The Village Halls Podcast

Fundraising is never easy, but one UK company has come up with really simple way of bringing a bit of extra income to village, church and community halls, while also supporting charities and helping the environment. Our guest, Alexandra Holmes from ASTCO, explains how it all works...

Beer, boats, costumes and occasional skulduggery... Only in Britain could this kind of bonkers bedlam take place each year. Tracy Watson from Noss Mayo joins us to 'unshroud the mystery' behind a photo she sent us of something called 'The Beer Race'. An episode you will not want to miss... 

There are few places better than your local village hall for exercising, especially if you're not getting any younger! Nesta Shephard, despite being in her seventies, still takes 6 fitness and pilates classes a week and and is passionate about exercise for all kinds of reasons. 'Pilates Nesta' talks to us about how she battled back from debilitating health, the era of leg-warmers & headbands and how she believes halls are the perfect place for staying fit and healthy, provided everything is run properly of course...

So how would you like not one, not two, but FIVE opportunities to receive £1,000 for your village, church or community hall? Well, here’s your chance! Today we've launched an Awards programme for village halls and other rural community buildings, to recognise the incredible contribution you all make across a variety of categories. And for this episode we take you through the five categories of what we’re calling The Wonderful Villages Awards. Listen in to find out what we're looking for and how to enter. This is a fantastic opportunity for your hall to gain recognition, share your achievements and stories and... of course, receive some funds to keep it all going. Good luck everyone!

Many village halls host cafes, shops, markets, post offices and all kinds of other community businesses. Some have even taken over their local pubs! So this got us thinking… Just how easy is it to start a community business? And what support is out there to help village halls, or anyone else for that matter, get one up and running? Our latest guest Hannah Barrett, Senior Project Manager with the Plunkett Foundation, has the answers and all kinds of support. So if you’re interested in starting a new community business, listen in today.

Love it or hate it, we all now very much depend on being online. But are our village, church and community halls making enough of their websites? Our guest for this episode, Mark Harris, Chair of Bowerhill Village Hall, explains how being online has attracted those in their community and beyond, and talks about a recent website makeover that’s taking them to the next level.

Village, church and community halls often rely heavily on rental income from those using their buildings to provide services and activities to the community. So if, for some reason, those services or activities suddenly stop, halls can find themselves in a bit of a financial pickle. Finbar Murphy is Chair of Cookham Dean Village Hall in Berkshire, which lost a key tenant just over two years ago. Thankfully, they responded with an idea that’s not only kept everything going for the hall, but is helping local residents and businesses and has even spread to another community nearby. Finbar joins us for a Village Halls Week special episode to explains how it all works... 

Welcome to Season 2 of our podcast. For our first episode of 2022 we announce the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th prize winners of our Wonderful Villages Photo Competition and reveal some of our plans for this year, including a brand new and exciting opportunity to receive recognition and support for you and your village, church or community hall.

Since we launched our podcast in January 2021 we've had all kinds of guests on the show who have surprised us, enlightened us and inspired us. So, for our last episode of the year, we thought we'd look back at some of the highlights of Season One, reliving a few special moments. It's almost Christmas, so put your feet up, grab a cuppa and relax while listening in to some of our best bits. All the very best everyone and thank you for being part of our listening community. See you in 2022!