A forward planning day for your village hall

The Community Partnership, supported by Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park Authority, is holding its first Village Hall Summit; bringing together all those in the National Park and gateway communities who manage these community hubs.

The summit will take place on Wednesday 27 June 2018, from 4pm - 8.30pm at National Park Headquarters, Balloch.

The Summit will provide inspiration and practical advice to help build individual action plans for each hall, securing a collective vision for successful and sustainable community spaces across the park.

The summit will feature case studies of other village and community halls using their space in innovative or impressive ways; practical workshops that will help managers to create an outline development plan bespoke to their hall; as well as networking and access to advice from over twenty experts.

The aim of the event is to empower hall managers to deliver actions that will improve the quality of the service and facilities they provide to their communities – a vision outlined in the National Park Partnership Plan 2018-2023. 

Stuart Mearns, Director of Rural Planning and Development at Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park Authority, said: “The National Park Partnership Plan sets out an exciting vision for our communities that ensures they are empowered and supported to influence and deliver actions that improve their quality of life and place. This event is just one example of partners in the Plan coming together to make that vision a reality.

“The Village Hall Summit promises to be a practical and productive day which will offer big benefits for those spaces which bring together our communities. I would encourage anyone with a role in managing a village or community hall to come along to hear from experts and learn best practice from your peers, so that you can begin forward planning an exciting and sustainable future for your hall.”

Dinah McDonald, Chair of the Community Partnership, said: “Our village halls have always been the heart of rural communities. Ensuring a sustainable future for these spaces in today’s world can seem an increasingly difficult challenge to the many volunteers who are the core of their success. This Summit promises to offer tools and support to make that job far easier and the future of community spaces more exciting.”

Guest speakers include Cove Burgh Hall – a working community hub which was also one of the first Village Halls in Argyll & Bute to gain SCVO’s Keystone quality assurance award.

Find more information and the event schedule here.

*Header image shows Cove Burgh Hall.