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Cambridgeshire Village Halls and Community Buildings Survey 2019 Results Report

Undertaken by Cambridgeshire ACRE and funded through Support Cambridgeshire

A reflection on 2017 survey results and Cambridgeshire ACRE’s actions

Following completion of the first Village Hall and Community Buildings Survey in 2017, Cambridgeshire ACRE committed to undertake some activities to address the issues raised. Table 1 summarises areas for action identified in the 2017 survey and what Cambridgeshire ACRE has done in response.

The results from the 2017 survey told us we needed to…

In response, we…

Encourage community building committees to review their governing documents. Offer support and training on ‘Understanding your Governing Document’.

During 2018 we provided 115 advice/support contacts on governance across the county. This advice was provided via phone, email or face to face meetings. Hallmark has proved very useful in supporting committees to review their governance arrangements as part of the Hallmark One process. In addition, we delivered a coffee morning event specifically on governance and the role of a trustee attended by 15 trustees.

Ensure that the ACRE Information Sheets are kept updated and continue to lobby National ACRE to keep these current and relevant.

Information sheets are kept under review on a regular basis and any concerns raised have been fed back to national ACRE.

Look at timings of our networking and learning events to ensure these are as accessible as possible to trustees.

Our programme of events for 2018 and 2019 has been modified to include evening and Saturday events, to attract trustees who work or have other commitments which prevent them attending a coffee morning. In 2018 we held 5 coffee mornings, 2 Saturday morning events, and 1 evening event. The 2019 programme includes 6 coffee mornings and 3 evening events.


In response, we…

Support community buildings with identifying potential funding streams. Lobby at a strategic level for Government to consider things such as maintaining funding for the ACRE Rural Community Buildings Loan Fund and giving relief on VAT for community building repairs.

We provide regular funding news via our blog and newsletters informing members of any new funds or application deadlines. We have continued to promote the Support Cambridgeshire 4 Community funding portal and we understand this portal is well used by the village halls network. National ACRE recently launched a new Village Hall Improvement Grant Fund. This grant funding will be managed by ACRE on behalf of Defra and supports the VAT element of a build project. The fund was established after much lobbying by the ACRE network asking government to recognise the huge amount of VAT involved in refurbishment projects.

Plan training sessions around the topics identified by respondents.

Each year we use the survey results to develop our events programme. The comments from trustees are very helpful and identify need within the network.

Raise the profile of the Hallmark quality standard and explain its benefits to trustees in order to engage more committees in the process.

Hallmark continues to grow momentum with halls in the county and we will continue to promote the scheme in the coming year. So far, 30 halls have indicated an interest in participating in the scheme, with 13 of those halls achieving Hallmark 1 and moving on to the next levels.

Target our activity to engage with committees who are unaware of or unclear about our advice service and membership scheme.

Currently we have 145 followers of our blog and many of these followers are not members of our organisation. This allows us to directly message individuals and committees about our service offer and items of interest for village halls. We regularly contact non-members to inform them of the networking and training opportunities and to encourage them to take out membership. For the last two years we have successfully used the Village Halls Week campaign to raise the profile of community buildings locally. This also provides us with an opportunity to explain the wider support offered by the ACRE network both locally and nationally.

https://www.idoxopen4community.co.uk/supportcambs

https://www.idoxopen4community.co.uk/supportcambs


In response, we…

Continue to deliver services that provide the help and assistance that community buildings’ trustees have expressed they want / need. Seek feedback, so we know whether these services are fitting the bill.

Following any contact for advice, support or guidance we contact the person who made the enquiry by email to ask for feedback on the service they received. This allows us to continuously improve and adapt our service to meet the needs of the network. It is important our service is flexible and easily accessible to all community facilities.

Table 1 – Summary of areas for action identified in the 2017 survey

Introduction

During January and February 2019, Cambridgeshire ACRE carried out a comprehensive survey of village halls and community buildings across the County. A link to the online survey was sent by email to 276 known community buildings and they received repeat messages of encouragement to complete. For the purposes of this report, village halls and community buildings will be identified simply as community buildings.

