April 24, 2025 • 8 mins
The 2025 Village Halls Inspiration Awards are announced with a £5,000 prize fund to celebrate the beating hearts of rural communities across the UK. Marc Smith and Allied Westminster MD Gavin Mitchell discuss how these awards evolved from a photography competition to an initiative showcasing inspirational stories from village halls nationwide.
• Awards open from May 1st to September 30th, 2025
• Total prize fund of £5,000 (£2,500 first prize, £1,500 second prize, £1,000 third prize)
• Open to all village, community and memorial halls in rural parts of the UK
• Entries should be 600-800 words telling an inspiring story
• Judges looking for impactful, authentic stories that could inspire others
• Entries must have permission from the hall's governing body
Submit your entry through the Village Halls podcast website. If you have questions, leave a comment on the podcast page.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Marc Smith (00:01):
Hello, my name is Marc Smith and welcome to the
Village Halls podcast sponsoredby Allied Westminster, the UK's
largest specialist provider ofVillage Hall insurance and the
home of Village Guard.
Welcome to another VillageHalls podcast.
Today is a special one becausewe are announcing the 2025
(00:22):
Village Halls Inspiration Awards.
I also have the pleasure ofwelcoming back Gavin Mitchell,
the MD of Allied Westminster.
Welcome back to the show, Gavin.
Gavin Mitchell (00:31):
Hello MMarcark, Hello, how are you?
Marc Smith (00:33):
I'm very well, thank you.
Now, this is my first award,but I was wondering if you could
talk about how the awards firstcame about, as they were not
always the Inspiration Awards.
Gavin Mitchell (00:44):
Now, I think we've been doing this now for
about five years and it allstarted off with what was
originally called the WonderfulVillagers Award and it was
actually a photo competition.
A photo competition really allabout village communities and so
on and so forth, village lifeand celebrating basically not
(01:07):
just village halls but villageand rural communities.
And it was really really goodfun.
It was great.
We had some fantastic entriesand some great photographs and
so on and so forth.
And the concept originally wasaround the idea of people in the
village, whether they wereprofessional or amateur
photographers, taking a reallynice photograph, submitting it
(01:31):
and nominating a village hall.
So the photographer would winmoney and their nominated
village hall would win money.
So it sort of got the ruralcommunities, the village
communities, engaged and, yeah,it helped village halls with
some of the winnings.
But of course, with a podcastand photographs.
(01:51):
Podcasts are all about sound andI think it basically morphed
into the Village HallsInspiration Award.
Because of all the good workyou've been doing in the podcast
site and some of the greatstories that were coming out in
the podcast, we realised that agreat way to share good stories,
(02:12):
a great way to inspire VillageHalls across the country, would,
in fact, be to morph it into aVillage Halls Inspiration Award.
Marc Smith (02:23):
So I suppose we are now in our fifth year of the
awards and the purpose of theawards has always been around
celebrating village halls as thestrong beating hearts of rural
communities across the UK.
So I suppose we want to inspiretrustees, committee members,
volunteers and whole communitiesto share their stories, stories
that how village halls arebeing nurtured, revitalised and
(02:45):
reimagined and you can hear thisin last year's um village halls
awards, which I will link onthis podcast page, but also the
village halls inspiration awardspage.
It's also a chance to highlightsuccess stories like we can
spark new ideas and confidencein our communities.
Now, Gavin, you were on thepodcast when we're speaking with
(03:06):
Jo Nickless, yeah, and I thinkthe the standout um element of
that was that North Mortonvillage hall ended up with, uh,
basically a queue of peoplewanting to be trustees, and I
think that type of thing iswhat's ideal for the village
halls inspiration awards,because it really shows what
(03:29):
what these communities can doabsolutely I don't.
Gavin Mitchell (03:33):
I think, to be honest with you, it was a
fantastic entry and obviouslyyou can listen to the the um,
you can listen to that podcastum off off your website.
But, um, that was the one thingthat stood out for us.
I mean, it was a fantasticentry that talked about how they
engaged the local communityusing online forms and really
(03:57):
looked for specialists andpeople with the great skills to
get involved with the Billy'sHall.
So they got all ages, allskills, to involved with the
Village Hall.
So they got all ages, allskills to revitalise the Village
Hall, in fact revitalise thecommunity.
But so much so and that was astandout thing for me was the
fact that they had a waitinglist for a team.
(04:17):
And I go across the country andI constantly hear the problem
with village halls or villagehall committees and other party
members is getting peopleinvolved in managing and helping
govern the village halls.
It's one of the greatestproblems and, of course, that's
why the north wharton uh winningentry stood out so much for me
(04:41):
yeah, totally am well.
Marc Smith (04:44):
So, uh, whoever's been on the website will have
noticed that we have a page onthere that talks about this
inspirational wars, but thereare no dates.
So now we can announce theopening dates, which is the 1st
of May 2025.
Now, the entries are accepteduntil the 30th of September 2025
.
So you've got plenty of time toput your entry in.
(05:06):
So once the entries are closed,we will have four weeks until
the 31st of October when we willannounce the three winners.
Now, Gavin, what are the prizesfor these three winners?
