'A BiteSize event for hall trustees' - 20th July 2010

The next in our series of BitSize events will be held on the 20th July 2010 at FRAMPTON Village Hall (near Maiden Newton) with a buffet lunch from 12.00 and talks starting at 13.00.

This particular event, as the name implies is, is about finance and, in particular, on reducing the costs of running a village hall. Although obviously of primary interest to treasurers all hall trustees, I hope, will find something of interest.

We will be running three sessions this time (four has seemed a bit much at the first two events):

1. Purchasing Power

We have invited Supply Zone, a division of Devon County Council, to come and tell us how they can save you money on all sorts of purchases from cleaning materials to fire extinguisher maintenance and much more besides. Using the power of purchasing for Devon's schools and local authority buildings they have negotiated contracts with a variety of suppliers for a range of products. They are now supplying village halls throughout Devon and Somerset and would love to help us here in Dorset save money too.

2. Essential Insurance

There are a number of myths surrounding insurance for village halls and so Norris & Fisher, one provider of specialist policies for village halls, to come and give an over view of what insurances a hall must have and what the optional covers are and why they might be relevant. 

3. Benchmarking

Benchmarking is commonly used in business and other areas to compare performance against ones peers. We are keen to see if a simple benchmarking scheme in Dorset would help halls monitor how their expenditure and income compares with their colleagues running other halls. It may show up some problems, it may lead to sharing good practice and, better still, good contacts. We will run a sample exercise together and then see if there is anything we can carry forward into the future.

You might like to bring a copy of your hall's last accounts and a calculator to this event!

As with other BiteSize events, one delegate from each hall may come free of charge, if you want to bring colleagues there will be a charge of £10.00 to cover the cost of lunch.

To book, email me at Peter.Orchard@dorsetcommunityaction.org.uk with names of those coming and any special requirements you may have for access/catering. 

 Peter Orchard

Village and Community Halls Adviser

Dorset Community Action

Tel: 01305 216416