Section 1. About Your Hall

At the closing date of 28 February 2019, a total of 107 survey responses had been received, giving a return rate of 38%. Responses came from across the county, as shown in Table 2 below:

District Number of community building committees asked to

respond

Number of Surveys returned

Response Rate

Cambridge City 18 4 22%

East Cambridgeshire 42 16 38%

Fenland 24 10 42%

Huntingdonshire 71 26 37%

Peterborough 35 11 31%

South Cambridgeshire 86 40 46%

Countywide 276 107 38% Table 2 – Breakdown of responses across the county

The survey results provide Cambridgeshire ACRE, and its Support Cambridgeshire partners (Hunts Forum of Voluntary Organisations and Cambridge Council for Voluntary Service), with a unique picture of community buildings across the county and where we can, collectively, better support those who manage them going forward. The remainder of this report will look at the questions asked and responses received, draw some conclusions about what the data tells us and consider the actions we will take to improve Cambridgeshire ACRE’s service offer and delivery to community building committees. Cambridgeshire’s community buildings are a vital asset for the delivery of community services and act as important ‘hubs’ for bringing communities together. Continued support to enable them to thrive and to build the capacity and capability of those who run them remains a key part of Cambridgeshire ACRE’s role.

Section 2. Governance

Management structures used by Cambridgeshire’s community building committees Figure 1 shows the different governance structures for community buildings in Cambridgeshire. 85% of responders indicated their community buildings were charities being run with a management committee of volunteer trustees. No community buildings were identified as being managed as a charity by a Parish or Town Council as sole trustee, (this means the corporate entity of the parish council is the trustee, rather than named individuals). 6% of responders identified that their community buildings were run by the Parish Council as part of its local council function.

Figure 1 - Governance structures of Cambridgeshire’s community buildings

9% of community buildings were identified as being managed by another arrangement as follows in Table 3.

Governance Structure

Management committee plus Trustees

A Charity run by a management committee of volunteer trustees. With a paid manager and assistant manager

Building was a charity run by Parish Council but in the process of transferring to the Village Recreation Ground Committee

We are currently undergoing an asset transfer. are selling the building for £1 to {Name redacted}, who will then be our (silent) landlords. {Name redacted} will still manage the centre and pay for all costs of running the building.1

A village hall owned by the Parish Council (Custodian Trustee) and run by a management committee of volunteer trustees.

1 Names have been redacted for privacy reasons.

85%

0%6%

9%A Charity run by a managementcommittee of volunteer trustees

A Charity run by Parish or TownCouncil as sole trustee

Owned and run by Parish or TownCouncil (under its statutorypowers)

Some other arrangement (pleasedescribe)

Governance Structure

A joint church community committee runs the hall that is built on land vested in the Ely Diocesan Board of Finance with funds from the sale of a former parish hall and Section 106 grants secured by the community.

Community Interest Company owned by town council.

Owned by a Trust. Run by the management committee. Trustees come from the Parish council.

Owned and run by the Charity registered Parish of the Ascension.

An individual manages the day to day running of the hall and deals with bookings on behalf of the Trustees

Table 3 – Community Building management arrangements

Effectiveness of the groups of people who run community buildings When asked to rate the effectiveness of the group of people who run community buildings, respondents were given the choice rating scale of 1 to 10 (1 being the lowest score and 10 being the highest). Respondents gave themselves an average score of 8.53. This result demonstrates that most management committees were confident they have a good level of management competence. Conclusions Most community buildings responding to the survey are charities managed by a committee of local volunteers. Some of the verbatim responses given by those who say they have ‘some other arrangement’ actually could have been counted in the three governance types we asked respondents to choose from. This suggests there is still some lack of understanding of the governance models that most community buildings run to. Cambridgeshire ACRE’s own experience of providing advice and support to charity trustees is that governance matters often cause the biggest ‘headache’ for those running community buildings. Whilst those running community buildings have, in the most part, scored themselves very highly for effectiveness, we know that self-assessment is not the most objective measure. We would urge all community buildings management committee who believe their building is run effectively to apply for the Hallmark Level 1 standard as this would provide an independent assessment of whether good governance standards have been achieved.

Section 3. HallsForHire

Mechanisms used to promote community buildings to potential hirers Figure 2 shows that 68% of responders used a noticeboard outside their community building. The next most popular choice, with 57% of responses, was the Cambridgeshire ACRE’s HallsforHire website: http://www.hallsforhire.org.uk/.

