Like all village halls, we love to host classes and regular sessions of all sorts. These events bring people together to learn new skills and make new friends. If you are thinking of starting a regular event, here’s some information to help.
Please read this information before contacting the booking secretary. Thank you.
What are your facilities?
Have a look round on our virtual tour.
Our large airy main room has a suspended floor, perfect for dancing or exercises. The ‘flat’ ceiling with acoustic panels means that there’s no echo, so singers and musicians will sound great and speakers are easily heard. (ceiling height is 2.8m) The main room is presented empty; if you need furniture we have plenty in our two store rooms so you can arrange the room as you like. And if you don’t need furniture, you’ve got the whole space with nothing round the edges to get in the way. We had a new LED lighting system installed in 2020 – read more on this link. Heating is included too for the cooler months.
Furniture: we have lots of folding tables in two sizes, and plenty of modern padded vinyl chairs for comfortable seating. The hall is rated for up to 100 people, the main room is a spacious 160 square metres. Here’s our floorplan. We have a bluetooth (or plug in) speaker system for your use. We have a plug in microphone too, available on request. Please note that we don’t have wi-fi. O2 and Vodafone signals are available in the hall, although EE or 3 are unlikely to work. (there’s a big hill behind the village!)
You can even run two sessions at once, as there’s a separate side room with its own tables and chairs. Your hire fee gives you the whole building to yourself. When it is tea break or lunch time, we also have a serving kitchen with lots of cutlery and crockery, a boiling water tap and microwave. (Countertop oven available at a small extra charge) Next to the kitchen is our newly refurbished bar/utility area. There is a small outside space at the back of the hall and you are welcome to take furniture out there as long as the weather is dry.
We have a 17 space off-street car park, and the building is fully wheelchair accessible throughout – all on one level with a ramp at the entrance. We have ladies, gents and disabled toilet all with hot water hand wash and air hand dryers. The hall is double glazed throughout and all windows open for fresh air; we leave plenty of window keys for you.
What kind of events can happen at the hall?
We’ve hosted a huge variety of classes and sessions in the past, and we’d love to welcome more.
If it fits in, doesn’t damage the place and doesn’t upset the neighbours; we’ll host it! Examples include dance classes, yoga, pilates, fitsteps, poetry workshops, children’s exercise and dance sessions, conferences, first aid courses, mindfulness events, mini-retreats, band rehearsals, choir practice, performances and much more.
Naturally we are also a venue for family parties. If you are planning a children’s party, lots of info on this page.
Can I book a regular slot? What is your cancellation policy?
We love regulars and it is definitely good to ‘get into a rhythm’. You can book as far ahead as you like in the current calendar year, while bookings for the following year open in October. Have a look at our online calendar to see availability. Minimum booking is one hour, after that we go in 15 minute increments. Opening times are 7:30am to 11pm.
To see what times are available, have a look at our online calendar. This is kept up to date from the hall diary, held by the booking secretary.
Cancellation is ‘no charge if we get 24 hours notice’ although we can sometimes be flexible.
We operate a discount policy for frequent hirers – details on request.
Are there any staff at the hall?
No – we are entirely volunteer run. The booking secretary or their deputy will help you get set up, answer all your questions and let you see the hall in advance. Once all the paperwork is in place we loan you a key, asking you to sign a receipt. Then it is a total trust system – we expect that you will use the hours arranged and leave the hall clean and tidy for the next hirer.
There is a cleaner each week but we are otherwise a ‘self-service’ hall – and that is reflected in our hire fees.
The person who signed the hiring form must be there for all events. You can have more than one signatory on the form if needed, but one of those people must attend; they will be held responsible for the hall during the hiring. Keys cannot be transferred between people; the person who signed for the key remains responsible for it. (Lost keys cost £250 for all the replacements and we will charge you if that happens). Again, if more than one key is needed we can do that.
What about safety at the venue?
Here is our page on our covid-19 precautions and what hirers can do to keep everyone safe.
We take this just as seriously as you do; we may be run by a volunteer committee but that doesn’t mean we don’t do things properly. The hall has a fire alarm system with smoke and heat detectors, tested weekly and professionally serviced twice a year. There’s also emergency lighting, again tested and serviced. We have two HSE approved first aid kits, checked monthly. The hall electrical system is tested every five years and we only use approved contractors for any work. You can see our health and safety policy, plan of the hall and safeguarding policy on our policies and forms page, together with our risk assessment and all our other documentation. The relevant information is also kept in a folder in the hall for anyone to see.
What documentation do you need from hirers?
All hirers must complete and sign a hiring form, which commits you to our full booking conditions and our ‘important information for hirers’. Again, all these documents are on our policies and forms page.
In addition, for our due diligence we also ask for the following information from you:
- copy of your public liability insurance – from all professional hirers
- copy of any relevant professional qualification, plus first aid certificate for fitness instructors.
- copy of your safeguarding policy, for anyone working with children or vulnerable adults. We have our own safeguarding policy, posted in the hall and also on the policies and forms page.
- confirmation of your current DBS check if you are working with children or vulnerable adults
- PPL music licence if relevant – the hall has its own PRS/PPL licence but commercial hirers may need their own PPL.
Can I bring my own equipment? Can I leave it at the hall?
Feel free to bring whatever you need for your event. There are electrical sockets all round the hall. Please note the requirement in our booking conditions that any electrical equipment you bring needs to be safe; a portable appliance test is one way to ensure this.
Craft sessions are welcome but please, please ensure that you protect our floor and furniture from any spills. We host dance classes and children’s events, which often mean people in socks or thin soled shoes; please take great care not to leave any pins around. For the same reason, we only allow push pins on our noticeboards, not drawing pins. (Push pins fall on their sides, drawing pins fall pin up – ouch!)
You are welcome to leave equipment in the storerooms between sessions, subject to space limitations and at your own risk. Please talk to the booking secretary regarding available space.
What about payment?
We need you to pay for your first month (or first block of events if less than that) in advance. After that, we invoice you monthly in arrears and ask for payment within 10 days. We prefer payment by bank transfer if at all possible, it saves so much work for everyone.
Interested? Please email our booking secretary: bookings@pantmemorialhall.org.uk if you need more information or to book. We look forward to hearing from you.