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HALLMARK
Hallmark is a FREE national quality scheme for community buildings launched in 2007 by ACRE (Action with Communities in Rural England). The scheme operates throughout County Durham and is open to any community building management committee.
What are the aims of the scheme?
Hallmark recognises the good work undertaken by volunteer village hall management committees. It helps to increase the confidence of committee members by assessing working practices and ensuring that halls are operating correctly and meeting legal requirements. Our staff can provide one to one support, and help Management Committee members work towards achieving the required criteria for the three Hallmark levels.
How does it work?
Hallmark is effectively an ‘MOT’ for Village Halls and Community Centres. It uses a checklist of standards to assess how well a hall is being operated. Our staff carry out an initial visit to the hall, working through the checklist in detail, and explaining the evidence needed to demonstrate how the criteria is being met.
If further development work is needed, our staff work with the committee to provide help and advice. Once the committee feels ready, a date is then arranged for an assessment. This generally takes 2 – 3 hours and is carried out at the hall. The assessment is carried out by a different member of our staff, together with a peer assessor i.e. a committee member from another hall that has previously been successful in achieving the Hallmark standard. It is not a simple pass or fail; if areas are identified requiring further development, the committee will be asked to work towards these, and a further assessment arranged to check on progress.
What are the three Hallmark Levels?
There are three levels of Hallmark which need to be completed in sequential order; it is up to each organisation how many levels of Hallmark they wish to complete:
Hallmark 1 focuses on the management and administration of the charity;
Hallmark 2 focuses on health, safety, security and licences;
Hallmark 3 focuses on communication with the community and users, alongside general social awareness, forward planning and development.
What are the benefits of completing Hallmark?
Hallmark is free, and successful completion results in a Hallmark certificate that is valid for three years. It gives management committees and volunteers confidence that their hall is operating in the correct way and that it is up to date with required legislation. Hallmark is endorsed by the Charity Commission, and demonstrates good practice to potential funders and organisations wishing to use a hall to deliver services.
Practical incentives including toolkits, templates and hands on support from DRCC staff are available. In addition several of the major insurance providers for village halls and community buildings also offer financial incentives, including:
5% discount through DRCC's own Insurance Scheme for members achieving Hallmark Level 1.
5% discount (up to a maximum of £100) for Hallmark accredited halls insured through Norris and Fisher.
A £10 discount for each Hallmark stage completed, for halls insured through the Allied and Westminster Village Guard Scheme.
Further information
Please contact Helen Brown on 01207 529621 (Helen.Brown@durhamrcc.org.uk), or click on the links below for more information, including Checklists, Application Forms, useful templates and model documents:
a. Checklists
b. Application Forms
Please complete an Expression of Interest to register your initial interest in the scheme. You will then be asked to complete an entry form for the Hallmark level(s) that you wish to achieve:
Hallmark 3 Entry Form
c. Template documents for Hallmark 1
The following documents will help you to work towards achieving the Hallmark 1 standard:
Charity Commission Essential Trustee
Specimen Village Hall Annual Report
d. Case Study - Kirk Merrington Community Centre
Kirk Merrington Community Association is already seeing the benefits of Hallmark accreditation. Click here to read their Case Study.
To read about our other work with communities, please click here.