Figure 2 - Mechanisms used to promote community buildings

Table 4 gives further details as to other forms of marketing avenues that community building committees used.

Other ideas for promoting community buildings

Publish an article each month in the local magazine that is delivered to every household in the village and surrounding villages.

Other organisations websites, posters displayed in shops, supermarkets etc.

The hall is also advertised on other local attraction websites.

Hallmaster.

We hope to have our own website new year, linked to the Parish Council Website. Also, we are planning the erection of a notice board at the front of the Centre to promote activities within.

Monthly Newsletter to registered users. Posters in local shops. Cinema adverts.

We insert an article free of charge in each issue of our village newsletter. We display notices on boards in the village.

We run community events and fundraising events, and produce an annual calendar for the community

4.7%

22.4%

38.3%

44.9%

45.8%

49.5%

57.0%

68.2%

We don’t promote ourselves

Other

We have a page on our community website

We have our own hall / building website

We use social media (for example, a Facebookpage)

We take out adverts in local communitymagazines/newsletters

We have a listing on Cambridgeshire ACRE’s HallsforHire website

We have a noticeboard outside the hall

0.0% 20.0% 40.0% 60.0% 80.0%

http://www.hallsforhire.org.uk/

Community Association produce the quarterly village magazine that gets delivered to all homes in the village.

We advertise in the community magazine.

Occasional leaflet distribution. Try to get media coverage in local papers for big events.

We contribute a news update article to the bi-monthly Village magazine.

We post events on Eventbrite and Instagram.

Many hires are by 'word of mouth'.

Signs in village for specific events.

Contact details in Parish Magazine. The hall is well used by village groups, and there are few spare slots. The hall is in the centre of the village close to the church, school and shops, and arrangements for booking are well known.

Leaflet and newsletter delivery around the village.

High level of repeat booking.

We use the Parish Council Website, we use another hall hire website, we are listed on Google business and Bing business.

No car parking so not really useful for many events.

We have an advert in the local community magazine.

As yet we have no hall, but we do promote the activities of the charity in its fundraising efforts to pay for the construction, future management and maintenance of a hall.

A page on the church website with various internal links to it. Table 4 - Other ideas for promoting community buildings

Booking enquiries from potential hirers through the HallsForHire website Figure 3 shows 38% responders received enquiries through the HallsForHire website, however 36% are unsure with comments suggesting uncertainty over how the site works.

Figure 3 – Indicator as to whether committees received bookings from the HallsForHire website

Continued value in Cambridgeshire ACRE running the HallsforHire website We asked community buildings if they felt there is a continued value in Cambridgeshire ACRE running its HallsforHire website that allows all community buildings to have a free web presence. Figure 4

38%

36%

26%

Yes

Not sure

No

shows a breakdown of responses. Results show 81.3% of respondents agree there is value in having a web presence, although 17.8% of respondents were unsure.

Figure 4 – Value of having a free web presence

Improvements to the HallsforHire Website The HallsforHire website is unique as it lists some 130 community buildings across Cambridgeshire. The site helps event organisers, businesses, families and individuals looking to hire a venue for their activities and events. Committees can promote their venues using this user-friendly site which can display all the details of their facilities. Cambridgeshire ACRE are keen to ensure that the HallsForHire website remains an up to date and valuable online resource. We asked for ideas on what improvements could be made. We had 68 responses to this question, a selection of comments under relevant headings can be found as follows in Table 5. The full list of responses can be found in Appendix A.

Hirer Reviews

I think the facility to leave a review would certainly be a good idea.

Reviews are a can of worms - so open to abuse.

Administration of Content

Perhaps a central body to deal with amendments though

Making changes myself would be very helpful.

Improved online search results

Ensuring that HallsForHire comes up every time someone searches for a venue.

To try to get the Halls for Hire website higher up the Google listings if more general search terms, such as 'room' or 'venue', are used - and get the site linked in to other venue search pages.

Content

Free Wi-Fi

Most halls offer discounted rates for local groups, make this more prominent

81.3%

17.8%

0.9%

0.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

70.0%

80.0%

90.0%

Yes Not sure No

Indicate Hallmark accreditation level

List of regular groups, including session times and contact information

Slightly more modern look to the website

Needs link to website/Facebook etc

More links to associated companies connected with events held at a hall. catering, entertainment etc which might generate more visitors to the web site.

