The Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations is the membership organisation for Scotland's charities, voluntary organisations and social enterprises. Charity registered in Scotland SC003558. Registered office Mansfield Traquair Centre, 15 Mansfield Place, Edinburgh EH3 6BB.
Your hall online
The digital and online world offers lots of possibilities for your village hall, so it’s worth investing some time thinking about. If this feels like a gap in your knowledge or experience, you could look at getting a trustee involved who has digital skills and confidence.
Here are some of the ways that having an online presence could help your village hall:
Building a website may seem daunting, but there are often template websites you can use that make it easier than you might think.
Have a look at local libraries or colleges to see if they offer any training on how to build a website. You can also look at these links for some more information:
- Free Charity Web Design Guide To Build Your Charity Website
- Charity Digital guide to website platforms for charities
- Third Sector Lab - training and advice for the voluntary sector in Scotland
Sites like Facebook, Nextdoor, X (formerly Twitter) etc. can be a great place to start spreading your news and information. Set up a page for your village or community hall, then make sure you’re connected to local groups and pages so you can share information.
If you do decide to use social media to promote your hall, it’s good to keep it regularly updated (this doesn’t have to mean every day, it could mean posting weekly or even monthly). Use images to catch peoples attention and make sure you’ve included key information: what’s on, who can attend, any cost, who to contact and how to sign up.
There are likely to be online listings covering your area, and they can be a great place to list your hall if its available for rent, and any events and classes you’re putting on. Look at places like Visit Scotland, or the equivalent tourist board or information centre for your local area (e.g. Visit Aberdeenshire). They will often allow you to add business listings, as long as you meet their criteria.
You could also investigate your local Third Sector Interface (TSI) to see if they have listings, mailing lists, etc.
An online booking system could make your processes for hiring out your hall easier, though it may seem like a big move or change in your way of working. But having an online system might make it easier for potential hall users to see your availability, and to book easily at a time that suits them.
There are lots of online booking systems, so it’s worth having a look around to find something that suits you (in terms of price and what it does). You may also need to think about you take payments – whether that’s online, by bank transfer or in cash.
This guide may be helpful (it’s from a New Zealand based organisation so may not all be relevant): How to move to online venue booking software for community spaces
Effective and safe internet use
Here are some of the things you will need to make sure that your hall is digital ready and that you and your hall users can access online and digital in a safe way.
You will need a decent broadband connection to make sure you can access online services with ease. A fast broadband connection can also help if you plan to do things like stream films or music, or host events remotely (e.g. by having a zoom meeting or stream).
Slow or unreliable broadband
If you have slow broadband, or the signal is unreliable, you may be eligible for a grant to give you access to superfast broadband.
You could also look at alternative suppliers like Starlink, which comes from satellites and may be useful if you’re in a really rural or remote area.
You’ll want to support people to connect to your WiFi easily, for example by having posters displaying the WiFi network name.
However, you should make sure you’re not sharing your own organisational WiFi details, as this will leave your own network more vulnerable to malware or cyber attacks. For your visitors or venue users, you should set up a separate ‘Guest access’ WiFi network. Most modern broadband routers and WiFi devices will allow you to do this through the device configuration page. On the configuration page you’ll be able to set the WiFi network name (often called the SSID), and set a password. You may also be able to set features such as disabling video streaming to help make sure that more people can use the network.
For example: Your main WiFi network might be called ‘village-hall-admin' This should be set to ‘hidden’ so that people can only connect if they enter the correct network name, and it should have secure password.
Your guest WiFi network might be called ‘village-hall-guest'. This can be set as ‘visible’ so that people can see it on their list of available networks, and you can set a password which you can display on posters on the wall of your venue.
Cyber security is about protecting your IT systems and data to help ensure you are not a target of malicious cyber activity, reducing the risk of cyber attack. This includes things like:
- Backing up your data
- Keeping mobiles and laptops safe using passwords and staying up to date
- Preventing malware by having up to date virus protection on devices
- Using strong passwords to protect your data
- Avoiding phishing attacks through staff/volunteer awareness.
Find out more on SCVO's page about cyber resilience.
You may also wish to look into cyber insurance, or check if any current insurance policies protect you.
Find lots more information, including a simple digital check-up, on SCVO's Digital pages.