October 2015

CONTENTS

Page

NVHF Notice of AGM 1

National Minimum Wage 1

Living Wage 1

Water Quality Questionnaire 1

SCC Capital Grants 1

WPD Community Chest 2

NBC Community Chest 3

Hallmaster 3

Stay Warm This Winter 3

Hallmark 4

How we contact you 4

Setting up a email address 4

Village SOS Cashflow App. 5

Parish Council Help 6

Staffordshire Village Halls Advisory Service

Village Halls Newsletter

National Village Hall Forum Notice of AGM

Thanks to the kind patronage of Damian Green MP and the help of Maria Caulfield MP, the NVHF AGM will be held on 4 November 2015 from 1pm at 7 Millbank, Westminster, London SW1P 3JA. The theme of the AGM will be “Can village halls survive the loss of support networks and funding?” You may recall reading about the National Village Hall Forum campaign for a grants scheme to refund irrecoverable VAT on hall improvements and government funding towards the village halls advice service provided by ACRE and the community council network in the July issue of the Village Halls Newsletter. You may have also seen the NVHF’s press releases; “Village Halls say VAT is a Tax on Voluntary Effort” and “Budget brings added costs for village halls”. The National Village Halls Forum would like as many representatives of village halls as possible to attend the AGM. This is your opportunity to show your support for the campaign and to voice any concerns you may have about the reduction in funding for specialist advice services, lack of grants for improvements or the amount of legislation with which your hall has to comply. If you are interested in attending this meeting, please contact Mary Mathers mary.mathers@btinternet.com

National Minimum Wage

From 1 October 2015 the national minimum wage increased as follows:

National Living Wage

Chancellor George Osborne announced in the summer budget on 8 July 2015 that from April 2016, workers aged 25 and over will have to be paid a 50p premium on national minimum wage, bringing it up to £7.20 a hour. The hourly rate is expected to rise to at least £9 by 2020.

DRINKING WATER QUESTIONNAIRE

WRc plc are an environmental consultancy working with the Drinking Water Inspectorate to ensure that adequate guidance is available on managing drinking water supplies in rural community buildings. A questionnaire is enclosed, which we would be grateful, if you could complete and return to WRc providing them with more information about drinking water quality in your village hall/ community building.

Do you need help on an issue relating to your hall?

Contact:

Cathy Russell on 01785 242525 Ext 206 or email: cathy@staffs.org.uk

Year 21 and over 18 to 20 Under 18 Apprentice

2015 (current rate)

£6.70 £5.30 £3.87 £3.30

2014 £6.50 £5.13 £3.79 £2.73

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Capital Grants Scheme for Village Halls and Community Centres

SCC Capital Grant Scheme for Village Halls and Community Centres is designed to help finance capital or building projects in village halls or community centres in Staffordshire (excluding Stoke-on-Trent). This year approximately £85,000 of funding from Staffordshire County Council was available for village hall and community centre improvement projects through the grant scheme, which is administered by the Community Council of Staffordshire. Usually, most of the funds (except for a small amount set aside for emergency applications) are allocated at the Grants Panel Meeting in March. However this year, a second round of grant awards was made in September as approximately £35,000 still remained for allocation during the financial year. Thirteen projects were awarded a grant during Round 1 and a further seven projects were approved in Round 2 (Please see table opposite). Budget for SCC Capital Grants Scheme 2016/17 The budget for the 2016/17 grants scheme is currently under review and it is unlikely that the outcome will be announced until January/February 2016. Therefore the deadline for applications has been extended to 31 January 2016. Anyone wishing to apply for a grant should contact Cathy Russell on 01785 242525 Ext 206 to discuss their project and to request an application form.

Western Power Distribution Community Chest Not-for-profit community or voluntary groups in the South West of England, the Midlands and South Wales can apply for grants of up to £1,000 from the Western Power Distribution (WPD) Community Chest. The aim of the grants programme is to reduce energy use through improvements to community buildings such as village halls and scout huts. All sorts of energy-saving improvements qualify including roof or cavity wall insulation, boiler replacement, new heating controls, double or secondary glazing, draught proofing, smart lighting, and replacing of appliances like fridges or water heaters for more energy efficient models. It can also fund water-saving equipment like new taps and showers. To be eligible for funding, applicants must undertake a full energy efficiency assessment and be willing to have their project used as a case study. Funding will be awarded on a first-come-first-served basis to groups whose applications meet the terms of the scheme. Applications will initially be accepted for three months from 7 September 2015 until 27 November 2015 , or until the grant pot has been awarded, whichever is sooner. https://www.cse.org.uk/projects/view/1302

Name of Hall Total Project Cost

Project Description Grant Award

Woodseaves VH

(Stafford)

£1,700 Replace old guttering, downpipes and fascia boards with new UPVC ones.

