Have you heard about our 21st Century Community Halls project?

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We’re one year into our five-year project – do you know what makes a 21st Century Community Hall?

We’ve just completed year one of our five-year 21st Century Community Halls project and boy has it been a busy one! So far 38 of our 80 member halls have been visited for a face-to-face audit with many lined up for visits in early 2024. Over the next four years we will also be reaching out to volunteers who run rural halls not in our network to better understand their needs and engage them in this project.

So what is a ’21st Century Community Hall’ – find out by watching the video above with great examples of how we define one and what makes a good one.

Want to find out more?

We’re running a 21st Century Community Halls Conference on Thursday 25th January 2024. This will provide a fantastic opportunity for you to network with and share issues/solutions with other trustees and individuals who run halls from across Berkshire. In the afternoon we will be looking at how our community buildings can proactively work towards a low-carbon future. Learn how to calculate both financial and carbon savings by making environmental improvements/changes. Book your place below;

NB – Any non-member halls that book and later sign up for Community Buildings Advice Service Membership will have the cost of a ticket taken off their annual membership fee.

Register on Eventbrite

NEW PROJECT: Rural Hubs – Village Halls for the 21st Century

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Today (03/10/2022), we launch an exciting new project thanks to funding from The National Lottery Community Fund (5 years) and The Princes Countryside Fund (1 year.)

This project will support Village Halls across Berkshire through a process of transformation, so they can meet the needs of their communities for the next 100 years.

Village halls come in all shapes and sizes. They represent a living history of community ambition to create spaces where people can meet. They are snapshots in time, reflecting the materials, technology and needs of the community at the time of their creation.

Rural communities rely on their village halls for many things: social events, fitness classes, pre-schools, clubs, polling booths and much more. They are the heart of the community and are run by unpaid, dedicated local people. It can be really hard work, complying with legislation and red tape while running and maintaining often aging buildings that don’t meet the needs of the 21st Century.

This project will enable us to help village hall trustees to identify where they need to make changes to improve their venues, e.g. offering free Wi-Fi, improving insulation, upgrading heating systems, improving accessibility etc. Our role is to support hall volunteers to prioritise the changes they want to make, implement their plans and help them access funding for their upgrades.

As a result of this project, people in rural communities will have access to improved community halls that are warmer, more welcoming, inclusive and vibrant. Rural isolation and loneliness will be reduced and a sense of community enhanced.

Supporting village halls has been at the heart of CCB’s work since the charity was formed nearly 50 years ago. We work closely with the other 38 charities in the ACRE Network to ensure that every village hall in England can access appropriate advice and guidance. 

To find out more about our work and this significant new project, please visit the webpage: https://ccberks.org.uk/our-projects/rural-hubs-village-halls-fit-for-the-21st-century/

News from ACRE: Village Halls to remain closed until 17th May

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CCB’s national body, Action with Communities in Rural England (ACRE) has issued new information to help village halls make sense of the latest announcements about the lifting of national lockdown restrictions.

Contrary to the government’s announcement on 22 February, village halls will not be able to reopen after Easter, except for a small number of permitted activities.

England’s 10,000+ rural community buildings will instead have to wait until 17 May before they can be hired out for many functions including exercise classes, coffee mornings, performances and celebrations.

Information issued by ACRE is informed by government guidance published 25 February which sits at odds with earlier ministerial statements.

Deborah Clarke, ACRE’s Rural Evidence and Village Halls Manager explained: “We hope the information we have published today will help to clarify the situation for the army of volunteers who manage England’s village halls. Many will no doubt be disappointed they cannot reopen after the Easter break, despite what the Prime Minister previously indicated. This may be a blessing in disguise however as they now have more time to prepare for resuming activities in the summer when it is safe to do so.”

The update, should be read alongside previous advice and information issued by the charity which provided a detailed commentary on how village halls could previously reopen following the government’s Covid Secure rules.

The update can be found here: https://acre.org.uk/cms/resources/press-releases//coronavirus-update-for-village-community-halls-8.3.21-1.pdf

If you are community building or village hall in Berkshire please visit our Community Buildings Advice service webpage to find out more about our membership service and how we can help you.