The Capital Grants programme is awarded an annual budget from Dorset County Council and each of the contributing districts under a three year Service Level Agreement.
New build costs are likely to be well in excess of £500k, assuming no land purchase costs. An ‘eco-build’ hall (eg: a wooden prefabricated building) could be less £150k. The largest grant ever given from the Capital Grants programme was £90k. Generally amounts are much less and certainly not more than 10% of the cost of new hall. The average category B grant has been about £3,500 in recent years.
Applications are assessed and prioritised for the Capital Grants committee by the Village and Community Halls Adviser at Dorset Community Action. Dorset Community Action only recommends suitable bids, they do not approve them. Approval is done solely by the Capital Grants committee in line with the published terms of reference for that committee. The committee generally meets in March each year. The committee’s decision has to be ratified by the Dorset County Council scrutiny committee. If any of the applicants has been successful with Lottery funding they are given priority for Capital Grant funding. Applications are otherwise assessed and prioritised on other factors. For example:
- halls with the most need and in the worst state, especially where there are health and safety issues
- halls who have actively raised funds from other sources, especially their local community
- halls who can demonstrate that their plans will make a positive impact on their community
- halls who can demonstrate that good design principles (see below) have been incorporated into their refurbishment project as well as the development of ‘multi-use’ facilities within their communitiee
The Capital Grants committee wishes to promote good management practice in the governance of village and community halls. Applications will be favoured from halls where there is evidence that proper provision for the maintenance and improvement of the hall has been made over several years. Halls possessing the ‘Hallmark’ accreditation, a nationally recognised quality award for village halls, may also be favoured.