AUTUMN 2023
COMMUNITY BUILDINGS NEWSLETTER
Autumn has definitely arrived and we have a full programme of trainings and workshops available for your committees see P12 - 13. There is still time to book for the CCS Community Buildings Annual Conference on the 6th of November (P1 & 2). An opportunity to meet funders, advisers, providers and other hall trustees, all under one roof. We also present the Hallmark Awards to those of you who have achieved the quality standard bookings close on the 30th of October. We have lots of news and updates for your facility on the Terrorism Bill (Martyn’s Law), waste management, winter tips, planning ahead for your Fireworks or Bonfire night activities and funding news can be found on P9 & 10.
Happy Reading Robert Horn CCS Community Buildings Advisor robert@somersetrcc.org.uk
In this issue CCS COMMUNITY BUILDINGS CONFERENCE P1 - 2 TRUSTEE OF THE YEAR P3 NEWS P5-6 FIREWORKS DISPLAYS AND BONFIRE NIGHT P7 - 8 FUNDING NEWS P9 - 10 HEATING TIPS FOR WINTER P11 AUTUMN TRAINING PROGRAMME P 12 - 13
Join us for the CCS Community Buildings Conference 2023 Monday, November 6th, 9.30am - 4pm Edington Village Hall An opportunity to meet funders, energy experts, service providers, and most importantly, other hall trustees! Presentations, networking, an exhibition hall, Hallmark awards, a buffet lunch with local produce, and more!
Book your place here!
Funded by
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Sponsored by:
A chance to meet representatives from The Royal Countryside Fund
The National Lottery Community Fund Find out more about their current funding
priorities, as well as advice on how to make a strong funding application.
PRESENTATIONS The National Lottery Community Fund Royal Countryside Fund
Norris and Fisher Insurance Brokers Ltd
Robert Horn CCS Community Buildings Advisor Inspired Efficiency Resource Futures
CCS Community Buildings Advisor Robert Horn discusses: l i c e n s i n g s a f e g u a r d i n g R A A C ( C o n c r e t e ) a n d m u c h m o r e . . .
Presentation of the 2023 Hallmark Awards and Trustee of the Year
Ian Bynoe, Chair of Caryford Community
Hall Association will be talking about the hall's success with the DEFRA Platinum Jubilee Fund earlier this year, and their
experiences of raising funds through Public Works Loans.
E n j o y a d e l i c i o u s l u n c h provided by Figs Catering and meet key community building suppliers, organisations and useful contacts. .
First come first served basis book a slot with our Community Buildings Advisors, The National Lottery Community Fund & Royal Countryside Fund on the day.
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Is there anyone on your committee who has been outstanding this year? We are looking for someone who has gone the extra mile and made a big difference to your hall. It doesn’t have to be the person who got the new extension built, it could be the trustee who helped to heal a rift between two parties, or the person who keeps Funded by plodding away in the background, never giving up and is the essential cog in the machine. Whatever the reason if there is someone on your committee that you think deserves this award, write to us in 250 words or less and tell us about your nomination. Nomination deadline by 31st October. communitybuildings@somersetrcc.org.uk
Trustees Week 6-10th November This is a celebration of the often unsung heroes, trustees. There are almost a million people in the UK who give up their time for free to manage a charity, not just Village Halls. As part of this the Charity Commission has published a series of helpful 5 minute video guides which can be used as a refresher and also a quiz to see how well you know your role. The quiz is anonymous but worth doing as it makes you think. We would recommend sharing the quiz with your fellow trustees and comparing your scores as a fun exercise. The guides can be found here and the quiz is here.
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NEWS ADVANCE WARNING: Village Halls Week 18-24th March 2024 Village Halls week is moving from January to late March in response to members across the country asking for it to be held when there is warmer weather for more public engagement events. The theme next year is Environmental Sustainability and willbyfocus on making buildings more energy Funded efficient and the role that Village Halls can lead in the path towards Net Zero. More details will follow in the next newsletter.
Don’t Trash Our Future: Waste Management in Community Buildings: 29th November Find out how your Community Building can do more to reduce, reuse and recycle and how you can encourage change in your wider community too. This is a free online conference with guest speakers from Somerset Waste Partnership, Resource Futures, Somerset Food Cupboard. This is the last in our Ecohalls series, funded by Royal Countryside Fund. Click Here
Terrorism Bill (Martyn’s Law) This is still going through Parliament in draft format and has yet to be passed. Therefore we cannot advise on details as they are subject to change. There is a briefing on the subject at the end of this month and as soon as we have more information on the subject from ACRE about how it will affect Community Buildings we will let you know.
