March 11, 2025 • 14 mins
Securing sustainable funding remains one of the greatest challenges for village halls across the UK. In this eye-opening conversation, we explore a straightforward path to financial support through the Movement for Good initiative by the Benefact Group.
Chris Pitt, Impact Group Director for the Benefact Group, reveals how their charitable program works through a refreshingly simple nomination process that anyone in your community can complete. What makes this opportunity especially valuable for village halls? The £1,000 grants come with no strings attached, allowing halls to address their most pressing needs—whether that's covering rising utility costs, funding repairs, or launching new community programs.
The partnership between Allied Westminster and Ecclesiastical (part of the Benefact Group) creates a natural avenue of support for village halls, as explained by Gavin Mitchell, Managing Director of Allied Westminster. Together, they're working to ensure these vital community hubs can thrive despite increasing financial pressures.
With nominations staying in the selection pool for multiple draws throughout the year, and the process taking just minutes to complete, this represents an accessible funding opportunity that every village hall should pursue. We discuss success stories from halls that have already benefited from the initiative, practical advice for increasing your chances of being selected, and additional resources available beyond the monetary grants.
Whether you're a committee member seeking to secure your hall's future or a community member wanting to support your local hub, this episode provides the knowledge and tools you need to take immediate action. Visit our website to access promotional templates you can use to rally your community behind your hall's nomination.
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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.
One of the most important tasksin running a Village Hall is
securing funding, and todaywe're dedicating this episode to
(00:21):
help our listeners explore anincredible opportunity for
financial support through theMovement for Good initiative
Benefact Group .
I'm thrilled to have twospecial guests with us today.
First we have Chris Pitt, whois the Impact Group Director for
the Benefact Group, who willshare insights on how their
Movement for Good initiative ismaking a real difference in
local communities, includingvillage halls.
(00:41):
We're also joined by GavinMitchell, managing Director of
Allied Westminster, the mainheadline sponsor of this podcast
.
Gavin will explain how villagehalls, many of which are
registered charities, canbenefit from this initiative and
why Allied Westminster haspartnered with Ecclesiastical
part of the Benefact group.
Over the years, the Movement forGood have provided millions of
pounds worth of crucial grantsto charitable organisations, and
(01:04):
village halls are primecandidates for these awards.
So whether you're running avillage hall or involved in your
local community, this podcastis for you.
Welcome, chris and Gavin
Chris Pitt (01:15):
Hello there
Gavin Mitchell (01:16):
Hello, Marc
Marc Smith (01:17):
Chris, could you start by explaining how the
Movement for Good initiativeactually started.
Chris Pitt (01:23):
Well, Ecclesiastical is part of the Benefact group
and we're a family of financialservices businesses and we are
quite unusual in financialservices in that we are all
owned by a charitable trust, sowe give our available profits to
good causes.
So the Movement for Good Awardswere born out of that that we
wanted to find the best way todistribute our profits to good
(01:46):
causes.
So we designed the move forgood awards and they are.
They're quite simple, really,in that anyone can nominate any
good cause they care about andwe randomly draw winners
throughout the year to receivesmall donations.
So it's a wonderful, wonderfulthing that we're giving
donations to charities andcommunity organisations
(02:07):
absolutely everywhere and theyare all incredibly deserving of
this funding and it's amazingwhat they can do with a small
donation.
Marc Smith (02:17):
Excellent.
So just to make sure this isrelevant to at any point when
anyone listens to this podcastthere, any closing dates for for
these grants?
Chris Pitt (02:26):
no, uh, they run all the time, uh, throughout the
year and we do draws at varioustimes.
Um, and yeah, we kind of endthe year with a bit of finale of
giving 120 donations out at theend of the year, but, no,
anytime you can nominate anycause you care about.
, you get in the pot.
You might not be drawn as awinner in one draw, but you'll
(02:47):
still be in the pot and still bein with a chance for a donation
.