Include pricing and information about the facility and availability.

General views

No doubt any communication facility is a positive asset

It should be just a halls listing, the business information is not helpful.

Also interested to know where the website is advertised, is it found via search engines only? Not sure how businesses are added to the website as I'm sure there are lots more that could find this useful but are not listed.

Our concern locally is approaches from across the UK and the giving out of contact details.

Haven’t used the website but will be investigating

Sounds fine but there are limitations by using the web to book a Hall

I think that the system works, don't "fix" it!!!

Provide access to our calendar to facilitate booking Table 5 – A selection of ideas for improvements to the HallsForHire website

Conclusions The results show that there is some awareness of the HallsForHire website, however there is some work to do to ensure all community building committees know about the website and how it can help promote their community building. Cambridgeshire ACRE will continue to raise the profile of the HallsForHire website, not only to community building committees, but also to the wider communities in Cambridgeshire to ensure there is an improved knowledge of the opportunity to hire community buildings. The most popular choices for changes and improvements to the HallsForHire website included allowing hirers to leave reviews of community buildings and the ability for committees to make their own changes to listings. Cambridgeshire ACRE will review ideas about improving the website.

Section 4. Planning our Future Services and Events Programme

Respondents were asked to indicate if they had used any of Cambridgeshire ACRE's community buildings service in the past year. Figure 5 shows over 56% of respondents read the newsletters and blog posts. Between 39.3% and 43.9% had also attended events, received direct support and looked at online resources.

Figure 5 – Services that committees have used over the past year When asked to give details of other services used, respondents gave the following details:

• Very impressive response to issues raised. Extremely helpful if you have an issue to resolve.

• We had guidance from Cambs ACRE to establish what areas we needed to improve in order to secure Hallmark 1 accreditation.

• We are receiving special assistance on the prospects of merging our hall trust with our village green trust to save expenses e.g.: insurance and Operate more efficiently in future.

• We are planning to ask advice on a recent problem.

• We have been visited by officers as part of the village hall open weekend scheme.

• We intend to join and take full advantage of your services this year.

• Used payroll services for our staff since we opened in 2005.

• I am also involved with a village raising money to build a hall. We use the GDPR information document.

• Oil Buying Scheme. Grant funding help; currently expired but still pursuing - lease extension and landlord agreement now received.

10.3%

32.7%

39.3%

43.0%

43.9%

56.1%

Other (please specify):

We haven't used any of these services in thepast year to my knowledge

We have looked at online resources availablevia the Cambridgeshire ACRE website

We have asked questions and received answersby phone, email or face to face

We have attended one or more events

We have read the e-newsletters and blog posts

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

Timing of Events Cambridgeshire ACRE would like to arrange events at suitable times for committees to attend, we asked what time of day would be preferable. Just over 47% of respondents indicated mornings would be most suitable, with just over 22% of respondents indicating that evenings would be preferable. Only a small percentage of respondents (9.6%) agreed a Saturday morning would be suitable.

Figure 6 – Most suitable times for events

When asked why respondents would be unlikely to attend any events, the following reasons were given:

• Attendance depends on location and amount of travel involved.

• I feel that evenings would also work for some people who work during the day but some of us are also very busy during the evening.

• Preferably not Saturday mornings.

• I work part time and am unable to work away from the centre as there is only one member of staff running the desk at one time.

• Evening events are difficult unless they're on my doorstep.

• Volunteering locally takes up more than enough time so I have no wish to add more hours to the Hall.

• Dependant on the volunteers having the available time.

• However, there are other Trustees for whom weekday morning events are of no value.

• Other times clash with family commitments.

• Not lived in area for long so not aware of what events you hold.

• I cannot drive too far.

• Normally held on a day that I am unavailable.

• As all our Trustees are busy active people there is little free time. (U3A, Golf, Watercolour, Quilting, Bowls, work etc.).

• I work here mornings and am required on the premises.

• I attended a coffee morning which was nearby but usually they are miles away. We are in the extreme SE of the county.

• Such a small hall it is unlikely to have any benefit.

• I am too committed to contribute any more time to the Reading Room than I currently provide. Other members will probably have similar excuses.

