Rural Affairs

Rural Community Buildings Network

Introduction

The Rural Community Buildings Network was set up in July 2006. It has been organised to improve communication on matters that affect rural community buildings; share information and best practice; and provide a unified voice to influence local and central government.  This gives those with a shared interest in rural community buildings, including parish councils, community building managers and advisers the unique opportunity to work together. 

The Network is currently supported by Defra.

RCBN Membership

Methodist Church of Great Britain

The Methodist Church in Britain has nearly 6,000 churches, almost half of which are located in rural communities.  Premises will vary but the majority will offer a communal space that is available for use by the wider community, alongside and in addition to specifically church activities. Many are very well placed and accessible and will be managed by Church Councils that are keen for their buildings to be used as widely as possible. This would include offering space for local community and voluntary groups but also working in partnership with other organizations, such as the Post Office Ltd, the CAB and Social Services.

Information regarding local Methodist Churches can be obtained from the local Minister or lay leadership; contact details of whom can usually be found on the church notice board or in local newsletters.

For information about the Methodist Church of Great Britain, please visit www.methodist.org.uk or contact Rev’d Graham Jones on 024 7685 3074

Action with Communities in Rural England (ACRE)

Defra works closely with ACRE to support the activities of rural communities. ACRE is a national charity that works with other various governmental and non-governmental bodies to promote sustainable development in rural communities. It acts as the umbrella organisation for Rural Community Councils (RCCs), providing support and advice to organisations and individuals interested in rural England. From time to time ACRE acts as a delivery agent for Defra. For example, they administer the Village Hall Loan Fund on behalf of Defra.

Village hall information and advice is delivered by ACRE through its network of village hall advisers, who are based in Rural Community Councils across England.  The village hall adviser in your County should be your first source of information, advice, training and advocacy on all aspects of charity law, management activities, care of premises, social and contractual relationships and trading.  All rural community hall managers can contact Village Hall Advisers for advice and support.

Details of your local RCC contact are available from the ACRE website.

ACRE acts as a forum for all those interested in village halls. Interested parties who have a query or wish to share best practice or seek advice or network can email ACRE.

It is worth visiting the ACRE website for a list of their publications, advice and information.

For further information please visit the ACRE website at http://www.acre.org.uk/  or contact Deborah Clarke on 01285 653477

Church of England

There are over 16,200 Church of England churches in England, over 9,600 (60%) in rural areas. There are also a large number of church halls although we do not have exact numbers for these. Oxford Diocese, which is a largely rural diocese, has around 92 church halls which gives some idea of the scale.

For centuries, most rural churches have been at the centre of their communities.  And in many rural areas, the church is often now the only community building left when school, shop and pub have closed. The importance of churches to their local communities was highlighted in 2004 in Building Faith in our Future, a policy document published by the Church Heritage Forum on behalf of the Church of England

Using evidence from reports,  and surveys and illustrated by case studies, the report demonstrates how integral church buildings are to the whole of our society. With their contribution to cultural and voluntary activity; to social cohesion and regeneration as well as educational activity and tourism; with the economic benefits to their own communities, and their central place in the environment; church buildings touch many lives beyond those of their regular congregations. To read the report please go to http://www.cofe.anglican.org/about/builtheritage/buildingfaith/
 
While the primary purpose of churches will always remain as places of worship, the use of churches for additional purposes and as places from which some of our declining rural services can be delivered is becoming increasingly common. Wanting to serve the community where that help is most needed is part of the mission of the Church. Using historic church buildings for the benefit of their communities, means that in turn the building is valued by that community and the fabric of church buildings can receive greater levels of care as a consequence. Thus the sustainability of the church building is increased, and achieved by using it for its original use and purpose: worship and social outreach. 

The church building can be a resource for both groups and activities run by church volunteers and also for other community groups and their activities. Churches are also being seen as host sites by national organisations who want to deliver locally-based services eg: Post Office Ltd, the Police and parts of the NHS.  There are also examples of community shops, weekly farmers’ markets and cafes taking place inside churches and many are also becoming centres for tourist information. Many churches are increasing the use and potential of their buildings by improving the facilities: installing toilets, upgrading their kitchens while some are going further and creating flexible spaces within the nave and aisles.

Responsibility for managing a parish church is divided between the incumbent, priest in charge or team vicar; the churchwardens; and the parochial church council (PCC). How the church is used, what they feel is appropriate and what community activities take place is up to them.  So if you are interested in using a church building, then make contact with the incumbent or one of the churchwardens.

Any repairs, alterations or extension of a church building or changes to its contents or churchyard require a faculty, that is a licence authorising the work. In the case of Church of England churches, this takes places under the Faculty Jurisdiction which is the Church of England’s mechanism for regulating such changes. It aims to ensure that churches, and everything which belongs to them, are properly cared for, and that whatever is done to them is properly considered beforehand and carried out in the best possible way.  However, the system recognises that churches are living buildings, many of which are historic monuments.

www.churchcare.co.uk is a ‘one-stop shop’ for anyone involved in running a church. It gives advice on Faculty Jurisdiction, repair and maintenance, funding sources, health and safety, and security among many other issues. Links are provided to other sources for further information. It is in the process of being developed to provide more information on the extended use of buildings and how to set up and manage community activities and projects.

