Village Hall demonstrates the value of training

The background:

Kirtling village hall sits in the village of Kirtling and Upend, approximately 3 miles south of Newmarket. The village consists of 165 housing units, with a population of approximately 400 residents. The village hall was built in 1995 and is a current Cambridgeshire ACRE member. The Trustees are aware of Support Cambridgeshire and what it aims to achieve (strengthening community organisations across Cambridgeshire).

The village hall faces a number of challenges. The first is a requirement for more Trustees to help and support the work of the hall, and provide it with more strategic direction. The village hall wants to remain at the centre of village life, but realises it needs to learn from others experiences in order to further develop this approach.

Networking:

Through the Support Cambridgeshire partnership, Cambridgeshire ACRE ran a coffee morning come and learn on the subject of Fire Safety in Village Halls (May 2017). The Trustees see this type of networking as invaluable, as they often work alone and talking to others who run village halls and face similar challenges is vital.

Impact:

The Trustees self- assessed their skills, knowledge and understanding of the subject area at 30% prior to training.
The Trustees self-assessed their skills, knowledge and understanding of the subject area at 75% post training completion.

The Impact Increase in skills and understanding was therefore 45%.

Training in practice:

The trustees have started to put some ideas into practice as a result of their learning: These include:

• Hazard identification.
• The requirement for Regular PAT Testing.
• Fire signage.
• Rules around the use of Fire Doors.
• Emergency Lighting in the event of a fire.

Supporting comments:

I go to as many of these events as I can. The opportunity to exchange information and work with peers is invaluable.
The Community Facilities Development Officer knows her job inside out and is a tremendous source of support.
We have received a fantastic level of support overall.