Community Buildings – Networking & Training

We offer information and guidance for people who run community buildings, including village halls, community centres, church halls, social clubs, and other buildings that are available for hire by groups and individuals.

Roundtable sessions – information and networking to help you run your building more effectively

At our online roundtable sessions we give a briefing on a particular topic, then we give you space to share ideas, successes, and challenges on this topic or anything else around running a community hall or centre.

These sessions are free of charge for Action Hampshire member organisations, and £20 per place for non-members. Membership is fully subsidised for 2026-27, so there’s no cost to you – see our membership page for details of how to apply.

Here’s what we’ll be covering in our autumn sessions

What’s your message? Making social media work for your venue
Tuesday 29 September, 1.00–2.30pm
Book your place on Eventbrite

• Developing marketing content – what do you want to share with your local community and other potential hirers?
• What social media platform(s) would be best to use for this content?

Engaging with young people, addressing anti-social behaviour and crime in general
Thursday 19 November, 10.00–11.30am
Book your place on Eventbrite

• What can you do to build positive relationships with local young people?
• How to reduce and deal with anti-social behaviour in and around your venue
• Addressing other crime-related issues

One subject we’ll no doubt cover at the roundtable sessions is the new anti-terrorism legislation known as Martyn’s Law. The legislation hasn’t come into force yet but the Government released its official guidance in April. The latest information about Martyn’s Law is on the ProtectUK website and a direct link to the new Government guidance is here. We’re expecting tailored guidance for community buildings soon and will share this as soon as we have it.

Your topic suggestions are always welcome – just send us your ideas. Here’s what we’ve covered recently, which we could return to if that would be helpful:

• Health and wellbeing – the impact community buildings can have
• Creative community fundraising events
• What makes a good bookings system for your venue?

Training for community buildings

We organise a range of training sessions, usually free of charge for our member organisations (and membership is fully subsidised for 2026-27, so apply here!). Some of these sessions are particularly relevant to community buildings – make sure you’ve seen the briefing and Q&A on Martyn’s Law. All the training details are on our Event Calendar.

Connecting and networking in your area

We also work with the Local Infrastructure Organisations and local authorities across Hampshire to run regular events where you can meet and share ideas with others in your area. The list below will be filled in as session dates are set up.

• Basingstoke & Deane: to be confirmed
• Eastleigh: Tuesday 15 September, 10.00–11.30 at Eastleigh Town Community Hub (on Google Maps as Energy Youth Centre) – book your place with Jo from Community First
• East Hampshire: to be confirmed
• Fareham: Thursday 8 October, 10.30–12.30 at Portchester Community Centre
• Gosport: to be confirmed
• Hart / Rushmoor: to be confirmed
• Havant: to be confirmed
• New Forest: to be confirmed (register your interest with Sarah from Community First)
• Test Valley: Wednesday 23 September, 5.30–7.30 at Grateley War Memorial Hall – book your place with Marie from TVBC
• Winchester: Thursday 24 September, 1.30–3.30 at Colden Common Community Centre – book your place on Eventbrite

Online networking

You can connect online with your peers – sharing ideas and experiences with other people involved in running a community building across the Hampshire area via the Basecamp online forum and file-sharing platform. Just send us a quick email and we’ll invite you to join.

We’ve produced a beginner’s guide to Basecamp, to make it as easy as we can for everyone to join in, even if you’re not confident with computers! Download the beginner’s guide to Basecamp (PDF)

You can also join the national Village and Community Halls Network to connect with community buildings nationwide and hear about national campaigns such as Village Halls Week. This network gives you the opportunity to shape and comment on Government policy-making as it affects community buildings, especially rural halls.

Further benefits for Action Hampshire member organisations

Action Hampshire members can also take part in our member-only events and training. Membership is currently free of charge as Action Hampshire is fully subsidising the cost – read more and join up here.