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Village Hall Support

What we offer

The Village Halls team provide a free email and telephone advisory service on all aspects of hall management and we can assist with:

• Publications and advice 
• Problems with buildings
• Constitution of Management Committees
• Licensing
• Hire charges
• Widening the use of buildings
• Insurance
• Fund Raising
• Loans
• Legal advice
• Grant aid applications

We also administer the Hallmark Quality Award Scheme which is quality standard scheme for Village Halls which has 3 levels.

Why support Village Halls?

A Village Hall can be the most valuable asset of any community. A properly maintained building of adequate size, well kept and well managed, can provide facilities for social, educational and recreational activities for all ages.

In East and West Sussex there are some 309 Village Halls, most of which are charities run by volunteers. The Village Hall service, which operates across Sussex, provides advice and support on a wide range of issues to ensure that those tasked with managing Village Halls have up to date advice and information. We assisit Village Hall Committees to make sure that these vital community facilities are well kept and correctly managed for the community in which they sit.

In addition to complying with the standard Charity Commission regulations Village Hall Management Committees also have to keep up to date and deal with a multitude of ever changing legislation such as, premises licences, health and hygiene regulations.

Village Hall Management Committees are responsible for ensuring that the building is, and continues to be, appropriate for the communities needs. This may mean that the management committee is periodically involved with re assessing what they offer. This can ultimately result in anything from small refurbishments through to large scale new building projects. The village halls service can help with all these areas.

Some examples of support we have given recently include:

• Advice to halls in dispute with local landowners or parish councils e.g. over rights of way and leases;
• Advice to trustees suspecting possible fraud; 
• Advice over problems with recruitment of trustees, incorporation and liability issues;
• Advice over possible development of hall sites in relation to local planning/housing proposals and Charity Commission requirements;
• Advice about legal structures, understanding their deeds and role of trustees.

What does membership of AirS provide for Village Halls?

“To help you keep in touch with other committees and news such as funding or legislation which affects Community Halls  AirS offers a membership scheme, currently £50 p.a. This is available to organisations running all types of community halls (including village and parish halls, church and faith halls, community centres, scout halls etc.) and offers members:

• A quarterly Village Hall Mailing specifically for community halls (eg legislative and funding changes)
• Invitations to networking workshops and similar events at a reduced fee, where members can meet other committees, hear speakers, ask questions and exchange ideas.
• Single copies of ACRE Village Halls Information Sheets free of charge by email and, in some cases, by post. There are 38 sheets in this series and 8 AirS Topic Notes. Charges normally range from £2 upwards.
• Access to a network of in depth support provided by AirS Advisory staff and the Sussex Village Halls
• Advisory Group who give generously of their experience.
• Occasional Email bulletins with items of short deadline interest.
• Membership of AirS provides membership of the National Village Halls Forum, the national grassroots representative body taking up issues affecting community halls. (Individual membership costs £10 per hall). 

Halls which are not members of AirS may access limited advice via the Helpline or Email, purchase publications and attend workshops (at a higher charge), 

In West Sussex advisory visits can be made, where necessary, to meet committees to help resolve issues, discuss improving the role of the hall in delivering services or activities which improve health and wellbeing or plan improvement works, thanks to funding from West Sussex County Council. For a charge of £300, an energy efficiency survey and report can be carried out. In East Sussex, owing to funding constraints, visits can only be arranged for a charge and we are currently unable to offer energy efficiency surveys.

For more information, please contact:

Louise Beaton, Senior Village Hall Advisor (West Sussex)

Tel: (01243) 544366 E-mail: louise.beaton@ruralsussex.org.uk

Barbara Beaton, Village Hall Advisor (East Sussex)

Tel: (01424) 893698 Email: barbara.beaton@ruralsussex.org.uk   

Wider Support Networks

The Sussex Village Halls Advisory Group

The village halls service is supported by the Sussex Village Halls Advisory Group. This was established in 2004 to represent and help advise halls. The Group assists with planning, running and contributing to the village halls workshops and conferences and lobbies for improvements in legislation to help village halls. Click here for the Sussex Village Halls Advisory Group contact details.

Groombridge Village Hall Manual

Groombridge Village Hall have prepared a hardback file and CD Rom, which is a Manual of their Operating Procedures, Rules and Governance. This was prepared by Warren Rainforth, the former Treasurer, before he retired to ensure a smooth handover of responsibilities as trustees change and to provide users with information about the hall. A full copy is kept at the hall, each trustees has a CD Rom version and a shortened version is available at the hall for hirers. Hallmark visitors were so impressed they asked for a copy of the contents page - please click here to view

ACRE Village Hall Network

Action in rural Sussex Village Halls Advisory Service is part of a national advisory network for community buildings provided by Action with Communities in Rural England and its member Rural Community Councils. 

We provide publications and information sheets published by ACRE for community buildings.  Click here for a list and prices.  Information Sheets are free to halls that are members of AirS if sent by email or on receipt of an SAE.  Contact Nicola Dudley for copies:  Tel: 01273 407301  Email: nicola.dudley@ruralsussex.org.uk 

AirS also provides a number of Topic Notes for village halls in Sussex and briefings provided by ACRE on issues of current interest.  A list of the Topic Notes and Briefing Papers is shown below.  Please contact Nicola Dudley for copies.  For details of contacts elsewhere in the country please visit the village halls page on the ACRE website.

AirS Village Hall Topic Notes

• Village Hall and Childcare - making it work.
• AirS Topic Note 2 - Renovating or Re-Building our Village Hall - where do we start?
• Village Hall Sustainability - Financial Managment and Planning for Village Halls.

ACRE Village Hall Briefings 

• Serving your community well - an exploration of how community halls and the organisations that run them can become more effective at serving the needs of all their residents (ACRE 2004)
• Consultation on proposed changes to payment of royalties for use of copyright music by charitable and voluntary organisations - a summary and implications for community buildings (July 2008).
• Water charges for village halls (August 2008).
• Waste and Village Halls (Augus 2008).
• Charity Commission and Office of the Third Sector Consultation on the new corporate form for charities, the Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) (November 2008)
• Licensing Act 2003 The Legislative Reform (Supervision of Alcohol Sales in Church and Village Halls) Order 2009.
• Display Energy Certificates, Energy Performance Certificates and Community Buildings (March 2009).

Parishes that received this service in 2007/08: