Building a Village hall

Greenham Trust’s logo can be found in most of the village halls around West Berkshire and north Hampshire. We previously ran a scheme specifically to help support improvements and reconstruction. Although the specific scheme has now ended, we still support these types of projects through our general giving. Whether that’s a small grant for a specific refurb or a larger board-approved grant for full rebuild, we can help in many ways. But it’s not just about funding; we can offer advice, support, and contacts.

We’ve visited a lot of village halls recently, all with plans to upgrade or rebuild in some way. Having been heavily involved in building a hall myself, I know how hard it is and what it takes. There are difficult and sometimes uncomfortable decisions all the way through the process. Here is some advice for those wanting to make the leap.

Look at the big picture—maximize what you want to achieve. It’s an incredible amount of work in terms of time and effort, so ensure you do everything you want to. This will help to be efficient with time and funding, and ensure you are building for the future and not just for now.

Be careful of whistles and bells. Once you have arrived at your vision of what you want and everyone is very excited, now is the time to check it’s actually what you need. It can be very easy to get carried away with extras. It’s a balance between doing enough and not doing too much. Is the playpark outside a key part of the project? Could that wait for a future phase? The same goes for “Scope Creep” adding nice-to-haves which might be able to wait for a future phase. If we are doing X, we might as well do Y too. Stick to the plan. The danger with committees is that someone can make a good suggestion, and everyone agrees which then gets added to the pot without question so as not to rock the boat, but sometimes tough decisions need to be made to keep the project focused and on track.

Are you getting value for money? Consider what you will get for the spend? Ensure you are answering the questions: will this improve the usability? Get more people through the door? Will it improve the environmental impact of the facility?

Constraints – Examine each constraint – is it actually a limitation? Is there an alternative – even temporary – which will help you achieve your goal? Constraints might be existing hall users, other events or projects locally, or possible plans happening outside of your core which may or may not have an impact. What are the work arounds to help achieve your goal?

Identify key jobs: fundraising committee; grant application writer; social media to spread the message and help fundraising; a small and active committee with the time to dedicate to the project. One person needs to be dedicated to driving the project through and bringing everyone along too.

Don’t underestimate how long it will take! The process is the process, there are so many external aspects to the project outside of your control. Often grant funders have decision-making committees twice a year. The council planning process may throw up unexpected curveballs, and fundraising is hard.

If you are building from scratch, it will help to have an organization willing and ready to move in when it’s ready. A sports club or preschool who have agreed to use it can help your application for a grant to show that it will get immediate use and demonstrate the need.

Speak to us! We are here not just for funding but advice, support and contacts too. We are happy to be a sounding board or to bounce ideas. get in touch today to see how we can help!