Marc Smith (02:50):
Ah right, excellent, so it's your.
Are you kept in there for oneyear, is that right?
Chris Pitt (02:56):
Yeah, we kind of we start the clock again in the new
year, but, yeah, as soon asyou're in, you're in with a
chance and we do get a lot ofnominations, which I think again
is a wonderful, wonderful thing, because it shows how people
really do care about charitiesand typically actually people
(03:16):
nominate causes in theircommunities, so they nominate
the local charity that hashelped them or their family, or
the local village hall wherethey benefit from the charitable
work that they do.
So that makes up a lot ofnominations and therefore they
are receiving a lot of fundingthrough this initiative.
Marc Smith (03:32):
Right, so you don't actually need to be a part of
the village hall committee tosubmit the village hall.
It can be done by anybody inthe community or surrounding
area.
Chris Pitt (03:42):
Yeah, absolutely, and actually, actually, you know
, the more nominations you getin the pot, you know, the the
greater the chance that you youwill win.
So there are charities that youget hundreds of of nominations,
but I would say, actually, thatevery time we do a draw,
there's always a charity withone or a handful of nominations
that gets a donation as well.
Marc Smith (04:00):
Um, so, yeah, it's always worth putting yourself,
uh, in in the frame for adonation yeah, so you've had
quite a few village hall winnersin the past, like stanford
bridge and sheeding village hall.
Could you walk us through thehow the process works?
Chris Pitt (04:14):
yeah, well, and again, it's uh, incredibly
simple.
You've just got to go tomovementforgoodcom, uh, and you
put in the name of the, thecharity or the village hall you
want to nominate.
It's all backed by the CharityCommission database actually.
So if it is a registeredcharity, it comes up and it's
already recognised.
And just put in a few detailsabout yourself and press go and
(04:37):
they are nominated.
So it really is as simple asthat.
Marc Smith (04:45):
I always say you could kind of have done it in
the time that it's taken me toexplain how to do it.
That's good, Gavin.
So yourselves AlliedWestminster and Ecclesiastical,
you have very similar beliefs.
What makes your relationshipspecial?
Gavin Mitchell (04:59):
Allied Westminster has a great working
relationship with Ecclesiastical, which is part of the Benefact
Group.
Our Village Guard Village HallInsurance Policy is underwritten
by Ecclesiastical and we'revery, very pleased with the way
that the Benefact Group work interms of supporting charities
(05:20):
right across the country.
And, of course, we dealprimarily in village halls the
length and breadth of thecountry with thousands and
thousands of village hallcustomers.
Village Halls are registeredcharities, which makes them
absolutely ideal, not only interms of our relationship with
Ecclesiastical in terms of theinsurance side of things, but to
(05:40):
get involved in the movementfor good and the charity
donations that the BenefactGroup and Ecclesiastical within
the Benefact Group makeavailable.
Marc Smith (05:51):
Gavin, what kind of advice do you have for Village
Halls or community members whenapplying or getting nominated to
make sure that they stand outWell?
Gavin Mitchell (05:59):
they have one great advantage they are the
hubs of community and hubs ofthe community and I think you
know, as we've known from many,many podcasts that have been
done on your podcast programme,that you know they're treasured
by local communities, by ruralcommunities, village halls, and
(06:19):
there's a lot of involvementfrom young and old and all sorts
of people in these villages andrural communities.
So in many ways it's a greatopportunity for the local
community to get together and toget their shoulder behind,
participating in the movementfor good.
And, as, as we had discussed,off air mark, one of the things
(06:43):
that we will make available is,as opposed to effectively, that
the village halls can print outand stick on the village halls
notice board.
But you know they want to maybereach out to the local
community through whatever mediathey have at their disposal and
try and get the local communityinvolved and get these
nominations in for their VillageHall and see if their Village
(07:04):
Hall can benefit from themovement for good.