Gavin Mitchell (05:18):
Well, there's a total prize fund of £5,000
available, which we are veryproudly sponsoring alongside our
underwriting partner,Ecclesiastical, which is part of
the Benefacts Group.
So, as I say, the total prizefund is £5,000, and that's
broken down accordingly Firstprize, £2,500.
(05:40):
Second prize £1,500.
And the third prize £1,000.
Marc Smith (05:48):
That's fantastic, Excellent.
So who can enter and how do youenter?
So the awards are open to allvillage, community and memorial
halls in rural parts of the UK.
Entries must be submitted withthe permission of the hall's
governing body, just one entryper hall.
(06:09):
Entries should be between 600and 800 words, telling a
compelling story of how yourhall is inspiring or how it has
overcome challenges.
You can find all the detailsand submit entries via the
Village Halls podcast websiteand I will link the exact page
on this at the bottom of thispodcast.
So, Gavin, in your experience,what makes a great entry to the
(06:30):
Village Halls Inspiration Awards?
Gavin Mitchell (06:33):
Well, I suppose we're really looking for
impactful, authentic andinspiring stories, which could
be all innovative or creativecommunity initiatives or steps
taken to ensure sustainabilityand inclusivity, overcoming
(06:53):
adversity and setbacks,demonstrable outcomes or
positive changes in communityengagement, and I don't think we
are being too prescriptiveabout this.
I think it's basically an opengoal for anyone to think that
they've done something that hasreally helped their village call
(07:16):
or helped the community in viceversa.
That could inspire other peopleto lend some bread to the
country.
Marc Smith (07:24):
Yeah, that's the thing, isn't it?
It's about inspiring otherpeople as well, not just what
you've done yourself, but whatother people can take from what
you've done.
Gavin Mitchell (07:31):
The clue's in the name, yeah.
Marc Smith (07:36):
So, whether you're running a busy community hub or
a hall just finding its feetagain, we want to hear from you.
Good luck to everybody thatenters.
If you have any questions,please do pop a comment on the
podcast page and I'll make sureI answer for everyone to see.
Once again, thank you very muchfor your time, Gavin.
Gavin Mitchell (07:54):
It's been an absolute pleasure, mark Great,
to speak to you again.
Marc Smith (07:57):
This is your opportunity to shine a light on
your village hall story andinspire others around the UK to
do the same.
Thanks very much for listening.
Many thanks to our headlinesponsor and specialist village
hall insurance provider, AlliedWestminster, the home of
VillageG Guard, for making thispodcast possible, and to online
booking system provider,Hallmaster, who also sponsor our
(08:20):
podcast and can be found athallmaster.
co.
uk.
You've been listening to theVillage Halls podcast, a unique
listening community forBritain's village community and
church halls and anyoneinterested in the vital
community services they provide.
We'll be back again soon withanother episode.
For more information, pleasevisit thevillagehallspodcast.
(08:41):
com, where you'll also findlinks to our social media pages.
Thanks again for listening inand until the next time.
Goodbye for now.
Hello, my name is Marc Smith and welcome to the
Village Halls podcast sponsoredby Allied Westminster, the UK's
largest specialist provider ofVillage Hall insurance and the
home of Village Guard.
Welcome to another VillageHalls podcast.
Today is a special one becausewe are announcing the 2025
(00:22):
Village Halls Inspiration Awards.
I also have the pleasure ofwelcoming back Gavin Mitchell,
the MD of Allied Westminster.
Welcome back to the show, Gavin.
Gavin Mitchell (00:31):
Hello MMarcark, Hello, how are you?
Marc Smith (00:33):
I'm very well, thank you.
Now, this is my first award,but I was wondering if you could
talk about how the awards firstcame about, as they were not
always the Inspiration Awards.
Gavin Mitchell (00:44):
Now, I think we've been doing this now for
about five years and it allstarted off with what was
originally called the WonderfulVillagers Award and it was
actually a photo competition.
A photo competition really allabout village communities and so
on and so forth, village lifeand celebrating basically not
(01:07):
just village halls but villageand rural communities.
And it was really really goodfun.
It was great.
We had some fantastic entriesand some great photographs and
so on and so forth.
And the concept originally wasaround the idea of people in the
village, whether they wereprofessional or amateur
photographers, taking a reallynice photograph, submitting it
(01:31):
and nominating a village hall.
So the photographer would winmoney and their nominated
village hall would win money.
So it sort of got the ruralcommunities, the village
communities, engaged and, yeah,it helped village halls with
some of the winnings.
But of course, with a podcastand photographs.
(01:51):
Podcasts are all about sound andI think it basically morphed
into the Village HallsInspiration Award.
Because of all the good workyou've been doing in the podcast
site and some of the greatstories that were coming out in
the podcast, we realised that agreat way to share good stories,
(02:12):
a great way to inspire VillageHalls across the country, would,
in fact, be to morph it into aVillage Halls Inspiration Award.
Marc Smith (02:23):
So I suppose we are now in our fifth year of the
awards and the purpose of theawards has always been around
celebrating village halls as thestrong beating hearts of rural
communities across the UK.