9.6%

21.2%

22.1%

47.1%

Events held on Saturday mornings

I am unlikely to attend events no matter whenthey are held

Events held on weekday EVENINGS

Events held on weekday MORNINGS

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50%

Financial Contribution Towards a Conference Cambridgeshire ACRE are considering holding either an annual or bi-annual a conference for community building committees. We asked if respondents would be willing to contribute up to £25 per person to help meet the cost of speakers and refreshments. Figure 7 shows that most responders (48.1%) indicated they may be able to contribute, with only 16% stating they would be willing to contribute.

Figure 7 – Commitment to contribute to the costs of a conference

Topics for Training Sessions Respondents were asked to indicate the topics they felt their committee would benefit from learning about at training sessions. Figure 8 shows that over 50% of respondents would value Health & Safety training. Governance, risk assessments and writing funding applications were also of importance.

48.1%

29.2%

16.0%

6.6%Maybe

No

Yes

I wouldn't attend regardless ofcost

Figure 8 – Required topics at training sessions

When asked for other ideas for topic areas, respondents gave the following details:

• Difficult - would prefer a discussion to provide more details.

• A mixture of all.

• Managing employees: Caretaking/cleaning models (e.g. self-employment v direct employment); Models for showing films and relevant funding.

• Web site design and update. Marketing the hall.

• Audio / visual systems and other similar fitments to a Hall.

• Grants

• Attracting new Trustees. Developing facilities (Wi-Fi etc).

• Finances to include Budget preparation.

• An overview of legislation and policies that a village hall must have in place. Also a simple checklist would be helpful.

• Advice and help with issues which arise between the Pavilion committee and Parish Council. We had excellent help in 2011 and need it again.

• All of these have value to a lesser or greater degree according to the skills available among the Trustees.

• Sources of Grant Funding

• Working with Parish Councils. Joint funding projects.

• We think we are fine as we are

• Key Trustees have taken part in several of the above which have been very useful

• Trustees work full time and probably are unlikely to attend.

17.7%

19.8%

24.0%

28.1%

40.6%

42.7%

42.7%

55.2%

Accounting and managing finances

Other (please specify):

Business planning

Using social media

Writing funding applications

Undertaking risk assessments (including firerisk assessments)

Governance and the role of a trustee

Health & Safety

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

Hallmark Hallmark is a nationally-recognised quality standard for community buildings. Many halls in Cambridgeshire are already operating to a high standard of administration and management, however achieving the Hallmark standard will give halls an independent assessment of their hall so they can have confidence that their hall is well-run when assessed against nationally-set benchmarks. In this survey, respondents were asked to state their community building’s position in relation to Hallmark, as we wanted to understand whether the limited take-up to date is due to lack of awareness or lack of capacity. Figure 9 below shows the results:

Figure 9 – Knowledge of Hallmark

Conclusions The most popular way for respondents to engage with Cambridgeshire ACRE is through the e-newsletters and blog posts. The next most popular options were attending events, contacting Cambridgeshire ACRE for advice by phone, email or face to face. Cambridgeshire ACRE’s website also offers several online resources that respondents’ access. Respondents also identified several individual cases that Cambridgeshire ACRE are currently supporting or have done in the past. The most popular option for the timing of events was weekday mornings. When asked for other comments there was no clear indication as to the most suitable time. Cambridgeshire ACRE will continue to endeavour to hold events at various times and locations to enable committees to send Trustees along. When asked about contributing to the cost of a conference only 16% of respondents agreed they would, however 48.1% were unsure. Where possible, Cambridgeshire ACRE will continue to hold events on a ‘free of charge’ basis for members.

42.7%39.8%

17.5%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

Know what Hallmark is butwe do not currently have time

or capacity to take part

Don't know what Hallmark isor how it can help

Engaged in the Hallmarkscheme and working towards

one of the three levels

Should we plan a further large-scale conference in future, we may seek to charge a small attendance fee to help meet the cost of providing refreshments, for example. Overall respondents agreed that all topic areas identified in the questionnaire were required, with Health and Safety being the top choice and accounting and management finances being the least popular. Respondents also identified a few other ideas such as employment, marketing and attracting new Trustees. We will now consider our events/training programme for 2019/20 and review to ensure we are providing sessions that community buildings would find most useful. We would remind all community buildings that we are able to offer limited advice on a 1:1 basis should any community building have a specific training area they wish support with. Results show that 42.7% of respondents are aware of Hallmark but do not have the time or capacity to take part. However, 39.8% of respondents are unaware of Hallmark. Cambridgeshire ACRE will continue to raise the profile of the Hallmark quality standard and explain its benefits to trustees in order to engage more community buildings in the process and convince them of the benefits of receiving assessment.