Marc Smith (07:08):
So, gavin, just to be clear, that was a pre-made
design template that you haveavailable to advertise their own
village hall, I suppose, ontheir notice boards yes,
absolutely, and that will beavailable on the village halls
podcast on your hoskard podcastwebsite mark yeah, excellent,
(07:28):
that's great.
Yeah, so I'll pop those in thein the podcast notes there.
So, chris, do you have anyinteresting stories from
previous winners of the grant?
Chris Pitt (07:37):
well, it's.
It's clear that, um, when youask someone to nominate a
charity, of course they careabout they, very, very quickly
turn to um, excuse me, the um,the charities in their local
community and village halls, Ithink, are a prime candidate for
that.
Because you know, like thechurch, like the school, um,
like small charities in thecommunity, that you know they.
Because you know, like thechurch, like the school, um,
like small charities in thecommunity, that you know they
(07:57):
are, you know, real linchpins ofthe community.
Um, they provide so much, um,and yet they're relying on, uh,
voluntary income.
So, yeah, we've had, we've hadthousands of nominations for
village halls, uh, and villagekind of charities, and I think
about over 30,000 that's goneout specifically for those kinds
(08:17):
of causes, which is fantastic.
But you know, as you've said,there's the opportunity to win
more.
So the more nominations we getand the more village halls can
encourage those people whoreally care about what they do,
then the chances increase inthem receiving a donation and
the donations are modest.
You know they're receiving adonation and the donations are
modest.
They're about £1,000 is theamount that people receive.
(08:40):
But I've always been amazinglystruck by how much good £1,000
can do.
For some charities it's justbeen a bit of a lifeline because
we know that funding income forall types of charitable
organisations is massively underpressure.
It feels like at the momentthere's this double pressure
(09:01):
that charitable organisationsare having to do so much more.
They're being relied on bytheir communities to really
provide critical support and yetit's harder and harder to get
funding.
So £1, pounds can keep charitygoing.
It can inspire some otherdonations as well.
Actually, you know, ifcharity's got a great bit of
(09:22):
news, you know we've had athousand pounds we're going to
do this with.
It quite often inspires othersto get behind them.
So yeah, it's, it's a it's agreat thing and we just want to
get these donations to more andmore communities as we can.
Marc Smith (09:36):
So I suppose the village halls don't have to have
a project in mind for thefunding, it's just more they
could, they can more, just applyfor the grant regardless.
Chris Pitt (09:46):
Yeah, absolutely.
And I think that is another yeahit's a rather, really big
fundraising topic ofconversation about having to
seek funding for very specificinitiatives and not being able
to use funding for kind ofrunning costs and that kind of
thing.
But yeah, these, thesedonations are no strings, you
know.
They are for for the villagehall to do what they need to do
with it, and that can be keepingthe lights on, and I think
(10:08):
that's a bit underestimatedsometimes because keeping the
lights on is an essential partof doing what that village hall
needs to do to be a kind of, youknow, a warm welcoming place in
the community.
So, yes, real flexibility withthat funding.
You know, if you're a winner,you can use it for exactly what
you want to use it for.
Gavin Mitchell (10:27):
That's a very valuable point, chris.
I mean, I don't know a singlevillage hall that wouldn't be
able to put £1,000 to good use,and it could be for any number
of projects they have, but itcould quite simply be just
continuing the maintenance ofvaluable services and facilities
.
Marc Smith (10:47):
Yeah, I was actually speaking to someone two weeks
ago about the village halls andthey were saying their
electricity bill was £13,000 forone year.
They've since moved to solar,which has made a massive £35 per
month, but it's amazing therunning costs that you have just
for the hall itself not to doanything.
No upgrades, no events, justthe actual upkeep of the hall.
(11:10):
So it could be very valuablefor any hall.
Indeed indeed indeed.
No events, just the actualupkeep of the hall.
Gavin Mitchell (11:13):
So it could be very valuable for for any hall,
indeed, indeed, indeed, and muchas we all try and keep the
insurance premiums down to aslow as we possibly can,
insurance premiums unfortunatelyare one of the costs and, uh,
but no, there's no end of costs.
