Hallmark accolade for Lesbury village hall

Action with Communities in Rural England set Hallmark as a national quality standard scheme for the management of community buildings/village halls.

Each of the three elements required lasts for three years.

The hall, which is a warm hub and an emergency rescue centre, was awarded Hallmark 1 level (complying with the requirements of its charitable status) in 2019.

However Covid prevented the committee from being assessed for the two next stages (compliance with legislative issues and an examination of the role of the hall in the community).

Chair Jan McMahon said: “Despite the fact that we couldn’t be assessed we continued to strengthen the way we manage the hall. It has taken quite a lot of hard work to pull together all of the policies, systems and processes needed to reach the highest standard.”

Louise Currie, Valerie Vaughan and Tracey Morgan from Community Action Northumberland carried out the assessments in November and the committee received the good news over the festive season.

Lesbury is now one of four halls in the whole of Northumberland to complete Hallmarks, 1, 2 and 3.

Jan passed on her thanks to the committee for all their hard work.

"It’s great to have committee members who are willing to do so much for the local community and aim to provide the best possible service,” she said. “Now all we have to do is keep up the standard!”