Rural Affairs

Village halls and community buildings - Funding sources

We have identified the following funding sources but the list is not exhaustive, there may be others. ACRE's publication Funding Trusts for Village Halls and Community Centres is available and may contain other sources.

For information on funding, application forms and queries, please contact the funders, Charitable Trusts and Foundations mentioned on this website directly using the contact details under each entry. Please do not contact the Defra village halls team, as we do not operate any of the programmes.People meeting in a community hall

Some village halls have been able to identify funding that have resulted in successful projects. Two of the many successful ones are:

  • Teesdale Village Halls, all 29 of them, have formed a consortium to promote themselves as modern conference and meeting venues under a Leader+ project. This has led to increased use of the halls for new activities, achieve their goal of sustainability through developing their halls as social enterprises. Leader+ £10,000, total. Further details are available on the Teesdale Village Halls website at www.teesdalehalls.co.uk.
  • In the Ribble Valley, Chipping have turned the village hall into a community resource centre as part of Communities Futures partnership working. The centre offers facilities for private and business hire, traditional activities and new ones such as Exercise on Prescription where exercise sessions are teamed up with regular health check delivered by the Borough Council through an agreement with the Primary Care Trust. When a meeting or party is held in the hall, catering supplies are sourced locally, which gives the local butcher the job of making the sausages and boosts the local economy. Further details are available from the Chipping Village website at www.chippingvillage.co.uk

In some rural areas, churches are adapting their buildings to accommodate communities' activities.  Funding may be available for churches who make innovative use of space within their church buildings for activities that would be of benefit to the community.  Two such examples are:

  • Extended use - St Michael and All Angels, Winforton, Herefordshire is a Grade II listed building that was converted for community meeting space for the whole village after a local consultation. A community association was set up jointly between the congregation and wider village. A package of grants from various sources including the proceeds from the sale of the village hall, Countryside Agency and the Council, enabled work to be done to adapt part of the church for community use with modern facilities. The worship area was retained, and the base of the tower and north transept were converted with kitchen and toilet facilities. New heating and lighting made it a welcoming place for the whole community to use. It opened in September 2005.
  • Area of high unemployment and deprivation - The Lingla Centre, St Paul's, Frizington, Cumbria cost £223,000. It is within the EU Objective 2 area. The Victorian church was reordered to include an area for a café, large meeting room and office space on an upper floor and access for disabled people. Affordable nutritious meals are provided, training in health, nursery nursing, and recreational activities are accommodated. Meetings of local organisations such as voluntary and community support organisations use the rooms. Community Café has a catering kitchen and it has had the most impact for quality of community life in the village and beyond. It includes a mobile meals service and has provided employment.

Page last modified: 23 March, 2006
Page published: 8 December, 2005

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs