There are over 300 village halls in Somerset. Some are old stone barns, pre-war wooden buildings, converted Victorian schools, while others are purpose-built community buildings erected in the past 25 years.  Almost without exception the halls are charities run by volunteers, who are the charity Trustees, and from the community the hall serves. They provide a valuable venue for a vast variety of activities; from preschool, after school clubs, keep fit classes, lunch clubs, line dancing, short mat bowls to polling stations, doctors surgeries, family party venues.  With each change of use the hall will undergo a metamorphism, as it becomes ‘their’ classroom, gym, restaurant, theatre, for two or more hours each week or month.

The Trustees

The management committee, (the Trustees) who are responsible for the day to day running of the hall should be aware of the various obligations they have as charity Trustees, the regulations that impact on the use of the hall and where to find out where grants can be obtained to fund improvements to the hall or in some cases to build a new hall. 

Village and Community Halls Advisory Service. 

The Community Council for Somerset provides an advisory service to village hall committee members to help them with the day-to-day aspects of managing the hall.   

Halls committees are invited to subscribe to the Community Council.

By subscribing a hall committee receive:

The subscription rate is currently £20 for hall committees serving communities of electorate less than 1000 and £25 for those serving communities over 1000.     

A regular newsletter is sent to all known hall contacts, usually the secretary, which brings members up to date with legislation that affects village halls and passes on examples of good practice, possible funding sources and other items that might be of interest.  

A range of publications for village and community hall committees is available, from information sheets to books. These provide up-to-date, detailed information on a wide range of subjects relating to village and community halls. For a list of publications use the link at the top of this page or contact us on: info@somersetrcc.org.uk to place an order.  

Information sessions are held on topics of interest to those involved in running the hall and also to address legislation regulations that impacts on hall committees. 

An annual all day conference is held in the autumn, which generally focuses on items that have been or will be ‘hot’ topics during the past or for the future year.  The awarding of the Hallmark certificates take place after lunch. 

Advice can be given from the initial thoughts about building a new hall or other major projects; what legal aspects need to be considered, what would be the VAT implications, design considerations, where to seek funding etc.  Whether an existing committee or a newly formed one, help can be given about the role of committee members as Charity Trustees, hiring agreements and charges, legislation and licenses, equipment, insurance and funding sources. We will do our very best to help.

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