Durham

Gainford Village Hall

Celebrating the community

Bill Oldfield has been the chair of Gainford Village Hall for the past two years. The space was bequeathed to be run by a charity as a resource that benefits the local community. Looking forward to the next 50 years, Bill and the Trustees set about protecting the community asset for the long term. This involved:

  • Having an energy survey carried out
  • Replacing the windows
  • Fitting new doors

Bill Oldfield, Chair of Gainford Village Hall, explains more: 

Protecting a community asset

The Community Spaces Partnership provides access to funding for bigger projects, building on the successes of previous funding in processes of continual improvement. In Gainford this included:

  • A strategic review exercise with DCA to identify common goals, aims and objectives
  • Procuring new windows for the space
  • Arranging for them to be fitted by a local business
  • Replacing the doors
  • Carrying out an energy survey to determine next steps towards Net Zero

Community impacts

Improvements to the space through the Community Spaces Partnership funding have benefitted the local community, by:

  • Stopping the building degrading
  • Integrating young and old in both the hall's committee and through events
  • Bookings for the hall have increased
  • Bringing people together at events such as parties and a Coronation celebration village tea party
  • Providing support through warm coffee mornings

Future plans

​The Trustees have a shared vision to continue improving the hall and secure a long-term, sustainable future. They have already refitted the kitchen, refurbished meeting spaces and upgraded the bathroom facilities.

In future, the trustees aim to protect the interior and exterior of the hall. This will include upgrading the heating, hopefully with heat pumps if suitable combined with solar power. Insulating the building to make it warmer and protect it from damp is another priority.

 

Bill said:

"​If it wasn't for an organisation like the village hall being there in the first place, a lot of people would think they didn't need it [...] it isn't old fashioned to think that there needs to be a community hub to bring people together."

How Durham Community Action helped

​Durham Community Action (DCA), building on a long relationship of sharing advice and knowledge, helped to prepare the hall for funding by facilitating a strategic review of the Trustees' aims and objectives. DCA also supported the Trustees to implement policies and governance.

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