The Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations is the membership organisation for Scotland's charities, voluntary organisations and social enterprises. Charity registered in Scotland SC003558. Registered office Caledonian Exchange, 19A Canning Street, Edinburgh EH3 8EG.
Creating community: village halls & community spaces conference
On Wednesday 27 May 2026, we held a conference aimed at those running village and community halls across Scotland. Delegates joined us at The Pyramid in Anderston to connect, share ideas, and inspire each other.
Village halls are often the heart of a community; places for people to gather, learn, access services and have fun. This one-day conference allowed people running village and community halls across Scotland to do the same – to connect, share ideas, and inspire each other.
On this page you'll find details on:
Event hosts and partners
The event was hosted by SCVO. Support for this conference was generously provided by Scottish Rural Network, Keegan & Pennykid, and Utility Aid.
Agenda
Please see the agenda for the day below as well as slides from some of the sessions. All the photos from the day are available here.
| Session | Title | Description | Speaker |
| Understanding Village Halls: Insights, trends and current issues | This session shared key insights on the size, structure and financial health of village halls in Scotland, alongside the latest research evidence on the challenges they face - from rising costs to volunteer and staffing pressures. Please see the slides from the session here. | Ilse Mackinnon | |
| Roundtables | Energy market insights and avoid unnecessary risk | This session covered key insights into current energy market trends, including the impact of geopolitical developments on energy costs, along with a forward-looking perspective on pricing. The discussion explored optimal timing for contract renewals, practical strategies to mitigate unnecessary risk, and the potential benefits of collective purchasing for your organisation. | Emily Berry |
| How to boost your organisation’s digital capability | Scotland’s voluntary sector is operating in a world where digital and technology are no longer optional, specialist, or “back-office” concerns. Used well, digital and technology can make charities more effective, resilient and responsive, enabling better outcomes for people without increasing costs. In this interactive session, we used SCVO’s brand new digital call to action, ‘AI and Everything Else’ to help you work out where your digital capability is today – and where you should go next. We worked in small groups to reflect on your digital progress and share ideas to help you start shaping your digital roadmap. Please see slides here. | John Fitzgerald | |
| Grow your climate confidence - ClimatACTical | This interactive roundtable used gameplay to explore real world climate decision making. Participants discovered how climate choices can shape organisational strategy and the future of community spaces and leave with greater confidence to support meaningful local action. | Chiara Fingland | |
| Motivating young people and new volunteers to get involved | This roundtable explored how volunteering can be made more accessible and inclusive for a diverse range of people. It draws on recent research into volunteer motivations and explores real-life examples of what effective engagement looks like. The session highlighted practical, intersectional approaches to improving volunteer experiences, with participants leaving with actionable ideas to better attract, include and retain young and new volunteers. | Erin Burke & Sara Cook | |
| Community asset transfers and looking after community buildings | This session explored the different options available to community organisations who want to take assets into community ownership (including negotiated sale, Community Right to Buy and Asset Transfer under the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015); and how to sustain them once they are in community ownership. | Claire Martin | |
| Diversifying your space for greater impact and income | How flexible, multi-use spaces can unlock new income streams and greater community impact, with lessons and ideas from across the Connected Hubs Scotland network. | Helen Denny | |
| Insurance need not be challenging, but often is… | Key discussion points included which cover types are typical for village halls and community spaces. Mandatory insurance should not be overlooked and the benefit of contacting a broker would be getting widest choice of Insurers to provide the cover you need. | Garry Dalton | |
| Trustee recruitment | It’s a tricky time to try and find trustees! We discussed some of the challenges we’ve had in recruiting trustees, and explored practical ways to improve our reach, make being a trustee sound appealing, and attract a wider range of candidates to our boards. | Karin Gallacher | |