£850

Oulton VH

(Stafford)

£37,640 Complete reroofing of the original section of hall which was built in 1935 together with associated works.

£10,000

Ashley M H

(Newcastle)

£8,496 Refurbishment of gents toilets. £3,000

Great Bridgeford VH

(Stafford)

£8,149 Refurbishment of kitchen and associated works.

£2,500

Church Eaton VI

(Stafford)

£26,889 Lighting and insulation project (new energy efficient lighting, insulation in roof and

£13,000

Caverswall VH

(Moorlands)

£21,985 Upgrade of insulation in roof, replace heating boiler and replace windows and doors in

£5,000

Cotes Heath and Standon VH

(Stafford)

£5,132 Repair of boiler house roof, new efficient heating boiler, with zoned controls to allow small hall and main hall to be heated separately.

£2,500

FUNDING NEWS

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DO YOU NEED FUNDING FOR A COMMUNITY PROJECT?

Are you involved in a community project that needs some money? Did you know that Newcastle Borough Council provides grant funding for voluntary & community groups that you may be able to apply for? Community Chest provides grants of up to £800 for local projects, with funds available in all rural communities of Newcastle. So long as your organisation has a constitution and a community bank account with at least two signatories who are not related, you may be able to apply. Community Chest grants have been issued in recent years to a number of rural projects, including:

Refurbishment of village halls and community buildings.

Equipment for sports clubs.

Village/parish events. Contact: Irene Lee 01782 742569 or irene.lee@newcastle-staffs.gov.uk or your local parish council. Website: https://www.newcastle-staffs.gov.uk/all-services/community/partnerships/community-chest-201516 Newcastle Borough Council also has other grant schemes – please contact Robin Wiles at robin.wiles@newcastle-staffs.gov.uk for further information.

Online booking is now very much part of our everyday lives. People expect to be able to view availability and book directly through their computer or mobile phone. The Hallmaster bookings system is:

Internet based, with NO software to download or updates to apply

Can easily integrate with existing websites

Reduces workload

Allows for multiple users to have access to the hall bookings

Automated emails for confirmations and messages

Additional Invoicing & payment tracking module converts bookings into invoices

Support via telephone and email

Annual price covers unlimited bookings and upgrades ACRE, our national association, has secured an agreement with Hallmaster to offer community buildings that are members of the Staffordshire Village Halls Advisory Service a discount on their Annual Booking Management System Licence. A 90 day free trial is available, but when you sign up for a full Annual Licence, if your hall is a member of the Village Halls Advisory Service, you will receive a £10 discount . If you are interested in a demonstration of the system, please contact your Cathy Russell, Village Halls Adviser on 01785 242525 Ext 206. If you wish to start the free trial straightaway then just register online at www.hallmaster.co.uk. For more information call 01929 509846 or email: info@hallmaster.co.uk

Help for Individuals to Stay Warm this Winter

With the colder weather approaching, many people are worried about the cost of heating their homes. Help is out there

– if you know where to look. Energy advice lines around the county are on hand to help by providing guidance on;

staying warm in the home, problems with heating and hot water, fuel bills, financial help available locally and nationally

and energy efficiency and renewable technologies.

Lichfield (Warm Homes Greener District) free phone 0800 677 1543

Tamworth (Home Energy Advice Tamworth) – free phone 0800 043 2815

South Staffordshire (South Staffordshire Energy Advice Line) – free phone 0800 193 1902

Stafford (Warmer Homes Stafford) – free phone 0800 677 1785

Energy advice lines are run by registered charities; Marches Energy Agency and Beat the Cold.

Congratulations to Walton Village Hall Sandon Parish Room was the venue for the Community Council of Staffordshire’s Annual General Meeting on 8 October 2015, where following the formal business of the meeting, Her Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant of Staffordshire, Mr Ian Dudson CBE, C StJ and patron of the Community Council of Staffordshire presented Mr Bob Jenkins, Chairman of Walton (Berkswich) Village Hall with a certificate for Hallmark 1. The Lord-Lieutenant gave thanks for his invitation to the meeting and said how much he had enjoyed listening to the breadth of work and activities carried out by CCS. He went on to say that everyone knows the value of a well-run village hall and he congratulated Walton (Berkswich) Village Hall committee members on their achievement. He also thanked the Hallmark visitors for their efforts in helping to raise the quality standards. Hallmark was developed by the Community Council for Somerset in 2002 and is now a nationally recognised standard for a well managed village hall. The aim of the scheme is to encourage the establishment of good practice and procedures and to recognise and reward committees for the effort they put in to making sure their hall is run to the best standards. The main benefits of the scheme are that:

it provides funders with a benchmark for a well managed community facilitiy

it gives management committee members confidence that they are running their hall in the correct way.

