Spittal village hall

Lynne Read, Secretary and Treasurer

Highlands

Tell us about your village hall

Our village hall serves around 150 residents living in four villages in our small farming community, we’re about ten miles from the nearest town.

I was co-opted on to the committee about 18 months ago to help organise a party to celebrate the Queen's platinum jubilee – we wanted to hold the celebrations at the village hall. None of us had been in the hall since covid.  

Once we got in, we found it to be really mouldy and damp as it had been locked up for two years with no ventilation, no heating on, and the water turned off.   Although it's a lovely building (it used to be the village school) it was in quite a state of disrepair.

23 volunteers, including children and older people, came to help clear and clean the hall.  My husband took five trailer-loads to the recycling centre and many items were given to local charities.  

Finding funding

I sourced funding from the lottery fund and Robertson Trust, for decorating, new chairs, games and activities.   We're surrounded by turbines here who provide funding opportunities.  I tapped into local turbines for kitchen equipment, a hearing loop, new curtains and outside seating.   I've asked for a new electric cooker, and heard just last evening the fund has been awarded!  So, we'll have a commercial oven and hob to ensure the warranty is valid.

The hall constitution states it is for social recreation and education, so I'm tapping into the education side.  Quite a few local people have skills that they're happy to share, and younger people are keen to learn. I used to make celebration cakes, so I can teach cake decoration and making sugar paste flowers.

When I first applied for funding, I didn't really have a clue, but I have a background in management accounts. So, number crunching comes easily and secretarial skills.

Having a stammer can sometimes help.  I've always had to write reports, and having no control of my speech, I learned to write concise and precise, with few questions being asked.  I work out exactly what’s needed and why and who's going to benefit.  So, the cause is justified and meets the constitution.

What activities happen in your hall?

We have a weekly craft group and line dancing.  Young Farmers recently organised their Centenary celebrations.  Women's Institute meet every month.  We have quarterly coffee mornings in aid of a charity. We did one for the food bank and everyone in the village brought lots of food and toiletries and cleaning products.  We had a charity morning for Cats’ Protection and a local dog rescue charity.  Volunteers at Cats’ Protection came out and spoke about the work they do. We have a couple of boot sales and craft fairs each year.

We have social evenings where people take their own food and drink to share.  We have quiz nights and recreation afterwards making use of the games table and activities.  We're hoping to bring back monthly bingo, which was a good source of income for the hall.  

There have been about 10 private users of the hall for consultations for wind turbines. They hire the hall, so that's a bit of income that helps towards our electricity costs.

What is your top tip for other village and community halls?

Find out as much as you can about the needs and wishes of everyone locally, and how the hall can best serve them.   And then research funding opportunities.   Find out exactly what the funders are asking for and what information or outcomes you need to feed back.   Ensure you have systems in place to gather that information would be my tip.   E.g.  I have sign in sheets for attendees at events.  Visitors enter if they are a local resident or from the wider community or just visiting.  This helps to know number of users at the hall and makes it easy to gather further information if it is needed.