Mark, and, and and andcertainly, um, you know, a
thousand pounds is good news forany village hall and I'm sure
it would be welcomed by anyonethat benefits from this.
Marc Smith (11:36):
So if you don't win an award immediately, what else
can you offer the village halls?
Chris Pitt (11:43):
Well, we can offer a great deal actually, and we've
been very mindful that we've gota lot to give and we give
donations all year long over £1million to lots and lots of
different causes but it willactually never be enough because
there are so many charitiesdoing such good work, it's never
going to reach everyone.
So we've actually launched arange of charity support which
(12:05):
we hope is going to helpcharities village halls be more
sustainable and successful.
So we run a range of supportthings like webinars so free,
completely free webinars ontopics, mainly on fundraising
actually, because that is alwaysthe top topic, and we bring an
expert in and give charities theopportunity to to hear how they
(12:26):
can sharpen up theirfundraising approach.
And we feel this is asimportant as our funding
actually, because, as I said,we've only got so much to give.
But through charity support,which is all via the website as
well, movingforgoodcom charitiescan learn how to be better, how
to seek funding, how to be morecompetitive in a very, very,
(12:47):
very difficult environment and,hopefully, can secure funding
from other sources as well,which will enable them to
continue their amazing work.
Marc Smith (12:55):
Thank you to both Chris and Gavin for joining us
today and for sharing suchvaluable insights.
It's clear that the Movementfor Good is a wonderful
opportunity for village halls tosecure much needed funding.
We encourage all our listeners,especially those involved with
village halls, to nominate theirlocal hall for a Movement for
Good grant.
It's an easy process and theimpact of winning can be
transformative.
To find out more and nominateyour village hall, search the
(13:19):
Movement for Good or head to ourVillage Halls podcast website,
where we'll have all the linksand resources available.
Village halls are at the heartof our communities and through
initiatives like the Movementfor Good, we can ensure they
continue to thrive.
So, whether you're a villagehall volunteer or a community
member, now is the time tonominate your local hall and
make a lasting impact.
Don't forget to visit ourwebsite for more details on how
(13:41):
you can get involved.
Thank you once again forlistening.
Many thanks to our headlinesponsor and specialist village
hall insurance provider, alliedWestminster, the home of Village
Guard, for making this podcastpossible, and to online booking
system provider, hallmaster, whoalso sponsor our podcast and
can be found at hallmastercouk.
(14:03):
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.
com, where you'll also findlinks to our social media pages.
(14:24):
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.
One of the most important tasksin running a Village Hall is
securing funding, and todaywe're dedicating this episode to
(00:21):
help our listeners explore anincredible opportunity for
financial support through theMovement for Good initiative
Benefact Group .
I'm thrilled to have twospecial guests with us today.
First we have Chris Pitt, whois the Impact Group Director for
the Benefact Group, who willshare insights on how their
Movement for Good initiative ismaking a real difference in
local communities, includingvillage halls.
(00:41):
We're also joined by GavinMitchell, managing Director of
Allied Westminster, the mainheadline sponsor of this podcast
.
Gavin will explain how villagehalls, many of which are
registered charities, canbenefit from this initiative and
why Allied Westminster haspartnered with Ecclesiastical
part of the Benefact group.
Over the years, the Movement forGood have provided millions of
pounds worth of crucial grantsto charitable organisations, and
(01:04):
village halls are primecandidates for these awards.
So whether you're running avillage hall or involved in your
local community, this podcastis for you.
Welcome, chris and Gavin
Chris Pitt (01:15):
Hello there
Gavin Mitchell (01:16):
Hello, Marc
Marc Smith (01:17):
Chris, could you start by explaining how the
Movement for Good initiativeactually started.