Section 5. Outdoor Spaces

Cambridgeshire ACRE continues to explore whether we could offer any additional services to those running community facilities. We wished to see whether there is a need for any advice or support for community playing fields or recreation grounds. To help us determine the location of these facilities, we asked respondents to let us know if there were community playing fields or recreation grounds in their communities. Table 6 gives a breakdown of responses, over 80% of responders do have these other facilities.

Answer Choice Response Percent

Yes 83.8%

No 16.2%

Table 6 – Responders with other facilities in their community

When asked for the location of these community playing fields or recreation grounds, respondents told us that just over 55% of these facilities are based in another area of the community as can be seen in Figure 10.

Figure 10 – Location of community playing fields or recreation grounds

Comments regarding the location of community playing fields or recreation grounds can be seen below:

• The VH does have a paddock but this is not habitually used by the community

• Large playing field and play equipment.

• A piece of land has just been given to the village for amenity use & is adjacent to the hall ground.

• The playing field is remote from the village hall and is maintained and looked after by the Parish Council.

• This is perfectly located to merit a hall and green trusts merger.

44.8%

55.2%

Adjacent to the village hall /community building

Physically separate from thevillage hall / communitybuilding

• We have a lottery funded open space behind our community building.

• Part of our site.

• Parish Council owned Queen Elizabeth Millennium Field. Includes enclosed, modern, safe-play area for smaller children.

• Half a mile away.

• We have 4 acres, bowls, tennis, 5 a side court, football, full cricket pitches, bowls club with club house, sports pavilion with full shower facilities for home and away sides, 2nd sports pavilion, children’s playground, and large lake with walking paths. Parking and licenced bar. Sprung floor for sports and weddings. Full stage and AV facilities.

• It has been an issue to get the Parish Council to maintain the football pitches.

• There is a recreation ground with grass pitches for football and cricket and two hard playing areas as well as skate park and playground. There is also a 'pavilion' with hireable space.

• Physically separate from THIS hall.

• It has a pavilion that is due for refurbishment that may come under the Hall's management if and when it happens.

• Behind the village hall.

• We have one opposite the hall and one at the other end of the village.

• Leased by the parish council.

• We have a garden with play equipment used by the playgroup and young children. Main Rec is elsewhere in the village.

• It is owned by the Reading Room Trustees. We asked responders if they were aware who manages these of community playing fields or recreation grounds. Figure 11 shows the management structure of these facilities. The majority, at 65.9%, are managed by a Parish or Town Council.

Figure 11 – Management structure of community playing fields or recreation grounds

When asked for details of other management structures, responders told us:

65.9%

15.9% 14.8%

6.8%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

The Parish / TownCouncil

A separate playingfield / recreation

ground committee orassociation

The village hall /community building

managementcommittee

Other (pleasespecify):

• Was managed by PC but in the process of transfer to the Village Recreation Ground Committee.

• Local Trust Committee.

• Village School.

• Same trustees for hall and green trusts.

• A separate committee with Parish Council representation.

• Cambridge City Council. Conclusions A high percentage of respondents indicated there are other outdoor facilities in their community and that the majority are separate from the community building. Respondents were able to let us know who managed these sites. In nearly 90% of cases the community green space is managed separately from the community building. Cambridgeshire ACRE is able to give some support around managing community green spaces and can signpost enquirers to organisations with relevant expertise if required.

Section 6. Rural Touring

Cambridgeshire ACRE continues to explore how a rural touring scheme might operate for Cambridgeshire. 'Rural Touring' enables community buildings to become promoters and offer professional live performances and cinema events for their communities on a 'no financial risk' basis. Full support would be given to help community building committees understand how such a scheme would work, if we manage to find the funding to run such a scheme. In order to become a promoter, community building committees would need to pay a fee of £36 per year. We asked if responders would be interested in becoming a promoter. Figure 12 shows most responders are unsure and 18.1% are interested. However almost 25% are not interested.

