Some days at Great Wood Community Hall remind me what care really looks like in a community space. It isn’t the poster on the door, it’s the quiet work that keeps an old village hall feeling loved and ready.

Our building was opened in 1855, so refurbishment is a constant companion. The stone needs patience and specialists. The ceilings are high enough to make you think twice before you fetch the ladders. We have dried a roof space after a header tank leak and planned fresh ceiling tiles.

We have chased a puddle that crept in and soaked the corridors. We lifted the history room floor and found more work waiting underneath, so we juggled the diary and brought in the right people.

None of that is glamorous, but it is the real maintenance of a historic community venue.

In this Village Hall Life video I share how donations and re-use work at Great Wood Community Hall and why they matter.

There are no set prices; people give what they can and everything raised goes back into running a large village hall.

We also collect “too good to go” items from local recycling centres so useful things get a second life, and we’re setting up a small Share Shed so residents can borrow helpful kit.

It’s simple, community-minded and effective: less waste, more access, and a quiet stream of passive income that helps keep the hall open and welcoming.

In this Village Hall Life episode I share what really happens behind a single booking when a hall runs more than one space at once.

At Great Wood Community Hall in Upper Tean we can hire the Main Hall, Meeting Room and Function Room at the same time. It looks simple on paper. In practice it takes clear roles and simple systems.

Enquiries arrive by online form, mobile and Facebook Messenger. Our caretaker and booking clerk brings them into one place, checks the shared calendar and confirms the room and time in writing, including any extras.

Before each hire the toilets are topped up and the room is cleaned so it feels cared for. During the session we’re reachable for the small things.

Afterward we reset the space, sort rubbish and recycling, close up properly and note any snags to fix. Where we can, we add a short buffer so the reset is calm rather than rushed.

This is how a large village hall stays reliable day after day: one place for enquiries, a diary the team trusts, clear agreements with hirers, clean and ready rooms, and a tidy reset at the end.

A straightforward look at how a busy village hall really runs: full rooms, unseen routines and the mix of costs, care and coordination that keep the doors open at Great Wood Community Hall. Honest, practical and people focused.

A short welcome to Village Hall Life. I set out what the series will cover and why, from the unseen tasks behind a busy village hall to the small, steady steps that keep doors open for the community.

Not all parish council work is visible, in fact, much of it happens quietly in the background.

In this final episode of the A–Z of Parish Councils, I explain what “zero visibility” really means. From preparing risk assessments and writing grant applications, to chasing up repairs, reviewing planning applications, and attending outside meetings, a lot of what we do never makes a poster or a headline.

But without it, the visible parts of parish life, the planters, the events, the community spaces simply wouldn’t happen.

Young people aren’t just the future of our villages, they’re part of our communities right now.

In this episode of the A–Z of Parish Councils, I share how we support young people in Checkley Parish, from funding Tean Youth Club and working with schools, to giving children a direct role in projects like Jubilee Park signage. Their voices might not always be heard at meetings, but they’re part of the decisions we make, and their contributions are shaping our villages today.

Not many parish council terms begin with X, so for this episode I’ve gone with Cross-Parish Work, and it’s a perfect fit. Collaboration is a huge part of what parish councils do.

In this instalment of the A–Z of Parish Councils, I explain how working with neighbouring councils makes a difference, from joint highways meetings and combined planning responses, to shared clerks and joint committees. Parish councils may each serve their own communities, but we’re stronger when we work together.

Ever wondered which council deals with what? In this episode of my A–Z of Parish Councils, I explain the differences between parish, district, and county councils, and how they overlap in practice.

From bins to benches, potholes to parks, I’ll break down who’s responsible, and why parish councils like ours are often the first place residents turn to when they need something sorted.

Volunteers are the heartbeat of parish life. From residents litter picking on daily walks, to children planting up village planters, to neighbours quietly tending community gardens, these acts of care keep our parish looking and feeling like home.

In this episode, I share how we work with and celebrate volunteers, from schoolchildren to youth clubs, village halls, and individuals who give their time without ever asking for recognition.