Some insurance brokers offer a discount to village halls that are participating in Hallmark.

How does the Hallmark scheme work? Hallmark uses a system of trained peer visitors who use checklists to identify performance and provide an external validation of achievement. These peer visitors are often active hall committee members who have been through the Hallmark system themselves. This peer visitor system is overseen by the Village Hall Adviser. If you are interested in becoming a volunteer visitor for Hallmark, please contact: Cathy Russell on 01786 242525 Ext 206 There are three parts to Hallmark: Hallmark 1 focuses on the management and administration of the charity. Hallmark 2 focuses on health, safety, security and licences. Hallmark 3 focuses on community and social awareness, communications, forward planning and development. For further information contact: Cathy Russell on 01785 242525 Ext 206 Norris & Fisher (Insurance Brokers) Ltd, Allied Westminster (Insurance Services) Ltd and Aon Risk Services all offer a discount for village halls participating in the Hallmark Scheme.

HOW WE CONTACT YOU Nowadays news of funding opportunities is usually received by the Community Council via email bulletins and often the deadlines for applying are very near, so it is important that we have a way of passing this information on to you as swiftly as possible. The best way for us to do this, is by forwarding the information via email. However, we only have email addresses for about half the halls in Staffordshire. Due to a reduction in funding for our work and high postage costs, we cannot afford to send out the information by first class post anymore. If we send the information by second class, which can take up to 5 days to be delivered, it doesn’t allow sufficient time for you to act on the information received, so without an email contact, you could be missing out on vital information. So, if you haven’t already done so, please could you provide the office with an email contact? It doesn’t have to be the secretary, anyone who is prepared to pass on the information to the rest of the committee will do.

SETTING UP A FREE GENERIC EMAIL ADDRESS One of the key elements in running a successful community building is having the means to receive communications efficiently. Without this, you may: lose potential income from individuals or groups that

may wish to hire your venue,

be unaware of new funding sources and changes to current funding schemes,

miss out on information on new legislation and regulations

To ensure that you receive communications, even if a key committee member leaves or goes away on holiday, we strongly recommend that you consider setting up a FREE generic email address for your village hall or community centre. Call Cathy on 01785 242525 to request a leaflet .

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VILLAG E SOS - CASHFLOW APP A new Mobile App, which aims to help community groups with their project planning, has been launched by Village SOS. Funded by the Big Lottery Fund, the Village SOS campaign offers one-to-one support and advice to community groups who are providing a service in their local community, via a network of partnership organisations across the UK. It is hoped that the Mobile App; which is available FREE to download on both Android and Apple devices, will make the process of developing project ideas easier. Packed full of case studies, project planning advice, business planning tips as well as downloadable templates such as a ‘cashflow template’ this is a very useful resource to have at your fingertips. The App has been designed to work without internet connection, once downloaded, and it is hoped that this will help those in the many rural communities where the ability to get online is limited or in some cases non-existent. To read more about the Village SOS Mobile App including how to download, please visit the Village SOS website www.villagesos.org.uk.

PAT SERVICE

Portable Appliance Testing Charges:

Within 5 miles of Stafford, up to 20 items £55

5-10 miles of Stafford, up to 20 items £65

10-15 miles of Stafford, up to 20 items £75

15-20 miles of Stafford, up to 20 items £85

And so on ….

Additional items (above 20) will be charged at:

Members - £1.50 per item

Non-members - £2.50 per item

If you would like to arrange for your portable electrical

equipment to be tested, please call Cathy on: 01785 242525 Ext 206.

DISCLAIMER: The Community Council of Staffordshire cannot be held responsible for the quality of any goods or services

provided by any business advertising in this newsletter.

PARISH COUNCIL HELP FOR VILLAGE HALLS

Parish and town councils can work with village halls and community centres to ease the financial burden of running or improving premises and to stimulate new community activities in a number of ways by;

helping the governance of the hall by appointing a parish councillor onto the management committee, who can set a good example to others by participating actively at meetings and encouraging others to do so, offering practical assistance and reporting back to the council regularly

providing funding for hall maintenance from the precept so the management committee can plan more effectively for both regular and intermittent expenditure

providing capital funding towards repairs or extensions through loans and grants

using the hall for committee or public meetings and recognising the need to pay a full rent

helping to identify local needs through village appraisals or parish plans helping to develop new activities by arranging joint meetings or providing small pump priming grants to those who want to take ideas forward.

For further information on how your parish council could help your hall see VHIS 2 – Parish Council Help for Village Halls available free of charge to members by calling Cathy on 01785 242525 Ext 206.