| Funding, income and Community Wealth Building | This roundtable focused on fundraising and income generation for community spaces, sharing ideas and discussing what’s worked, what hasn’t, and the challenges groups are facing, as well as ways to overcome these. We also looked briefly at how community wealth building ideas can support longer term sustainability. | Kirsty Young | |
| Cosy on clean energy: an introduction to heat pumps and solar PV | A practical guide to planning a renewable project for your community building. We covered key technologies, common challenges, how to avoid costly mistakes, and how CARES funding can help. | Carmen Lean | |
| Connection and community: tackling loneliness and growing involvement | Village halls and community spaces are often the heart of a community. Polmont Community Hub is proof of how embracing a decarbonization program can transform a community into a healthier and happier space. Participants learned how to revitalise their community through shared space, all while investing in financial and environmental sustainability. | Kenny Alexander | |
| Welcoming people in: creative thinking for marketing and events | This session offered practical hints and tips on how to attract and welcome new people into community spaces — and keep them coming back. We explored creative ways to market events and activities, reframe existing offers, and shared ideas for increasing participation and local engagement. Please see resources here. | Dan Brown | |
| Avoiding crisis: practical methods to build organisational resilience | Insight into practical tools to monitor key indicators and maintain a clear view of your organisation’s health. Participants learnt when to act, how to respond early, and what to do if you find yourself in crisis | Jo Slater | |
| Uist Beò case study | Go for a machair run. Join for quiz night. Drop into an art workshop. Help a neighbour. Take your places for Strip the Willow… there’s always something happening somewhere in Uist and community spaces are often at its heart! This session shared some of the achievements and challenges for Uist Beò, a digital platform which uses the tradition of storytelling to connect islanders with opportunities and events on their doorstep. | Tara Drummie | |
Meet the speakers
Anna Fowlie - SCVO
Anna joined SCVO as Chief Executive in April 2018. Before that, she was Chief Executive of the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) for nearly 9 years. The SSSC is the professional regulator for social workers and people working in adult and children's social care.
Anna was on the board of Who Cares? Scotland for 8 years, and joined the Oversight Board for The Promise. She is on the board of Dads Rock, and of Prosper (formerly Scottish Council for Development and Industry). She has a degree in History of Art from Edinburgh University, a postgraduate qualification in Human Resources and is a Chartered Member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).
Carmen Lean - Community Energy Scotland
Carmen is a Community Energy Officer at Community Energy Scotland, a national charity supporting community groups with renewable energy projects. Previously at Loco Home Retrofit CIC, she retrofitted her own 1870s home and knows first-hand many of the difficulties and rewards of making an old building cosy on clean energy.
Chiara Fingland - SCVO
Chiara is an experienced Architect and artist with a broad background spanning the private, public, and third sectors. At SCVO, in her current role as a Climate Development Officer she supports the Growing Climate Confidence project, which helps the third sector take climate action and build resilience.
Claire Martin - Community Ownership Support Service (COSS)
Claire Martin is a Churches Advisor for the New Futures: Former Places of Worship programme, delivered by the Community Ownership Support Service at the Development Trusts Association Scotland, where she supports community organisations who are interested in taking former places of worship into community ownership. She has previously worked as a Scottish Land Fund Adviser, and as a consultant for social enterprise Community Enterprise, where she supported community organisations taking ownership of assets, as well as managing a Health and Wellbeing Hub for Sussex Community Development Association.
Dan Brown - Creative Lives
Dan Brown has over 20 years experience working across culture and creativity in both community and commercial settings. Dan is Place Director for Creative Lives, a charity supporting everyday creativity across the UK & Ireland.
Emily Berry - Utility Aid
Emily is passionate about supporting organisations to save time and money on their energy provision. In her current role as Partnerships Director, she has the pleasure of working with over seventy member associations who share our key values. In her opinion, collaboration is key to achieving a sustainable future.
Erin Burke - Make Your Mark in Volunteering
Erin (they/them) is the Campaign Coordinator of Make Your Mark, a campaign to increase the number and diversity of heritage volunteers in Scotland. Erin is an activist heritage professional who specialises in making Scotland's places, spaces and stories more inclusive for everyone.
