What is Hallmark?

Hallmark is a national standards scheme for village halls which has two main benefits:

• it gives village hall volunteers confidence that they are running the hall in the correct way.
• it provides funders and other organisation interested in village halls with a benchmark for a well-managed hall;

Can my hall apply?

Any village or community hall is eligible to apply for a Hallmark award.  There are three levels:

• Level One: charitable administration and management – assesses whether the hall is complying with he requirements of its charitable status.
• Level Two: Health, safety, security and licences – assesses compliance with legislative issues.
• Level Three: community, social awareness, forward planning and development – examines and assesses the role of the hall in the community and how it interacts with its users and the wider community.

What do the levels aim to achieve?

All three levels aim to:

• Reward and establish good practice
• Encourage improvement in established customs and procedures
• Gain recognition for obtaining good standards in the management of the hall

How does it work?

Halls expressing an interest in applying for the scheme are sent a checklist to assess their practice against the Hallmark criteria.   Once they are happy that they have everything in order, they request a visit from the Hallmark Visitors.  The visitors are specially selected and trained for this purpose and are closely involved with the work of village hall committees. 

The visit itself is a relatively low key affair consisting of a tour around the halls facilities, a look at required paperwork and a question session with the hall management
committee.  The visit in total takes between 1-2 hours with a report being submitted within two weeks notifying the hall of the outcome.  

Successes!

Following the successful launch of the Hallmark scheme in November 2007 we currently have 3 halls in Sussex who have achieved Level 1

• Wivelsfield  first hall to be awarded Level one in Sussex - 24th January 2008
• Sompting    first hall in West Sussex to be awarded Level one - 12th March 2008
• Rotherfield  second east Sussex hall to achieve Level one - 14th May 2008

A positive process

Current feedback for the scheme has been extremely positive – successful halls also benefit from being able to use the Hallmark quality logo on their correspondence and booking forms to demonstrate to all hirers and the community that the hall is properly managed.  Richard Spencer stated “As chair of Wivelsfield Village Hall and Recreation Ground I was delighted that we have been awarded Level 1 of the Hallmark quality standards scheme and indeed that we were the first Sussex village to receive such an award.  We are now planning to make an application for Level 2 assessment”.

Apply now!

If your hall would like to apply, or if you would like further information, please contact either :

Helen Atkin01273 405453 for East Sussex

Regine Miller01243 555678 for West Sussex