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NEWS 2023 ACRE Membership Survey Results Action for Communities in Rural England (ACRE) is a national charity that has a network across England with the largest group of community support agencies. It has a history dating back to 1920 and provides support, training and resources to CCS which form an essential part of our Community Buildings service. There are 36 other members like CCS but covering different counties offering a diverse range of services and initiatives. The survey was to find out the size and reach of the Rural Community Council Network organisations, the services they offer and the challenges. This helps to build a picture of what is happening in Village Halls across England that can be fed back to DEFRA and the government. In this way, issues affecting your committee can become part of strategic thinking and influence policies. There are believed to be over 10,000 village halls and community buildings and last year the network reached out to over 28,000 community groups and helped to bring in £40m in funding. Transport, health and wellbeing, loneliness and isolation and affordable housing were the most pressing issues for rural communities. The main concern for ACRE members was financial security in the face of increasing demand for services at the same time as staff salaries, rent and utility costs continue to increase. Despite this most respondents were confident about the future and the results were more positive than in the previous survey in 2019/20. National funding from DEFRA had reduced in this period from 33% to 24% with most organisations relying on service contracts and local funding for the majority of income. Paid for services and membership fees brought in an average of 18% of income. The survey results paint a picture of a resilient network that reaches across most of the country delivering much needed services in rural and urban areas.
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As the time is almost upon us, here is some advice from Norris & Fisher, insurance brokers on the subject. This relates to their own particular policies, so we would advise you check the details in your own policy whether it is through them or with another provider. Fireworks and bonfire displays are popular activities and an important social event for all communities. However due to the risks involved it is important to ensure that adequate cover is provided. Firework and/or bonfire events are automatically included with some policies for up to 500 people in attendance providing that they are solely run by your committee. If you are organising a display where you expect more than 500 people or if you are using a third party to run such an event then you may need to arrange additional liability cover to ensure that adequate protection is provided.
Should the event be held on a neighbouring property or public land rather than at your premises then a fireworks extension could provide liability cover for such circumstances but there may not necessarily be cover for injuries or damage to property arising from the land itself. This is the responsibility of the owner of the land, who should have their own liability insurance (under a farm policy, for example). Arranging this cover will protect you in the event that a spectator is injured by a firework or if a neighbouring property is damaged. In order for cover to apply, you would need to comply with the basic security and safety requirements as advised by insurers. If a professional contractor is being used to run the firework aspect of the evening then you need to be clear as to who is responsible for what, especially in the event of an emergency. It may be that even though you are not responsible for the fireworks themselves, if a claim were to occur then the hall committee could still held accountable in a legal action.
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Contingency cover should be arranged just in case the contractor’s policy fails or does not provide adequate cover. This could be included under the Hall policy. Whilst this would not be a legal requirement, if you do not take the cover and the contractor’s policy fails in any way, any subsequent claim would be the responsibility of the hall committee themselves as individuals. It is worth noting that fireworks cover only applies in respect of events run or organised by the Village Hall committee. So, if you were to hire the hall out for a birthday party or wedding reception, should the hirer wish to celebrate with fireworks then cover would not be automatically covered by this policy. We would recommend that you clarify this with any such hirer as they would need to organise their own special event policy to cover the associated risks, rather than relying on the automatic Hirer’s Liability extension. We are grateful to Norris & Fisher for allowing us to use this article. For more information visit
www.villagehallinsurance.co.uk Warm Spaces Spark Somerset are supporting communities that offer people a warm welcome space. They have reopened registrations for Warm Welcome spaces and will be coordinating and offering support to any groups looking to establish a Warm Welcome or restart following last winter. Spark Somerset are co-ordinating a county wide map and providing support to organisations where needed. To sign up visit complete our registration form. The team is there to support in many ways inlcuding finding volunteers, policy checking or anything else you need to get up and running. There is lots of information on our dedicated Warm Welcome webpage.
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Somerset Community Foundation has a Somerset Warm Spaces fund which groups can apply to for costs associated with Warm Welcome space. Groups can apply for up to £1,000 and the deadline is Friday 10th November 2023.
FUNDING NEWS Wessex Water Community Fund: A grant up to £4,000 for community-based activities or projects that meet a local need and seek to improve the lives of local people. Apply by Monday 23 October. Click Here
Somerset Community Foundation Warm Somerset Spaces Fund: Grants of up to £1,000 for venues planning to stay open for longer this winter to offer a warm place for people in your community. Opening times should be extended by at least 5 hours a week over the colder months. Applications must be submitted by Friday 11th November. Click here for more information.
