VILLAGE HALL DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE LINKS to FUNDING web sites The internet provides a wealth of information on Village Halls, their development and funding. Click on the underlined link to start exploring. Additional links will be added at future dates. http://www.defra.gov.uk/rural/communities/halls/ This site operated by DEFRA (Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs) is the best starting point for an overview of Village Halls and their funding. From this site there is a trail leading to most funding details. There are some very interesting links to land fill tax funds. http://www.acre.org.uk/ Action within Communities in Rural England or ACRE is generally used for loans or finance to fill in whist waiting for other funding monies to arrive. However they offer a huge list of pamphlets and books on designing, building, running and developing village halls.A http://www.charity-commission.gov.uk/ The King’s Somborne Village Hall is a registered charity and this site gives the low down on all charities and the rules and regulations that govern them. The King’s Somborne Village Hall is charity number 301866 and details of accounts and reports are available on this site. http://www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/prog_community_buildings Many of the older Government funds are now incorporated into the Big Lottery Fund. The Community Buildings fund is the current real biggy and for a major change to a Village Hall this is the best fund. The information links on this site hold all the clues to successful applications. The sums are £50,000 to £500,000 with a total pot of £50million. The average award will be £250,000 and very importantly the closing date is 30 April 2007. http://www.open4community.info/testvalley1/Default.aspx Test Valley Borough Council operates a site specifically for communities seeking funding. To operate the search engine fully you need to register and this is a simple process. They like Hampshire County Council have a full time expert who will advise on the best funding routes for a specific project. http://www3.hants.gov.uk/grants/cx-grants-search-all-grants/cx-grants-community-support-grant/cx-grants-community-buildings-partnership.htm This is the Hampshire County Council’s Buildings funding site and they offer a wide range of support activities. Guidelines for application for funds are given. It should be noted that TVBC and HCC grants are not available to Parish Council owned Village Halls. Tony Ward 7 October 2006 That | 
