South Lakeland

Community Assets

Village Halls, Community Buildings, and other community owned assets are the very heart of communities. ACT supports the volunteers who manage these facilities through the Community Asset Advice Service.

• The Community Assets Advice service provides support and information on a range of queries from governance and legislation to project planning. The Gazette, ACT’s quarterly newsletter includes a Community Assets section, and is also sent out to all Village Hall Management Committees. Our Directory of Community Buildings, to the right of this page, provides information on Community Buildings in Cumbria and is a free resource for them to promote their facilities. If your hall's details are missing or need to be updated, please complete this form and send to us at ACT.

ACT is able to lead you through the steps involved in developing a business-like approach to planning, developing and managing groups and facilities, such as village halls. Our development team includes people with the experience necessary to help you plan for the future. Should you need specialist advice, we can put you in touch with people with the necessary skills.  To access some of the resources available online please click here. We can also help you to think about the needs of your local community and to consider ways in which the assets that you already control, village halls, open spaces, allotments and so on, might be used to meet those needs. For example, people living in both Crosthwaite and Bolton have created ‘Exchanges’ using their village halls as a social hub where local people can access a variety of services as well as enjoy meeting one another.

Case Studies highlighting the experiences of village halls, their learning, and celebrating their achievements are also available. These include video case studies of interviews with village halls committee members who have been involved in refurbishment projects, run regular film nights, and Community Exchanges. With the help of the Big Lottery we have also produced a short video interview: Big Lottery Funding Application Information

Community Buildings in Eden looking for funding to make improvements may want to consider applying for an Eden District Council Village Hall Grant of up to £2000. For more information please download the Guidance Notes and Application Form.

Contact a member of our Development Team to find out more about this and our other services.