About the Village and Community Halls Advisory Service

What is the Village and Community Halls Advisory Service? 

A place for people to meet can be the most valued asset in any community. A properly maintained building of adequate size, well kept and well managed, can provide facilities for social, educational and recreational activities for all ages. With this very much in mind Dorset Community Action operates the Village and Community Halls Advisory Service to provide support to both village and community halls across the county. 
 
What are the main objectives of the Advisory Service? 

The priorities of the Village and Community Halls Advisory Service are:

• To keep hall management committees up to date with matters of importance and interest
• To promote networking and the sharing of information and good practice
• To provide information, support and advice where appropriate to individual halls
• To administer the Village Halls Capital Grants programme on behalf of local councils
• To improve management standards through training and through the 'Hallmark' quality scheme

How can you access the Advisory Service?

The service is available to all village and community halls throughout Dorset (but not in the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth and Poole) and is delivered by the Village and Community Hall Adviser who can be contacted through Dorset Community Action in Dorchester. Full support, however, is only available to those halls that affiliate (ie join) to the service.
 
What are the benefits of affiliation?

By 'affiliating'  to the advisory service you receive:

• Full access to the Dorset Halls Network website (see below)
• Free access to the ACRE information sheets 
• Priority response to individual enquiries
• Access to applicable county and district capital grants programmes
• Regular editions of Community News, DCA’s community magazine
• Access to the Hallmark quality programme
• Discounts on networking and training events, often these are free for affiliated members

What information is available on the 'Dorset Halls Network' web site?

A website devoted to the promotion and support of village and community halls is provided by Dorset Community Action through the Dorset Halls Network . On this site you will find:

• Facilities to promote your hall (venue finder). your hall's regular activities (activity finder) and special events (event finder)
• An interactive forum where you can ask questions (and hopefully get answers!), share information and discuss issues with representatives of other halls
• News headlines where information on legal issues, political changes, funding opportunities and much more are displayed as soon as they become available
• A 'knowledge base' section where the answer to your problem may already lie!
• A library of information sheets prepared by ACRE (the national association of rural councils) and other authorative bodies that you can browse, print and download
• Information on funding opportunities and, in particular, the Dorset Village Halls Capital Grants programme (including guidance notes and application form)
• Details of briefing events, networking opportunities, and training courses
• Information on the 'Hallmark' quality system, what it is, why it exists and how you can apply for Hallmark recognition

How do I become an affiliated hall?

The cost of affiliation is just £15.00 a year (£22.00 if you wish to include membership of the Dorset Village Halls Association - see below).

If you would like to affiliate then open the application form link below (this is a MS Word document), print it out, fill it in and send it to DCA with your cheque for either £15.00 or £22.00.