England’s 10,000 village halls rely on more than 12 million hours of volunteering each year to deliver their vital role at the heart of rural communities, a new survey* has revealed. In Cumbria, that’s approximately 28,000 hours from volunteers running classes and events, and on the hall management committees.

Lorrainne Smyth, Chief Executive for ACTion with Communities in Cumbria (ACT), presented results from the nationwide survey to representatives from Community Buildings and Village Halls at ACT’s joint AGM and free training event last week.

Resilient Communities is the theme for a conference taking place on the 9^th October in Cumbria. Communities and agencies that are interested and involved with emergency planning and recovery will hear the context within which the statutory Local Resilience Forum (LRF) responds to emergencies and show how communities play a valuable and vital role.