For other information, please contact Rebecca Payne on 020 7898 1886.

Churches Conservation Trust

The Churches Conservation Trust is the leading charity conserving England’s most beautiful and historic churches.  It aims to:

  • conserve historic churches no longer in use for regular worship, for present and future generations;
  • increase people’s access to, understanding and enjoyment of those churches, through appropriate adaptations, education programmes, promotion and events;
  • work with local communities to revitalise its churches and through increased use, contribute to community regeneration and social inclusion;

The Trust currently has 400 highly listed churches in its care, in a range of urban and rural locations. The majority of the Trust’s churches are found in rural communities, ranging from tiny hamlets to large villages. The church is often the only community building and thus a valuable resource for local residents. In recognition of this, the Trust is currently running several rural community development projects, for example in South Cambridgeshire and South Yorkshire, to support and develop local community use of and involvement with these historic community buildings.

For further information please visit the Churches Conservation Trust website www.visitchurches.org.uk or contact 020 7213 0660.

County Association of Local Councils (CALCs)

For information about the CALCs please visit www.dorset-aptc.gov.uk or contact David Webb on 01305 260972.

Development Trust Association (DTA)

Development Trusts are defined as organisations which are:

Engaged in the economic, environmental and social regeneration of a defined area or community
This means setting up and running an inclusive mix of services or facilities which respond to the needs of a community. Projects undertaken by DTA members include property development, managed workspace, community businesses, arts programmes, sports and leisure facilities, building restoration, environmental improvement, education work, employment training, information services, community development, social provision, health centres, and so on. Development trusts are found in a variety of locations including market and coastal towns, rural communities. All have a defined sense of place. Additionally, for some people, community means not just place but also identification with a common group. This may be at least as important as identification with the neighbourhood or area in which they live.

Independent, self-sufficient or aiming for self sufficiency, and not for private profit
Development trusts are in the business of sustainable change. As independent organisations they avoid over-reliance on a single funder, and also aim to reduce dependence on grant-aid in the long term. To do so, they may create an income-earning asset base, and build up trading operations or contract income.
Since 2003 the DTA has had a dedicated rural staff member to champion Development Trusts who operate in the countryside. This person works across England and linking with Scotland, Wales and beyond when opportunity arises.
For further information please visit the DTA website at  www.dta.org.uk or contact Charlotte Marwood on 01453 519177.

Girlguiding UK

For information about  Girlguiding UK, please visit www.girlguiding.org.uk or contact Jane Mason on 020 7834 6242 ext. 273.

Local Government Association (LGA)

For information about the Local Government Association, please visit www.lga.gov.uk or contact Steve Hopkins on 01785 278302.

Methodist Church of Great Britain

For information about the Methodist Church of Great Britain, please visit www.methodist.org.uk or contact Rev’d Graham Jones on 024 7685 3074.

National Association of Local Councils (NALC)

Further information please visit the National Association of Local Councils website at www.nalc.gov.uk  or contact Justin Griggs on 020 7290 0317.

National Federation of Women’s Institute (NFWI)

For information about the National Federation of Women’s Institutes please visit www.womens-institute.co.uk or contact Belinda Fairbrother on 020  7371 9300.

National Village Hall Forum (NVHF)

For information about National Village Hall Forum please contact Martin Clifton at martin.clifton@online.net

Quakers – Society of Friends

For information about the Quakers, Society of Friends please visit www.quaker.org.uk or contact John Welton on 020 7663 1000.

Royal British Legion

For information about the Royal British Legion please visit www.britishlegion.org.uk or contact James Overy on 020 7973 7271.

Scouts Association

For information about the Scouts Association please visit www.scouts.org.uk or contact David Shelmerdine on 020 8433 7168.

Society of Local Council Clerks

For information about the Society of Local Council Clerks please visit www.slcc.co.uk or contact Peter Clarke on 01707 262023.

United Reformed Church

In October 1997 the United Reformed Church celebrated its 25th anniversary. It was formed in 1972 by the union of the Congregational Church in England and Wales and the Presbyterian Church of England. In 1981 it entered into union with the Re-formed Churches of Christ and in the year 2000 with the Congregational Union of Scotland. The United Reformed Church is in frequent dialogue on unity with other traditions and has more than 400 local churches united with other denominations.

The United Reformed Church comprises 150,000 adults and 100,000 children and young people in 1750 congregations spread throughout England, Scotland and Wales, served by some 1100 ministers, both women and men. Many of these congregations are located in rural communities and are usually responsible for managing their local church buildings and church halls. Wherever appropriate, the use of these buildings by the wider community and for the benefit of the whole community is encouraged.

For further information visit the URC website at www.urc.org.uk or contact Rev’d Graham Jones on 024 7685 3074.

