Village halls are vital hubs in rural and island Scotland, providing essential services and encouraging community connection. They serve as multi-purpose venues for social, cultural, and educational activities, offering spaces for events, workshops, and community meetings.
Village halls often act as the central location for local services like health outreach programmes, clubs, and support groups, especially in areas where transport links and services may be limited. These spaces also facilitate local democracy by hosting elections, public consultations, and community engagement events, making them integral to rural and island community life.
In addition to their social function, many village halls provide access to technology, such as public Wi-Fi, which can be a lifeline for residents in areas with poor connectivity. They also support economic development by enabling local businesses, markets, and small-scale enterprises to thrive through events, fairs, and networking opportunities.
Scottish Rural Action (SRA) is dedicated to empowering rural communities across Scotland, including supporting village halls. In December 2022 SRA brought together a group of organisations who all support village halls in various ways and created a village halls working group. This working group includes representatives from Scottish Rural Network, Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations, Development Trusts Association Scotland, Community Enterprise Scotland, Social Enterprise Scotland, TSI Network, Community Energy Scotland, and Scottish Community Alliance with SRA as the secretariat.
- SRA advocates for rural issues at a national level, working to ensure that policies reflect the needs of rural communities. Most recently the Addressing Depopulation Action Plan recognised both the benefit, and potential, of village halls and community spaces. Insights and recommendations from the Scottish Rural and Islands Parliament will also be used to inform Scottish Government policymaking and the Rural Delivery Plan.
- SRA and the wider network of organisations supports village halls by fostering collaboration and the sharing of best practices to improve the operation and sustainability of these spaces. This includes developing resources such as the Village Halls Handbook.
- SRA provides information on grants, funding streams, and other financial assistance for village halls via events and our regular newsletters. Securing funds can allow village halls to pay for maintenance, renovations, and expand their current offering.
- Through workshops, online sessions and networking events, SRA supports village hall committees in addressing their concerns and priorities, including ensuring proportionality and support around regulations like Martyn’s Law. SRA has created an easy access guide to what Martyn’s Law is which you can access here.
Scottish Rural Action next steps in supporting Village Halls
- Grassroots Village Halls Group: SRA is co-ordinating a new group of grassroots village hall representatives, giving them a platform to share everything from best practice to their biggest concerns, this can then inform the wider network of support organisations and be used to inform policy and advise decision makers.
- Martyn’s Law (Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill): With the introduction of new legislation like Martyn’s Law (which affects any public venue with capacity for 200 or more) SRA will advocate for proportionality and continue to support halls to have their voices heard. If your hall is affected, and you would like to write to your MP, and example template letter can be found here.
- Village Halls Week: SRA champions villages halls all year round but in March 2025, a week-long celebration of village halls will take place, watch this space for more information and find out how to claim your free celebration pack.
We LOVE village halls, we know how much they are an integral part of rural and island Scotland, and we know it’s crucial to ensure they thrive. SRA will continue to support and celebrate the vibrant, inclusive spaces village halls are for our rural and island communities.