So I suppose we want to inspiretrustees, committee members,
volunteers and whole communitiesto share their stories, stories
that how village halls arebeing nurtured, revitalised and
(02:45):
reimagined and you can hear thisin last year's um village halls
awards, which I will link onthis podcast page, but also the
village halls inspiration awardspage.
It's also a chance to highlightsuccess stories like we can
spark new ideas and confidencein our communities.
Now, Gavin, you were on thepodcast when we're speaking with
(03:06):
Jo Nickless, yeah, and I thinkthe the standout um element of
that was that North Mortonvillage hall ended up with, uh,
basically a queue of peoplewanting to be trustees, and I
think that type of thing iswhat's ideal for the village
halls inspiration awards,because it really shows what
(03:29):
what these communities can doabsolutely I don't.
Gavin Mitchell (03:33):
I think, to be honest with you, it was a
fantastic entry and obviouslyyou can listen to the the um,
you can listen to that podcastum off off your website.
But, um, that was the one thingthat stood out for us.
I mean, it was a fantasticentry that talked about how they
engaged the local communityusing online forms and really
(03:57):
looked for specialists andpeople with the great skills to
get involved with the Billy'sHall.
So they got all ages, allskills, to involved with the
Village Hall.
So they got all ages, allskills to revitalise the Village
Hall, in fact revitalise thecommunity.
But so much so and that was astandout thing for me was the
fact that they had a waitinglist for a team.
(04:17):
And I go across the country andI constantly hear the problem
with village halls or villagehall committees and other party
members is getting peopleinvolved in managing and helping
govern the village halls.
It's one of the greatestproblems and, of course, that's
why the north wharton uh winningentry stood out so much for me
(04:41):
yeah, totally am well.
Marc Smith (04:44):
So, uh, whoever's been on the website will have
noticed that we have a page onthere that talks about this
inspirational wars, but thereare no dates.
So now we can announce theopening dates, which is the 1st
of May 2025.
Now, the entries are accepteduntil the 30th of September 2025
.
So you've got plenty of time toput your entry in.
(05:06):
So once the entries are closed,we will have four weeks until
the 31st of October when we willannounce the three winners.
Now, Gavin, what are the prizesfor these three winners?
Gavin Mitchell (05:18):
Well, there's a total prize fund of £5,000
available, which we are veryproudly sponsoring alongside our
underwriting partner,Ecclesiastical, which is part of
the Benefacts Group.
So, as I say, the total prizefund is £5,000, and that's
broken down accordingly Firstprize, £2,500.
(05:40):
Second prize £1,500.
And the third prize £1,000.
Marc Smith (05:48):
That's fantastic, Excellent.
So who can enter and how do youenter?
So the awards are open to allvillage, community and memorial
halls in rural parts of the UK.
Entries must be submitted withthe permission of the hall's
governing body, just one entryper hall.
(06:09):
Entries should be between 600and 800 words, telling a
compelling story of how yourhall is inspiring or how it has
overcome challenges.
You can find all the detailsand submit entries via the
Village Halls podcast websiteand I will link the exact page
on this at the bottom of thispodcast.
So, Gavin, in your experience,what makes a great entry to the
(06:30):
Village Halls Inspiration Awards?
Gavin Mitchell (06:33):
Well, I suppose we're really looking for
impactful, authentic andinspiring stories, which could
be all innovative or creativecommunity initiatives or steps
taken to ensure sustainabilityand inclusivity, overcoming
(06:53):
adversity and setbacks,demonstrable outcomes or
positive changes in communityengagement, and I don't think we
are being too prescriptiveabout this.
I think it's basically an opengoal for anyone to think that
they've done something that hasreally helped their village call
(07:16):
or helped the community in viceversa.
That could inspire other peopleto lend some bread to the
country.
Marc Smith (07:24):
Yeah, that's the thing, isn't it?
It's about inspiring otherpeople as well, not just what
you've done yourself, but whatother people can take from what
you've done.
Gavin Mitchell (07:31):
The clue's in the name, yeah.
Marc Smith (07:36):
So, whether you're running a busy community hub or
a hall just finding its feetagain, we want to hear from you.
Good luck to everybody thatenters.
If you have any questions,please do pop a comment on the
podcast page and I'll make sureI answer for everyone to see.
Once again, thank you very muchfor your time, Gavin.
Gavin Mitchell (07:54):
It's been an absolute pleasure, mark Great,
to speak to you again.
Marc Smith (07:57):
This is your opportunity to shine a light on
your village hall story andinspire others around the UK to
do the same.
Thanks very much for listening.
Many thanks to our headlinesponsor and specialist village
hall insurance provider, AlliedWestminster, the home of
VillageG Guard, for making thispodcast possible, and to online
booking system provider,Hallmaster, who also sponsor our
(08:20):
podcast and can be found athallmaster.
co.
uk.
You've been listening to theVillage Halls podcast, a unique
listening community forBritain's village community and
church halls and anyoneinterested in the vital
community services they provide.
We'll be back again soon withanother episode.
For more information, pleasevisit thevillagehallspodcast.
(08:41):
com, where you'll also findlinks to our social media pages.
Thanks again for listening inand until the next time.
Goodbye for now.
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