Community Buildings

Does your village hall have a quality hallmark?

What is it?

Hallmark is designed to help local people improve and protect their community buildings.
It is an easy-to-obtain quality mark demonstrating that your village hall has reached certain standards of operation and management - a recognised standard of good practice any hall can be proud of.

How does it work?

There are three Hallmarks and management committees can work towards one or more at their own pace.
There are no deadlines or complicated forms to complete. Hallmark One simply involves matching up to the requirements of a check list used as the basis of an on-site assessment. Hallmarks Two and Three are concerned with legislative requirements and the hall's role in the community, and any Hallmark award is valid for three years after it is first achieved.
Who recognises it?
Hallmark is part of a national programme to help community hall management teams identify the best way of operating halls in line with recognised standards. It has been endorsed by grant giving bodies including Waste Recycling Environment and Heart of England Community Foundation, all of whom are keen to see village halls demonstrate excellence through the Hallmark scheme.

What are the benefits?

By achieving any one Hallmark, village halls can be seen to be operating to recognised standards of excellence. This is particularly important if buildings are the subject of development plans requiring local or regional support, external funding or assistance from local authorities and charitable bodies. It also provides halls with a stamp of excellence that is simply not available through other avenues. So if you are proud of your hall, why not take a closer look at Hallmark.

Hallmark One

This confirms your hall is complying with requirements of its charitable status, and is a simple process requiring a straightforward assessment by two representatives of the scheme.

Hallmark Two

This looks at your hall's compliance with legislative issues and includes such matters as disability access and health and safety. Again, the basis of the award is an assessment process.

Hallmark Three

Hallmark Three examines the role of your hall in your local community - for example, the way in which it interacts with regular users and wider community. This is particularly useful for halls trying to achieve external funding as it is a third party endorsement of the hall's value to the community as a whole.

Grants available for Village Halls

Organisations can apply for grant funding as they work towards each of the three Hallmark standards. The maximum grant award at each level is detailed below:

Level 1 £1,500
Level 2 £2,500
Level 3 £2,500

There are a number of community halls and buildings available for hire and use by members of the community, as well as those offering community facilities and activities. Eventually a searchable database will be available to prospective hirers and those looking for community activities.

Organisations or Community Groups that have a community building for hire can contact Nigel Parrish or Julie Bell for details of how to appear on this database.