Figure 12 – Responders interest in becoming a promoter of a new Rural Touring scheme

Conclusions There is a positive response with regards to a potential Rural Touring scheme in Cambridgeshire. Although only 18.1% of responders have said a definite “yes” to becoming a promoter, 57.1% have indicated they may become promoters. Cambridgeshire ACRE will continue to work with partners and funders to see whether a rural touring scheme for Cambridgeshire might be possible. It is useful to know that in the event of such a scheme coming to fruition that we have around 20 community buildings who are positive about becoming involved and who would be able to make the financial commitment required to take part. We will keep all community buildings updated on developments in this area.

57.1%24.8%

18.1%

Maybe

No

Yes

Section 7. Support from Cambridgeshire ACRE

Respondents were asked whether they were aware of the membership advice service provided by Cambridgeshire ACRE and to indicate whether they were a member or not. Figure 13 shows the results:

Figure 13 – Responders awareness of the Cambridgeshire ACRE member advice service

For those who are aware of the service but have chosen not to be members, we sought to understand the reasons why. Responders comments are as follows:

• Think we may be a member.

• I am not sure if the VH is a member, but the Charity managing the other hall is a member.

• Will be joining soon.

• I cannot remember what was decided. Sorry.

• The Parish Council, who are actual leases of our Hall are members.

• Lack of capacity to make full use of the scheme. We asked responders to rate the quality of the Cambridgeshire ACRE community building advice service, 43% and 41% of responders rate our service as Good or Excellent respectively.

Answer Choice Response Percent

Excellent 41%

Good 43%

Neither Good nor Poor 16%

Poor 0%

Unsatisfactory 0%

76.2%

13.9%9.9%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

Yes - and my village hall /community building is a member

No Yes - but my village hall /community building has chosennot to be a member at this time

We also asked if responders rated our service as poor or unsatisfactory, that they explain why they have given this rating. Although no responders rated our service as poor or unsatisfactory, they chose to comment anyway as follows:

• Brilliant very very helpful

• I think the work Cambs ACRE do supporting village halls is first rate and is highly collaborative. Running a VH is time consuming and has become more complex over the past few years, without the help of ACRE many halls would really struggle to manage.

• I have not come across your organisation before today.

• Lisa particularly helpful.

• However, we had a query about safeguarding policies, which ACRE seemed to be out of date on national guidelines.

• I have no experience of this facility to comment. Conclusions A high number of respondents were aware of our membership advice service. Overall 84% respondents rated our community building advice service as ‘Good’ or ‘Excellent’. There are some committees that are unaware of the Cambridgeshire ACRE membership advice scheme, we will, therefore, undertake some targeted activity to engage with these committees so they understand the benefits of membership. We will also follow up with those individual respondents confused over membership and the support we can give.

Section 8. Actions to be Taken

Taking on board these survey results and the conclusions drawn, Cambridgeshire ACRE will undertake the following actions in response: 1. Offer support to community buildings to understand their governance structure and their

governing document so they can be sure they are running their community building in the manner required.

2. Continue to promote the Hallmark quality award as the best method for assessing the effectiveness of those running of a community building. We will continue to raise the profile of the Hallmark quality standard and explain its benefits to trustees in order to engage more community buildings in the process.

3. Offer support to community building management committees who do not feel they are operating effectively so they might improve their capacity and confidence in the volunteering tasks they are required to undertake.

4. Develop a plan of action to improve the HallsForHire website so it continues to remain a useful resource for Cambridgeshire’s community buildings.

5. Continue to provide high quality news and information through our e-newsletters, blog posts and online resources.

6. Endeavour to hold events at various times and locations to enable committees to send Trustees along, keeping as many events and training sessions as possible free of charge to attendees.

7. Review our training and events plans for 2019/20 to ensure the sessions we have planned will

meet the needs identified by those running community buildings.

8. Signpost any enquiries around the management of community green spaces and playing fields to those with the expertise to advise fully.

9. Continue our efforts to bring a Rural Touring Scheme back to Cambridgeshire’s community buildings.

10. Undertake targeted activity to engage with committees regarding the benefits of Cambridgeshire ACRE membership. We will also follow up with those individual respondents confused over membership and the support we can give.

Appendix A – Verbatim comments on improvements to HallsforHire website

If Cambridgeshire ACRE was to invest into improvements to the HallsforHire website, have you any ideas for ways it could be improved and re-invigorated. For example: the ability to add your own hall/amend our own listing; the ability for users to leave reviews about your facility, etc.

