There is a 'movement' known as 'Extended Schools' and this is now being supported by governnment money as theExtended Schools Capital Fund which is being made available to primary schools, special schools and pupil referral units. Any village halls that are very close (both physically and socially) to these schools and where the hall could be used for activities by the school (sports, activities, lunch club, etc), could access funding to make any necessary alterations that might be needed to host that finction. The application has to come from the school, so it will be necessary for the village hall committees to be talking to the schools if this is appropriate.
The closing date for applications (the application forms are due to be sent out soon to the schools) is early October.
We would be interested to know if any of our halls are approached by their local school with regard to this sort of project.