Garry Dalton - Keegan & Pennykid
Garry is an Account Executive at Keegan & Pennykid who are Independent Insurance Brokers specialising in charity and not-for-profit organisations. A career that started in underwriting before moving to broking, now spans well over three decades and involves directly advising on insurance risk exposures and suitable insurance cover to protect against loss, damage or injury as well as useful help and support with risk management. Garry also provides workshops and presentations (in person and online) covering a broad range of topics from typical general insurance considerations to more specific cover types.
Helen Denny - Connected Hubs Scotland
Helen is CEO of The Melting Pot, Scotland's Centre for Social Innovation, and leads on Connected Hubs Scotland, a growing network of 30+ hubs across urban, rural, and island communities. She is passionate about the role community spaces play in powering local economies and bringing people together.
Isle Mackinnon - SCVO
With over 20 years’ experience researching Scotland’s voluntary sector, Ilse specialises in generating insights into the sector's impact, activities, finances and workforce, and how these are evolving.
Jo Slater - InspirAlba
Jo has 20 years’ experience in electronics manufacturing across engineering, project management and finance. She has spent the past 7 years in the third sector, with InspirAlba, leading business support delivery for the Just Enterprise programme, with a focus on crisis and recovery support. She is particularly interested in strengthening financial and operational management and building resilience.
John Fitzgerald - SCVO Digital
John Fitzgerald leads SCVO’s digital evolution programme. He and his team have helped thousands of charities to make strategic use of digital to serve their communities and further their aims. John sits on the steering group of the UK Charity AI Taskforce, and in 2025 he topped the list of charity sector leaders in the inaugural UK #AI100 list.
Karin Gallacher - SCVO
Karin joined SCVO as Head of Information and Support in 2025, and is kept very busy with having responsibility for our Digital Evolution, Events, Funding, Learning Governance, Climate and Cyber services. She brings a variety of experience in people and engagement, having previously worked at Cyrenians, Children in Scotland and NHS Scotland. She is also currently the non-executive Director for HR and People at Scottish Hockey.
Kenny Alexander - Polmont Community Hub
Kenny is the Chairman and Sustainability Champion for Polmont Community Hub. He has overseen the transition of the Hub into community ownership and management, while implementing a sustainable energy transition and retrofit to keep the space financially viable and environmentally friendly.
Kirsty Young - SCVO / Funding Scotland
Kirsty is the Funding Scotland Development Officer at the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO). With a background in Community Education, she brings over ten years’ experience in the voluntary sector, having worked as both a grants officer and a fundraiser. Kirsty also works as a trustee, so has first hand insight to the impact of funding on organisations.
Tara Drummie - Uist Beò
Since moving to Uist in 2020, Tara has embraced island life and community-led projects across the islands. Through her work managing the Uist Beò platform, she is motivated to empower islanders and celebrate Uist as a vibrant place to live, work and thrive. Tara also helps produce the Hebrides International Film Festival, inviting audiences across the Outer Hebrides to enjoy cinema in local rural venues. Alongside this, Tara volunteers with local committees and is an active crofter and freelance artist.
Sara Cook - Volunteering Matters
Sara is an experienced leader within the third and voluntary sector, with over 15 years spent working within charities and not-for-profit organisations across Scotland. She is currently Head of Major Donor and Corporate Partnerships at Volunteering Matters, as well as playing a specific ‘Strategic Lead for Scotland’ role within the UK-wide charity. This sees her work with senior stakeholders across the country to ensure the work of the charity is positioned well, and also that Volunteering Matters’ programmes deliver the positive impact intended. Sara also holds a number of board and trustee roles, most commonly with charities working with young people in Scotland.
She holds degrees from both Strathclyde University, Glasgow, and Babson College, Boston, MA.
Funding partners
Get in touch
Got questions, feedback or just want to get in touch about the conference? We'd love to hear from you!