Our village hall is a popular venue for all sorts of events, including many private parties for local hirers as well as hirers from further afield. Most private hirers act responsibly and observe our terms and conditions of hire, but in recent months we have increasingly had to deal with incidents involving misuse of, and damage to, hall equipment, breaches of licensing and fire regulations and other issues which have placed an excessive burden on our trustees and volunteers. As a result we have had to reconsider some aspects of our bookings policy and our conditions of hire.
Our Charitable Purpose is to provide a village facility for the people living in our area of benefit, which is defined as The Parish of Hartpury and the Neighbourhood. (In practice we interpret this to apply to the residents of Hartpury and all its neighbouring parishes.) When we take bookings from groups outside the defined area of benefit we need to ensure that these contribute to this charitable purpose (usually by providing a financial income which, in turn, helps to keep our hire charges for local people as low as possible) and that they are proportionate in frequency and value. We have taken these considerations into account when deciding on the best way forward.
With immediate effect the following changes have been implemented:
- New evening bookings will be subject to a 10.00 pm end-time other than by exception. Extensions will be allowed only to local hirers from our area of benefit if deemed low risk.
- Events at the hall will be limited to 100 attendees, other than by exception. Exceptions (up to 140 max) will be allowed only to local hirers if deemed low risk.
- Multi-day booking requests will normally be declined, other than by exception or for compelling reasons, e.g.:
- Clean up the morning after the night before at an event which has been deemed to be low-risk.
- Preparing the hall for a major event on the following day which has been deemed low-risk.
- The 48 hour “wedding” package has been withdrawn. This reflects the trend toward an increasingly fluid definition of a wedding event, and also recognises that payment by the hour can often be more attractive anyway.
- Requests from non-local hirers for major events will only be accepted following a meeting in advance at which key information and terms and conditions of hire will be explained, and following which a document confirming agreement will need to be signed before the booking will be accepted. (This is in addition to the existing tick-box agreement within the Hallmaster booking system.)
- The number of major bookings on any given weekend will be restricted, to give the hall, the cleaners and volunteers and the neighbours more breathing space. This will be applied at the discretion of the Bookings Secretary, based on an assessment of risk and resources.
- Marquees on the hall lawn will not be allowed for non-local hirers.
- Upfront deposits will be required for major and / or high-risk bookings, over and above the hire fee in case of damage / misuse / non-compliance with terms and conditions.
- The booking request process within the Hallmaster platform has been amended to require additional information in advance of a booking request being considered.
Some additional options also remain under consideration, including potential changes to our hire charges to take effect from January 2027.
Taken together we trust that these changes will provide some relief to our team members and volunteers, as well as hopefully mitigating some of the impact of events at the village hall on local neighbours.
September 2026