Minutes of the RCBN meetings

Presentations and discussion papers

Case studies

Case studies can help to promote best practice and are also a good way of learning from the experiences of others.  Below are good examples of how various types of community buildings have been used efficiently to benefit the community they are intended serve. 

Church of England Case studies

All Saints, Sheepy Magna, Leicestershire, opened an outreach post office in the base of their church tower in December 2003: additional services are now being offered by the local authority, and it has become a thriving hub of social activity, appreciated by the local authority as well as the community.

St Mark’s Church, Bedford is now the base for the local police constable and police community support officers as well as numerous other community activities.
http://www.thisischurch.com/stmarks/stmarkcommunitycentre.html

St John the Evangelist, Moggerhanger, Bedford has a village shop in the vestry which is open 6 days a week. www.moggerhangerchurch.co.uk

St Peter and St Paul, Stoke Lacy and Moreton Jeffries, Hereford has toilet and kitchen facilities carefully and sympathetically installed at the back of the church.

Holy Trinity, Much Wenlock, Hereford has transformed areas of the church for community use. A beautiful oak construction houses a meeting room, a toilet and kitchen facilities, and the scheme enabled the pews to remain.

St John the Baptist, Whitbourne, Worcestershire, Diocese of Hereford reordered the north aisle to provide a meeting/social area in the north aisle and provided kitchen and toilet accommodation at the west end of the north aisle with a small first floor meeting room above. The church is now used for existing community events - Concerts, flower festivals and exhibitions, an art club, a teenage discussion group, Riding for the Disabled committee meetings, meetings of the WI, the Police Community Consultative group, Age Concern and the Garden Society, and a drop-in for members of the Ramblers Association. In general attendance has increased due to ability to provide refreshments and availability of toilet facilities.  The school uses the church regularly since the provision of toilet facilities. http://www.whitbourne.org.uk/

St Giles, Shipbourne, Kent holds an indoor farmers' market every Thursday morning from 9 to 11 am. Regular stalls now include two greengrocers, local meat, homemade pies, smoked fish, pickles and preserves, cheese and freshly baked bread. The market attracts around 150 people each week right through the winter. It provides a valuable service to local people who do not have access to their own transport and provides another outlet for local farmers.
http://producedinkent.co.uk/cgi-local/search.cgi?mem.x=1&mid=194

St Mary and St Rhadegund, Whitwell, Isle of Wight opened an outreach post office in the church in April 2007 for two mornings a week.
http://www.portsmouth.anglican.org/fileadmin/images/pompey_chimes/2006/2006-12_p3.pdf

St John, Delabole, Cornwall with the help of a grants from the Rural Churches in Community Service Programme and the Delabole quarry in 2000/2001 re-ordered the church to create two large community rooms in the nave, to provide WC’s, a kitchen and storage space and full disabled access to the whole building via a new path. Regular worship is now held in the Chancel, which is separated from the nave by a moveable screen. The church is now used for an After-school club, Youth group, Sewing group, Meetings of local organisations, Fundraising events, Social functions (lunches, discos, children’s parties, dances), Concerts. The local school use it for worship and curriculum studies.

St Thomas’s, Stanley Crook, Durham,  with the help of a grants from the Rural Churches in Community Service Programme in 2000/2001, converted the west end of the nave to provide two storey accommodation.  They created a gallery at first floor level,  a meeting area under the gallery and provided  kitchen and toilet facilities adjacent to the meeting area. This has enabled a coffee drop-in, a library, a charity shop, Concerts and Arts and Crafts exhibitions. Links have been made with the Arts Department of Sunderland University to encourage young artists and to use the gallery as an exhibition space.

Brough St Michael, Brough near Kirkby Stephen, Penrith is a large grade II* listed church serving a small, scattered rural community on the flanks of the North Pennines.  With the help of 11 funding bodies, they now provide 21st century facilities – a kitchen and fully accessible toilet.  Also, by removing unused pews in the north aisle, they have freed up space to allow the building to become more multi-functional.  Church also part of a tourist trail. It is now well used by the community for meetings and many other activities.

All Saints, Hawsker cum Stainsacre, Yorkshire reordered their church in 2000/2001 to create a multipurpose community space in the nave; to provide a WC in the existing vestry and to provide basic kitchen facilities in the area under the tower.

This has enabled the local primary school, which has no hall, to use the nave for music, dance, drama, assembly and PE. The Community use the church as a meeting place and social centre and the Hawsker Music Centre use the building as a music lesson /rehearsal / concert venue 

St Oswald, Farnham, North Yorkshire. Farnham is a very small village, which has neither a village hall nor public toilets; many of the population are elderly and on fixed incomes. St Oswald’s is a grade I listed building which has been re-ordered and now has kitchen and toilet facilities at the west end of the north aisle; by clearing the west end of the nave, a social space was created and wheelchair access to both the churchyard and church. Now the church is able to host concerts, flower festivals, Parish Council meetings, community meetings and other activities.

 

Page last modified: 4 September, 2007
Page published: 04 August, 2006

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs