The Village Halls Podcast

Johnny and Gavin are back after several months away to announce the three winners of our 2023 Village Halls Inspiration Awards. Judging was incredibly challenging, but we managed to finally whittle all the entries we received down to three, and here are the winners of £1,000, £1,500 and £2,500 of vital funding for 2024...

Worminghall Village Hall in Buckinghamshire has attracted more than 20 volunteers and an enviable number of visitors thanks to a community business it's developed. Linda Hughes, who has entered their project into our Village Halls Inspiration Awards this year, tells us all about it...

You can now enter our Village Halls Inspiration Awards on line, with the chance of winning either £1,000, £1,500 or £2,500 in funding for your hall, courtesy of our show sponsors Allied Westminster. So what are you waiting for? Start thinking about who you know in your community, or what great work you've done that is inspirational, and simply tell us all about it...

Has your village, church or community hall delivered or achieved something that could inspire others around the country? If so, you could receive £1,000, £1,500 or even £2,500 in this year's Village Halls Inspiration Awards. Find out more...

There are many unsung heroes in villages across the UK and for this episode we celebrate with one of them, Joan Maxfield, our very first Unsung Hero Award winner. We also hear from Daphne Gwilliam, who nominated Joan for her award, and Simon Bland who led the judging...

How can you encourage young people to get involved at your Village hall? For this episode, Johnny is joined by Sue Lees and Netty Firman from the Stafforshire village of Grindon, who nominated 26 year-old Hannah Blissett for our Young Person’s Award last year. Hannah explains why she's so passionate about her village hall and community. Could someone like Hannah help your hall?

Internet connections in outlying villages are not often the best, but is having a super-fast network always a good thing? Our latest guest is Marc Smith, who is majorly responsible for an unbelievably fast connection being available in his remote village and elsewhere on the Isle of Skye in Scotland. Marc tells us how he and the community achieved this, and how there's also a bit of a downsid...

Sharing old stories can often create a sense of belonging for those who live in small rural villages. Stuart Plant, Chairman of Middleton & Aislaby Village Hall joins us to talk about a book and a digital memory bank designed to preserve the past for future generations... 

We look back at a few of our episodes from Season 2 and 2022, covering everything from community businesses to fancy-dress frivolity. Enjoy our round up of the year. Thanks to all of our guests who joined us in 2022 and special thanks to all of you who listened in. Have a wonderful Christmas and New Year everyone and see you in '23. 

It's the one you've all been waiting for! Who are the winners of this year's Wonderful Villages Awards? Our judges have reached their decisions and Johnny is joined by two of the panel, Simon Bland from Rauceby Village Hall and Gavin Mitchell from Allied Westminster, to announce which five halls are to receive £1,000 in funding... 

Almost a quarter of adults in the UK say they’ll be keeping their heating turned off this winter because of rising energy prices. So what can halls do to help? Lizzie Kingston from Framlingham Unitarian Meeting House tells us how they, together with a group of halls in Suffolk, are providing a warm welcome to those in need this winter...

Entries have now closed for our Wonderful Villages Awards, so what happens next? Johnny is joined by Gavin from Allied Westminster and Finn the dog, to keep village halls up and down the country up-to-speed with when and how our five winners of £1,000 each will be announced...

Energy costs have gone through the roof recently and this has presented a big challenge to community buildings up and down the country. However, one village hall has thought of a great idea that not only improves the efficiency of their heating system, but also makes it easier and more comfortable for anyone organising events there. Nick Cole from Shustoke explains how it all works... 

Losing someone close to you is never easy.  However, when people come together to celebrate their life and remember them fondly it can help to ease some of the pain. Last year, the village hall in Croft-on-Tees became the centre-point of an event to remember a much loved member of their community who had sadly passed away far too early in life. One of the group who brought the entire village toget...

Sadly, some village halls are no longer the big attraction they once were. So how can things be turned around? Andrew Ayers is a committee member at Irby & Bratoft Village Hall, where in the space of just a few years, the hall and village community have been thoroughly revitalised. Andrew openly discussed what he believes is the secret to any successful community hub...

Time is running out for the chance to win £1,000 for your village, church or community hall. The Wonderful Villages Awards programme recognises the incredible contribution village halls and other rural community buildings make across five categories. For this episode we briefly take you through these different categories and how to enter. This is a fantastic opportunity for your hall to gain recog...

Are you worried by news that rural crime is on the increase? Security expert (and heatwave dog-sitter) Dave Reynolds from RiskSTOP,  looks at whether things really are getting worse out there. Plus... the kind of things you can do to keep your community building a lot more safe and secure. Think like a burglar folks!

You may not realise it, but there are well over 1,000 mysterious objects hidden near village halls across the country, with lots of people looking for them. For this episode, Jackie O'Halloran talks about the treasure hunting activity known as geocaching and why she started hiding them around halls in the UK. Is there one near you?  

Putting on a live performance or an artistic event is a great way for village and community halls to draw people in. But where do you find the talent? Thankfully, there is help out there and for this episode we're joined by Holly Lombardo and Stephie Jessop from the National Rural Touring Forum,  who explain how halls in rural communities can put on unique and wonderful events that cannot be...

One way of tackling climate change is for us all to switch to more sustainable forms of transport. Electric vehicles (EVs) are becoming increasingly popular, but they need a widespread charging infrastructure if they’re ever going to become truly mainstream. For this episode, Dr Darren Handley, Head of Infrastucture Grants at the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles at the Department for Transport, t...

We all need someone we can turn to for a bit of advice and support every now and then, and village halls are no exception. Our guest for this episode is Janet Clark, one of a network of village halls advisors across the country.  Janet explains the kind of support that's available to those running community buildings and chats about some of the big challenges village halls are currently facin...

Village halls up and down the country have been organising events to mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. So for this episode, we visited Chorleywood War Memorial Hall for a special Afternoon Tea Party, which entertained the locals and raised money to support an influx of Ukrainian refugees. As well as meeting and chatting with several residents, we spoke to a Ukrainian family sheltering here in the...

Keeping up with what's going on around us is really important and we often need someone who is keen to pass on useful local news and information. Doug Allen, a trustee of Topcliffe and Asenby Village Hall, talks about the different ways he keeps his community informed about anything from 'royal scarecrows' to 'despicable criminal activity'...

Fundraising is never easy, but one UK company has come up with really simple way of bringing a bit of extra income to village, church and community halls, while also supporting charities and helping the environment. Our guest, Alexandra Holmes from ASTCO, explains how it all works...

Beer, boats, costumes and occasional skulduggery... Only in Britain could this kind of bonkers bedlam take place each year. Tracy Watson from Noss Mayo joins us to 'unshroud the mystery' behind a photo she sent us of something called 'The Beer Race'. An episode you will not want to miss...