Village Halls Week 2024 – 18^th to 24^th March

Our annual ‘Village Halls Week’ campaign is happening this year from the 18^th to 24^th March. The idea of this event is to shine a spotlight on the contribution that England’s 10,000 + village Halls make to their communities.

This year we are celebrating everything that village halls can do to ‘go green’.

We are exploring how halls can be made more energy efficient and how management committees can encourage and support sustainable and environmentally friendly behaviour in their community.

We are asking halls to hold your own events, share stories and get inspiration from others. There are many halls in Oxfordshire that are doing their best to ‘Go Green’, this is a chance to showcase your achievements and if you want support on the day I may be able to lend a hand.

Please sign up here https://acre.org.uk/village-halls-week-2024/  to register your interest,  and obtain your free packs of posters, badges and bunting – there are 500 packs and so far 100 halls have registered- there is also an interactive map that you will be entered onto to show where events are taking place, it would be lovely to see more events in Oxfordshire.

There are different themes for each weekday during the week:

1.  Monday – Go Green *
2.  Tuesday – Encourage Behaviour Change
3.  Wednesday – Provide a space for groups concerned with the environment
4.  Thursday – Make your community greener
5.   Friday – Celebrate if you are going green.

* On Monday 18^th March, ACRE will be publishing a detailed guide to retrofitting a village hall, this work is being carried out with Staggs Architects. Halls around the country who have installed a range of different technologies from draught proofing to heat pumps, have been visited and will feature in the guide.

Further reading:

Please have a read here about how the energy crisis has been affecting halls from a survey conducted by ACRE and Utility Aid https://acre.org.uk/briefing-rising-energy-prices-and-village-halls/

And in the following link, watch a film from BBC breakfast about how one hall Orlingbury is really struggling and how one hall in Gamlingay Hall in Bedfordshire has become an Eco Hub. Kirtlington our very green hall in Oxfordshire is also mentioned. The VCSE Energy Efficiency Scheme administered by Groundworks is mentioned too with a link to details of the funding.

https://acre.org.uk/news-roundup-support-to-help-village-halls-become-more-energy-efficient/

Tessa Hall

Community First Oxfordshire

Despite the floods, freezing temperatures and high winds, the new year has started off energetically with lots of activity across Oxfordshire from groups supported by the Connected Communities Fund.

It’s been great to hear from William and Simon at Charlbury Community Workshop – a fantastic new community facility for crafts and woodwork, based adjacent to the Community Centre in the West Oxfordshire town.

Since registering as a charity in March of last year, the team have been busy bringing everything together to get the workshop operational – and things have been moving ahead steadily.  With a dedicated team, they have pulled together to get the final tweaks done so that everyone can be welcomed in.  Colin has been busy PAT-testing as well as fitting a new motor to a vacuum cleaner rescued from a skip!  The fit-out team (Dave, Terry, Mike, Richard, and others) have panelled the side walls of the woodwork room and have started making dedicated storage spaces inside and out.  Meanwhile, Pat has already held a few sessions in the craft room, making cushions for the workshop’s chairs.

The Community Workshop now serves as a hub for various sessions providing opportunities for skill-building and social connections, all in an environment of continuous learning and support.  To find out more, visit their website: https://www.charlburycommunityworkshop.org.uk/

We’re delighted to have supported a range of sheds and workshops over the last two years through the Connected Communities Fund, including:

Thame Community Shed – https://www.thameshed.co.uk/

The Witney Shed – https://www.facebook.com/thewitneyshed/

Shedquarters (Sonning Common & Peppard) – https://www.shedquarters.org.uk/

It’s been great to be able to support these projects and see these facilities connecting communities across the county.

Vicki Baker
Community Development Programme Officer, OCVA

The Connected Communities Fund, is being delivered in partnership by OCVA and Community First Oxfordshire and has been made available by Oxfordshire County Council.