Community Futures: Lancashire Village Halls Together

Community Futures Lancashire recently marked an important milestone with the successful launch of Village Halls Week. Delivered in partnership with ACRE and sponsored by Hallmaster and Utility Aid, the event celebrated the vital role that halls play at the heart of rural communities. As our first dedicated Village Halls Week, it provided an opportunity to reconnect with halls across Lancashire through our Lancashire Village Halls Together (LVHT) project, funded by The National Lottery Community Fund, Awards for All.

Village halls remain essential community assets, providing spaces for connection, services, activities and resilience in rural areas. Speakers on the day echoed this importance, sharing reflections on how rural community buildings connect communities to health and wellbeing - the theme of the week. However, many trustees face growing pressures around governance, sustainability, funding, maintenance and volunteer capacity. Village Halls Week gave us valuable time and space to listen directly to the volunteers who are running and sustaining these community buildings.

The launch event brought together hall trustees, managers, volunteers, system leaders and ACRE’s CEO and Rural Evidence & Village Halls Manager, creating a welcoming environment for shared learning, peer connection, open discussion and honest reflection. Through structured workshops and facilitated conversations, we gained valuable insight into what trustees value most, where support could be strengthened, and how we can develop future services in partnership with the sector. Trustees shared what is currently working well, what feels increasingly challenging, and the types of support that would make a meaningful difference.

The response was overwhelmingly positive, with the quality of feedback and level of engagement demonstrating a strong appetite for tailored, locally grounded support. This input is now providing further insight for our LVHT project and to help shape a Village Halls and Community Buildings Support Service for Lancashire – a dedicated service Lancashire has lacked for several years. We aim to ensure this support is relevant, accessible and effective for all halls.

Village Halls Week also marked the beginning of strengthened partnership working, particularly with ACRE and the Lancashire Association of Village and Community Halls (LAVCH). These partnerships are central to our approach and will enable us to align expertise, avoid duplication, and create clearer pathways of support for halls across the county. Working collaboratively allows us to amplify good practice and offer a more joined-up experience for hall committees. We were also joined by members of the Community Futures team who are delivering projects closely aligned with the Village Halls Week theme. This included the Lancashire Village Agent Service, which connects people living in rural areas with existing support and services, and our Cancer Awareness Ambassadors, who support the NHS Check it, Don’t Chance it campaign by raising awareness, encouraging screening and promoting the importance of early diagnosis across our communities.

Village Halls Week was an encouraging first step, and we look forward to continuing the conversation and turning insight into action for Lancashire’s rural communities.