10th February 2010: New Halls Funding Scheme from the BIG Lottery

            Good news for rural community buildings 

Action with Communities in Rural England (ACRE) and the Rural Community Action Network (RCAN) welcome today’s announcement about future funding from the BIG Lottery Fund. A dedicated capital funding stream is expected to be launched in the Autumn as part of the BIG Lottery Reaching Communities programme.  It is likely to fund medium sized refurbishments, new builds or extensions to community centres, village halls or other community use buildings meeting local community needs and aspirations. 

Capital funding is desperately needed by halls and community centres across the country to improve and modernise an ageing stock of buildings that provide vital services and activities in rural communities. 

The key findings from ACRE’s national survey of rural community buildings in 2009 indicated that 60% of halls responding to that survey were planning major improvements in the next five years and 10% require urgent repairs to keep them in use. 

“We are really pleased to hear that BIG has responded to the call from halls and all their support organisations for a capital fund for this vital work.  In rural areas village halls and other similar community buildings are the focal point for developing solutions for provision of essential services”, says Deborah Clarke, ACRE’s Village Hall Information Officer.

 A significant amount of volunteer effort is put into managing rural community buildings, including fundraising activities, but without additional capital investment many halls would be unsustainable. 

ACRE looks forward to the prospect of working with BIG as part of a stakeholder group during the lead up to the autumn launch.