I think the facility to leave a review would certainly be a good idea. Perhaps a central body to deal with amendments though

It seems to work just fine for us

No strong views either way.

Making changes myself would be very helpful. Ensuring that HallsForHire comes up every time someone searches for a venue. Allowing a lot of personalisation. NB I haven't been the person adding information to HFH. This person is no longer on the committee, and we need to update information about our Hall.

Ability to amend and add own info, e.g. none of the services listed as provided at our village hall have ever been here. Leaving reviews, but not anonymous, would be useful.

Yes, it would be convenient to amend our own listing (password protected).

Free Wi-Fi. Ability to add trusted vendors. Only show vendors that have been approved by us. Alternatively indicate if vendor is approved by us. Most halls offer discounted rates for local groups, make this more prominent. Indicate date updated - especially for hiring rates. Indicate Hallmark accreditation level. List of regular groups, including session times and contact information

It seems to serve us very well, but if Cambridgeshire ACRE believe there is scope to invest in order to improve its outreach any further, we would of course welcome this.

Yes, to amending our listing, reviews are a good idea, slightly more modern look to the website

Ability for us to update

Tracking of Bad Debtors. Comparison of policies - Dog Classes etc

Reviews from hirers would be helpful.

Both above suggestions would be highly welcome. It would also be useful to highlight those halls with the Hallmark Award

Add additional info & people to leave reviews

It should be just a halls listing, the business information is not helpful. Needs link to website/Facebook etc. Allowing users to amend their information would be an expensive modification for little benefit. Reviews are a can of worms - so open to abuse.

More links to associated companies connected with events held at a hall. catering, entertainment etc which might generate more visitors to the web site.

Will hirers find a hall through the ACRE site? more likely through local magazines.

Exactly what you have put above.

Reviews of site amenities and service would be useful

The examples are good. Include pricing and information about the facility and availability.

Ability to add own hall and update charges etc

Both of the suggestions would be an improvement

Able to tailor own listing to suit specific premises e.g. names/descriptions for rooms, general facilities

We do not use this web site as we are in a fairly lucky position that we do not need back to back bookings for income.

We are very fortunate in that our hall is always well used and in demand locally and we do not need to advertise. But other halls might benefit from support and advertising what is available.

All of the above would be very useful. Also interested to know where the website is advertised, is it found via search engines only? Not sure how businesses are added to the website as I'm sure there are lots more that could find this useful but are not listed.

Our concern locally is approaches from across the UK and the giving out of contact details.

The ability to amend own listing would be very useful and a time saver too.

The ability to update the listing would be helpful.

Haven’t used the website but will be investigating

It would be easier to add our own hall and allow users to leave reviews.

To try to get the Halls for Hire website higher up the Google listings if more general search terms, such as 'room' or 'venue', are used - and get the site linked in to other venue search pages.

I have not used 'HallsforHire' and had not seen the website until just now. I will pass on your information to another hall in the village.

I've not used the site so cannot express a view at this time.

As stated ability to leave reviews about their experiences

Yes, reviews about our facility.

Reviews would be really helpful. Easy edit / update would also be useful

Agree with all the improvements stated. Also ensure that there is no false advertising on the site that purport to have worked for our village hall.

Both aspects are relevant and attractive as we seek to extend our possible user base outside the current village groups

Amend info yourself would be a good idea. To leave reviews would be good.

Sounds fine but there are limitations by using the web to book a Hall

I think that the system works, don't "fix" it!!!

The ability for users to leave reviews

No experience of this as didn't know it existed but the ability to add our own hall and get feedback would be most useful.

The Site as it is works well for us

Amend your own listing, reviews about facilities from users also option for paid promotion.

I have not used this site because our premises had hardly any spare capacity. However, having lost some regular groups maybe I should explore this option.

To be able to transfer information from our existing website

Provide access to our calendar to facilitate booking

Acre does a fine job now!

provide a link facility from the Acre website to the individual halls websites

The ability to add/edit your own listing would be good. If hirers are given the option to add a review it would useful to receive a notification when this happens and have the option to post a response, if needed.

Reviews from users

The ability to amend our own listing at any time would be excellent

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