Our village hall is one of 10,000 up and down the country that are at the heart of community life and in our case the heart of the village.

They provide numerous social activities, classes, and services like the Post Office that visits the hall twice a week.

These halls are run by around 80,000 volunteers but that number is dwindling as new, younger volunteers are not coming through to replace those who have retired.

This is a situation that we face in Kingsley and its slightly reassuring to know that we are not alone, not that it makes matters better.

An article in the Telegraph newspaper yesterday highlighted the issues we and other halls face. It can be read HERE (opens in new tab)

ACRE (Action with Communities in Rural England) is at the forefront of efforts being made to address the issues as regards volunteers as well as providing support to village halls across the country.

As part of this, they are running a Village Hall’s Week from 22nd January to champion the diverse range of buildings and communities that make up the network of village halls across the country, as well as the services they offer.

There will be an opportunity to say thank you to the volunteers who run the buildings and learn more about the groups, organisations, individuals, and businesses who are making use of them week in and week out. Predominantly the week will take place on social media (Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram)

The week will use the hashtag of #VillageHallsWeek.

The hall, of course, is joining in and will in the run-up to the week and during it showcase the various activities at the hall, to encourage its continued use and hopefully one or two people to volunteer.