – has published information to help groups get involved, including ‘pledge cards’ that can be downloaded, filled in and shared to Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Quite often village halls are the only meeting place in villages, offering a smorgasbord of social activities, events, and services – from pilates classes to mother and toddler groups, and farmers markets. At the same time, they support upwards of 50,000 people who are reliant on these spaces for business purposes*.

‘Innovating for the future’ is this year’s campaign theme. As Richard Quallington, Executive Director, at ACRE explains; “Village halls have been making a difference to rural communities for over 100 years. But change is inevitable, and the future is increasingly unpredictable. So, we want to help halls think about how they can respond to this challenge; whether that be extending their offer to residents, taking action on climate change or becoming more financially sustainable.”

VillageHallsWeek will be launched Monday 24 January at The Victory Room in Bucklebury, Berkshire with a headline speech by The Rt Hon Lord Benyon, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State and Minister for Rural Affairs – an event that will be livestreamed by ACRE.

The campaign is being supported by a range of different organisations, including the 38 members of the ACRE Network (of which CCB is Berkshire’s) who provide year-round advice and information to hall committees and corporate partners Norris & Fisher (Insurance Brokers) Ltd, Ansvar Insurance and Zurich.

Berkshire reading charity ABC to Read is launching a competition to encourage local youngsters to engage with climate change while inspiring and challenging their inner literary critic.

The competition, open to all children and primary schools across Berkshire, invites children to read a book about climate change and create a review to tell others why they should read it too.

Marcia Rowlinson, ABC to Read CEO, said: “Not only will this encourage more of our local children to read, it will also help them learn about critical issues that are relevant to them. Encouraging and offering opportunities to critique and discuss books lays the foundations for a generation who understand that reading, being informed and engaging passionately in global issues can create genuine and lasting change – and that they can be a part of it.”

ABC to Read volunteers invest an average of 12,000 hours each year into improving not only children’s reading ability but their enjoyment of the pastime as well as their general attitudes and confidence. This competition is aimed to boost both.

If children haven’t already read any books on the topic, they are being encouraged to do so with many wonderful books about forests, human activity and more being recommended. ‘Be a Book Critic for a Day’ will open during Storytelling Week and will close at the end of World Book Day in March.

Prizes on offer include a whole class video chat and/or school visit with local poet AF Harrold, donations to winners’ school libraries as well as individual book vouchers, kindly donated by Fourbears Bookshop in Caversham and climate change themed books  donated by ABC to Read.

For T&Cs and entry requirements, please visit the website: www.abctoread.org.uk

With increasing numbers of children who need catch-up support as schools have re-opened, ABC to read are actively looking for up to 40 new volunteers to join them in helping local children develop their literacy and confidence.

Schools that are in need of additional reading support are also being actively encouraged to sign up for ABC to read mentors.  For more information about training days or joining the scheme as a school or volunteer mentor, contact info@abctoread.og.uk