Chris Pitt (01:23):
Well, Ecclesiastical is part of the Benefact group
and we're a family of financialservices businesses and we are
quite unusual in financialservices in that we are all
owned by a charitable trust, sowe give our available profits to
good causes.
So the Movement for Good Awardswere born out of that that we
wanted to find the best way todistribute our profits to good
(01:46):
causes.
So we designed the move forgood awards and they are.
They're quite simple, really,in that anyone can nominate any
good cause they care about andwe randomly draw winners
throughout the year to receivesmall donations.
So it's a wonderful, wonderfulthing that we're giving
donations to charities andcommunity organisations
(02:07):
absolutely everywhere and theyare all incredibly deserving of
this funding and it's amazingwhat they can do with a small
donation.
Marc Smith (02:17):
Excellent.
So just to make sure this isrelevant to at any point when
anyone listens to this podcastthere, any closing dates for for
these grants?
Chris Pitt (02:26):
no, uh, they run all the time, uh, throughout the
year and we do draws at varioustimes.
Um, and yeah, we kind of endthe year with a bit of finale of
giving 120 donations out at theend of the year, but, no,
anytime you can nominate anycause you care about.
, you get in the pot.
You might not be drawn as awinner in one draw, but you'll
(02:47):
still be in the pot and still bein with a chance for a donation
.
Marc Smith (02:50):
Ah right, excellent, so it's your.
Are you kept in there for oneyear, is that right?
Chris Pitt (02:56):
Yeah, we kind of we start the clock again in the new
year, but, yeah, as soon asyou're in, you're in with a
chance and we do get a lot ofnominations, which I think again
is a wonderful, wonderful thing, because it shows how people
really do care about charitiesand typically actually people
(03:16):
nominate causes in theircommunities, so they nominate
the local charity that hashelped them or their family, or
the local village hall wherethey benefit from the charitable
work that they do.
So that makes up a lot ofnominations and therefore they
are receiving a lot of fundingthrough this initiative.
Marc Smith (03:32):
Right, so you don't actually need to be a part of
the village hall committee tosubmit the village hall.
It can be done by anybody inthe community or surrounding
area.
Chris Pitt (03:42):
Yeah, absolutely, and actually, actually, you know
, the more nominations you getin the pot, you know, the the
greater the chance that you youwill win.
So there are charities that youget hundreds of of nominations,
but I would say, actually, thatevery time we do a draw,
there's always a charity withone or a handful of nominations
that gets a donation as well.
Marc Smith (04:00):
Um, so, yeah, it's always worth putting yourself,
uh, in in the frame for adonation yeah, so you've had
quite a few village hall winnersin the past, like stanford
bridge and sheeding village hall.
Could you walk us through thehow the process works?
Chris Pitt (04:14):
yeah, well, and again, it's uh, incredibly
simple.
You've just got to go tomovementforgoodcom, uh, and you
put in the name of the, thecharity or the village hall you
want to nominate.
It's all backed by the CharityCommission database actually.
So if it is a registeredcharity, it comes up and it's
already recognised.
And just put in a few detailsabout yourself and press go and
(04:37):
they are nominated.
So it really is as simple asthat.
Marc Smith (04:45):
I always say you could kind of have done it in
the time that it's taken me toexplain how to do it.
That's good, Gavin.
So yourselves AlliedWestminster and Ecclesiastical,
you have very similar beliefs.
What makes your relationshipspecial?
Gavin Mitchell (04:59):
Allied Westminster has a great working
relationship with Ecclesiastical, which is part of the Benefact
Group.
Our Village Guard Village HallInsurance Policy is underwritten
by Ecclesiastical and we'revery, very pleased with the way
that the Benefact Group work interms of supporting charities
(05:20):
right across the country.
And, of course, we dealprimarily in village halls the
length and breadth of thecountry with thousands and
thousands of village hallcustomers.
