Action with Communities in Rural England (ACRE) is currently undertaking its Village Halls survey for 2013-14 and is looking to gather information on village halls in order to raise the profile of community buildings and their volunteers.
ACRE is the national umbrella body for the 38 Rural Community Councils (RCC) who work at local level in support of rural communities across the country with Community Action Suffolk being the RCC for Suffolk.
The questions in the survey are designed to help get a clearer picture of how topical issues such as licensing, VAT, rate relief and broadband are affecting village halls. There are also some general questions around volunteers, community enterprises and activities – plus a few light-hearted questions which will help us to attract the attention of the media and encourage them to engage with the wider issues.
ACRE has compiled a short, online survey for hall management committees to complete, which will build on the findings of the comprehensive survey of December 2009 which many Suffolk Village Halls took part in.
You can take part in the survey here.
The survey will take you approximately 10-15 minutes. The deadline for submissions is 24th March 2014.
ACRE is still working on gaining enough support to establish an All-Party Parliamentary Group on village halls and will use the findings of the survey to keep the work of hall volunteers and the challenges they face in the spotlight with Government departments, MPs and the media.
The more information gathered the more evidence available to lobby on issues that affect the sustainability and survival of village halls.
If you have any queries about this particular survey, please contact ACRE on 01285 653477 or [email protected]
For any other enquiries please contact a CAS Locality Officer.
Click here to see which areas of Suffolk our Officers cover.
Claire Taylor-Haigh [email protected]
Jon Eaton [email protected]
Louise Fairbrother [email protected]