Report celebrates the success of volunteers managing buildings, but highlights a fragile future
Use of England’s rural community-owned buildings has trebled since 1988, according to the research undertaken in ACRE’s 2009 national survey of rural community buildings. The key findings celebrate the success of volunteers and the buildings they manage in supporting local action and service delivery.
The 9,000 halls represent the largest network of community-owned facilities in the country with a total asset value of over £3 billion. They are a crucial but largely hidden aspect of community empowerment, and many have proved ‘hard to reach’ in efforts to support their sustainability. Although there are significant success stories to tell, the future for most is quite fragile.
The survey responses from 2,355 rural community buildings shows that volunteers contributed 18.5 hours per week on average to run their halls and that this volunteer support was the most significant factor in whether the halls were able to sustain themselves financially. Only 3% of halls received regular funding from their local authority. The remainder generating their income through hire charges, services and fundraising support from the local community and parish councils.
The survey also includes feedback on the valuable support service provided by the Rural Community Action Network to volunteers managing the halls; 83% of hall committees seeking their advice had rated it good or excellent.
ACRE’s Chief Executive, Sylvia Brown said “We need national and local policy makers and funders to appreciate that the work of managing and financing this vast network of community facilities falls almost entirely to local volunteers, not to local authorities. The traditional village hall still underpins much of community life in rural areas. The research demonstrates its role in supporting local democratic participation and in helping those most in need because of lack of transport with which to access more distant services”.
“The Rural Community Action Network already recognises the incremental burden of increasing regulation and taxation that falls on local volunteers when few halls have any paid management staff to support their work. The data from the survey shows just how many of the 9,000 halls need appropriate external advice and support if they are to remain viable. Whilst public policy is focused on transferring new assets to communities, we are now very concerned to raise awareness of existing community owned assets that perform such a crucial role for local people”.
ACRE’s Village Hall Information Officer, Deborah Clarke concluded: “As a result of this survey, we have made 10 recommendations which we believe could make a huge difference to volunteers and the future of these community assets which have significant value in both financial terms and the outcomes they produce for communities”
Link to ACRE's Report on Findings of the National Survey of Rural Community Buildings: acre.org.uk