Village Halls are registeredcharities, which makes them
absolutely ideal, not only interms of our relationship with
Ecclesiastical in terms of theinsurance side of things, but to
(05:40):
get involved in the movementfor good and the charity
donations that the BenefactGroup and Ecclesiastical within
the Benefact Group makeavailable.
Marc Smith (05:51):
Gavin, what kind of advice do you have for Village
Halls or community members whenapplying or getting nominated to
make sure that they stand outWell?
Gavin Mitchell (05:59):
they have one great advantage they are the
hubs of community and hubs ofthe community and I think you
know, as we've known from many,many podcasts that have been
done on your podcast programme,that you know they're treasured
by local communities, by ruralcommunities, village halls, and
(06:19):
there's a lot of involvementfrom young and old and all sorts
of people in these villages andrural communities.
So in many ways it's a greatopportunity for the local
community to get together and toget their shoulder behind,
participating in the movementfor good.
And, as, as we had discussed,off air mark, one of the things
(06:43):
that we will make available is,as opposed to effectively, that
the village halls can print outand stick on the village halls
notice board.
But you know they want to maybereach out to the local
community through whatever mediathey have at their disposal and
try and get the local communityinvolved and get these
nominations in for their VillageHall and see if their Village
(07:04):
Hall can benefit from themovement for good.
Marc Smith (07:08):
So, gavin, just to be clear, that was a pre-made
design template that you haveavailable to advertise their own
village hall, I suppose, ontheir notice boards yes,
absolutely, and that will beavailable on the village halls
podcast on your hoskard podcastwebsite mark yeah, excellent,
(07:28):
that's great.
Yeah, so I'll pop those in thein the podcast notes there.
So, chris, do you have anyinteresting stories from
previous winners of the grant?
Chris Pitt (07:37):
well, it's.
It's clear that, um, when youask someone to nominate a
charity, of course they careabout they, very, very quickly
turn to um, excuse me, the um,the charities in their local
community and village halls, Ithink, are a prime candidate for
that.
Because you know, like thechurch, like the school, um,
like small charities in thecommunity, that you know they.
Because you know, like thechurch, like the school, um,
like small charities in thecommunity, that you know they
(07:57):
are, you know, real linchpins ofthe community.
Um, they provide so much, um,and yet they're relying on, uh,
voluntary income.
So, yeah, we've had, we've hadthousands of nominations for
village halls, uh, and villagekind of charities, and I think
about over 30,000 that's goneout specifically for those kinds
(08:17):
of causes, which is fantastic.
But you know, as you've said,there's the opportunity to win
more.
So the more nominations we getand the more village halls can
encourage those people whoreally care about what they do,
then the chances increase inthem receiving a donation and
the donations are modest.
You know they're receiving adonation and the donations are
modest.
They're about £1,000 is theamount that people receive.
(08:40):
But I've always been amazinglystruck by how much good £1,000
can do.
For some charities it's justbeen a bit of a lifeline because
we know that funding income forall types of charitable
organisations is massively underpressure.
It feels like at the momentthere's this double pressure
(09:01):
that charitable organisationsare having to do so much more.
They're being relied on bytheir communities to really
provide critical support and yetit's harder and harder to get
funding.
So £1, pounds can keep charitygoing.
It can inspire some otherdonations as well.
Actually, you know, ifcharity's got a great bit of
(09:22):
news, you know we've had athousand pounds we're going to
do this with.
It quite often inspires othersto get behind them.
So yeah, it's, it's a it's agreat thing and we just want to
get these donations to more andmore communities as we can.
Marc Smith (09:36):
So I suppose the village halls don't have to have
a project in mind for thefunding, it's just more they
could, they can more, just applyfor the grant regardless.
Chris Pitt (09:46):
Yeah, absolutely.
And I think that is another yeahit's a rather, really big
fundraising topic ofconversation about having to
seek funding for very specificinitiatives and not being able
to use funding for kind ofrunning costs and that kind of
thing.
But yeah, these, thesedonations are no strings, you
know.
They are for for the villagehall to do what they need to do
with it, and that can be keepingthe lights on, and I think
(10:08):
that's a bit underestimatedsometimes because keeping the
lights on is an essential partof doing what that village hall
needs to do to be a kind of, youknow, a warm welcoming place in
the community.
So, yes, real flexibility withthat funding.
You know, if you're a winner,you can use it for exactly what
you want to use it for.
Gavin Mitchell (10:27):
That's a very valuable point, chris.
I mean, I don't know a singlevillage hall that wouldn't be
able to put £1,000 to good use,and it could be for any number
of projects they have, but itcould quite simply be just
continuing the maintenance ofvaluable services and facilities
.
Marc Smith (10:47):
Yeah, I was actually speaking to someone two weeks
ago about the village halls andthey were saying their
electricity bill was £13,000 forone year.
They've since moved to solar,which has made a massive £35 per
month, but it's amazing therunning costs that you have just
for the hall itself not to doanything.
No upgrades, no events, justthe actual upkeep of the hall.
(11:10):
So it could be very valuablefor any hall.
Indeed indeed indeed.
No events, just the actualupkeep of the hall.
Gavin Mitchell (11:13):
So it could be very valuable for for any hall,
indeed, indeed, indeed, and muchas we all try and keep the
insurance premiums down to aslow as we possibly can,
insurance premiums unfortunatelyare one of the costs and, uh,
but no, there's no end of costs.
Mark, and, and and andcertainly, um, you know, a
thousand pounds is good news forany village hall and I'm sure
it would be welcomed by anyonethat benefits from this.
Marc Smith (11:36):
So if you don't win an award immediately, what else
can you offer the village halls?
Chris Pitt (11:43):
Well, we can offer a great deal actually, and we've
been very mindful that we've gota lot to give and we give
donations all year long over £1million to lots and lots of
different causes but it willactually never be enough because
there are so many charitiesdoing such good work, it's never
going to reach everyone.
So we've actually launched arange of charity support which
(12:05):
we hope is going to helpcharities village halls be more
sustainable and successful.
So we run a range of supportthings like webinars so free,
completely free webinars ontopics, mainly on fundraising
actually, because that is alwaysthe top topic, and we bring an
expert in and give charities theopportunity to to hear how they
(12:26):
can sharpen up theirfundraising approach.
And we feel this is asimportant as our funding
actually, because, as I said,we've only got so much to give.
But through charity support,which is all via the website as
well, movingforgoodcom charitiescan learn how to be better, how
to seek funding, how to be morecompetitive in a very, very,
(12:47):
very difficult environment and,hopefully, can secure funding
from other sources as well,which will enable them to
continue their amazing work.
Marc Smith (12:55):
Thank you to both Chris and Gavin for joining us
today and for sharing suchvaluable insights.
It's clear that the Movementfor Good is a wonderful
opportunity for village halls tosecure much needed funding.
We encourage all our listeners,especially those involved with
village halls, to nominate theirlocal hall for a Movement for
Good grant.
It's an easy process and theimpact of winning can be
transformative.
To find out more and nominateyour village hall, search the
(13:19):
Movement for Good or head to ourVillage Halls podcast website,
where we'll have all the linksand resources available.
Village halls are at the heartof our communities and through
initiatives like the Movementfor Good, we can ensure they
continue to thrive.
So, whether you're a villagehall volunteer or a community
member, now is the time tonominate your local hall and
make a lasting impact.
Don't forget to visit ourwebsite for more details on how
(13:41):
you can get involved.
Thank you once again forlistening.
Many thanks to our headlinesponsor and specialist village
hall insurance provider, alliedWestminster, the home of Village
Guard, for making this podcastpossible, and to online booking
system provider, hallmaster, whoalso sponsor our podcast and
can be found at hallmastercouk.
(14:03):
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.
com, where you'll also findlinks to our social media pages.
(14:24):
Thanks again for listening inand until the next time.
Goodbye for now.
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