Village Halls - Homepage

The Village Halls website is a one stop shop for news, information and networking for anyone involved in managing a village hall or community building in Scotland.

Water charges exemptions to continue to 2014 - 04 Jun 08

The voluntary sector today gave a cautious welcome to the Scottish Governments determination to continue its Water Rates Exemption for the voluntary sector. The exemption will continue the current scheme until 2014.

Funding latest - 54, from the Rural Community Gateway - 13 May 08

Catch up on the latest funding news from The Rural Community Gateway website. It includes latest news on funding, including new programmes, deadlines and events, plus a spotlight on Sports Relief.

Getting started with the Scotland Rural Development Programme - 21 Apr 08

The new Scotland Rural Development Programme has now opened and communities can begin the application process to Rural Priorities. There's plenty of potential in the programme for funding hall projects. Find out how to get started and get a BRN, the first step on the way to an application.

Report on the Village Halls Summit 2008 - 14 Apr 08

Map of Scotland showing where delegates came from

The report on the first ever Village Halls Summit, which took place in Aviemore on 22nd February is now available. The report includes a transcript of the Cabinet Secretary Richard Lochhead's keynote speech, presentations and outputs from the round table discussions.

Full list of News Stories

New! - Companies Act 2006 - charitable issues
Information provided by MacRoberts on the Companies Act 2006, specifically the sections which may affect charities in Scotland.

New! - Your Community Building Counts
Your Community Building Counts covers example and case studies of what village halls, urban community centres and other buildings can do to reduce their carbon footprint, shop ethically, create less pollution and of course save the groups money over time. Funders such as Big Lottery Fund are placing increasing emphasis on the environmental sustainability of community buildings when making grants so this could be an invaluable guide to anyone developing their building.

Updated! - Funding building projects
The funding page has been updated to include the Scottish Community Project Fund which provides grants to employ an architect or any other building professional to prepare a feasibility study for building or environmental improvement projects.

Loan Finance - 04 Jul 08
This page outlines the relatively new concept of loans for the voluntary sector. It covers typical lenders and key conditions.

Grants - 04 Jul 08
This page provides a brief introduction to grants highlighting some key aspects and grant givers.

Pay - 27 Jun 08
An explanation of terms and some of the rules regarding payment of employees as well as a note on salary levels in the voluntary sector and the current SJC scales 2006 - 2008. Please note that the cost of living increase to be applied from 1st April 2008 has not yet been agreed.

Funding Building Projects - 15 Apr 08
Fundraising for hall building projects is no easy task. This page points you to the various sources of funding for capital projects.

Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation (SCIO) - 14 Apr 08
It is currently anticipated that the SCIO legal form will be available from 2010. It is designed to provide the protection of limited liability without the bureaucracy of being a company limited by guarantee, which is irrelevant for most charities. OSCR will administer the registration of and regulate SCIOs.

Calendar of courses and events

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