The Festive Fund: Grants of up to £400 are available to support groups that can help to reduce loneliness and spread warmth and cheer through food and activities around the festive period. Apply by Friday 10th November. Click Here
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FUNDING NEWS The Somerset Fund: Apply for up to £2,500 if your group has an income of under £100,000 per year and runs a place, space, event or activity that brings your whole community together. Apply by Friday 3rd November. Click Here Main Grants: Ask for up to £5,000 if you’re involved with a group that provides extra support targeted at those with particular challenges. That could include supporting children and young people to reach their potential, adults to manage their mental health, or older people to feel less isolation and lonely. Apply by Friday 5th January. Click Here
The National Garden Scheme Community Gardens Awards 2024 Grants, generally up to £5,000, are available for community gardening projects in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Apply by midday on Monday 13th November. Click Here
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Now that the cold snap has finally arrived and we are returning to more normal autumn temperatures it is time to look ahead to see what we can do to minimize running costs over the next 6 months. Here are the top tips for having a warm and welcoming hall with lots of users without breaking the bank. Get the boiler and whole heating system serviced. If it has barely been used over the summer, getting at least a check if not a full service is advised to ensure that the system is working at its optimum level. Look for obvious sources of drafts and stop them. Go into the hall on a cold and windy day and you can easily identify where they are. Don’t seal the building completely, you need some ventilation to prevent condensation. Use a timer, if possible one that can be remotely controlled to save you visiting each time. Do not rely on users remembering to turn it off. Decide how much control you want your users to have. Consider a tamperproof thermostat that allows a modest degree of control and prevents Find out what level of comfort your users need and experiment with how long it takes to get the room up to temperature and set the timer accordingly. If your hall is well insulated, you may be able to turn off the heating 30-60 minutes before the end of the booking without the users feeling any discomfort. Engage with your users to find out if the heating is working for them. Most hirers will understand that you are a charity and have to be careful with the costs. Are there any insulation improvements that could be made to improve the thermal performance of the building? If yes look for funding or consider using reserves. Change power supplier. If you are locked into a multi year contract this may not be possible, but if your contract is about to or has recently expired you can shop around (see below).
Utility Aid has relaunched its national charity tender. Because of the volatile state of the energy market over the past few years the company has been unable to secure any significant offers. However, they are now able to offer 2 and possibly 3 year fixed deals. As a broker the company will gather information from many interested charities, assess the demands and usage patterns to create a single total and then look among their contacts for the best possible deal. The power company might not give a single village hall a good deal, but if there are 300 halls interested then the price is likely to be significantly lower. All you have to do is to give UA permission to look on your behalf with no promise to commit. They can look around for the best deal for the total group and then offer you that deal. If it is a better price then you can easily switch, 12if not you can stay where you are. Utility Aid is sponsoring this year’s conference.
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There are several sessions planned over the next couple of months and more for in the new year: Trustee Roles & Responsibilities: Wednesday 22nd November at 2 - 4.30pm via Zoom online. This is a revised course which offers a good grounding in what it means to be a trustee of a community building or other charity. It is useful for potential trustees, those new to the role and even those who have been on the committee for many years but never had things properly explained to them! It is a two and a half hour session with plenty of chances to ask questions and broaden your knowledge. Click Here
The Role of Chairman: Wednesday 13th December, 1.30-3.00pm via Zoom online. This will look at the jobs that the chairman should carry out, (and those that can be delegated) as well as the skills and attributes that the chair can bring to the role to help the charity to function well. There will be plenty of examples and the chance to role play a fictional trustee group. Whether you are new to the role or experienced and looking for tips and ideas, come along and join this session. Click Here An effective secretary can make a huge difference to the smooth running of a charity. We will consider how to make meetings more time efficient, taking and publishing minutes, communication and what are the options if no-one wants to do it! Click Here
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Secretarial Duties for a Charity: Wednesday 13th December from 3.30-5.00pm online via Zoom.
There are several sessions planned over the next couple of months and more for in the new year: All of these courses are free to CCS members (£10 to non members) and can be booked via the CCS website or directly by the above links. In 2024 we will be running training sessions on: Making changes to your Governing Document Parish Councils acting as Sole Trustee Risk Assessment Trustee Liability and Health & Safety Legislation Parish Council and Village Halls: The differences, similarities and co-operation Fire Safety in Village Halls PAT testing: becoming a competent person Safeguarding in Community Buildings Incorporation and CIO Some of these will be online courses, others will be in person events. If there are any other topics that you would like training on, please email us at communitybuildings@somersetrcc.org.uk
To see all our events visit: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/communitybuildings-advisory-team-ccs-30284407230
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AUTUMN ISSUE 2023
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