Johnny Thomson 00:01

Yes everyone, the wait is over and now is the time to start entering our Village Halls Inspiration Awards of 2023.

Hello, I’m Johnny Thomson and welcome to The Village Halls Podcast, sponsored by Allied Westminster, the UK’s largest specialist provider of village hall insurance and the home of VillageGuard.

So last time, Gavin Mitchell from Allied Westminster and I talked about the Inspiration Awards we’ve introduced this year and as we’ve now opened up entries on The Village Halls Podcast website, I thought I’d record another quick episode, just to let you all know the main details.

First of all, if you head to www.thevillagehallspodcast.com and look at the top you’ll see a new section titled ‘Inspiration Awards’. There’s also a button on our home page labelled ‘Inspiration Awards 2023’.

Click on either of those and you’ll be taken to a page which gives you more information and also links through to the last episode I recorded with Gavin.

At the bottom of that page you’ll find an online entry form. Simply fill that form in and hit submit and you’re all done.

The same page also provides a link to a pdf promotional flyer, which you could print and place on your notice boards or attach to your local newsletters. You’ll also find a link to all the terms and conditions, and so on.

Remember, what we’re looking for these Awards is anything you can tell us about, whether it’s someone in your community, or a project or activity you’ve developed, which could inspire other village halls across the country. Just like the kind of people and activities we’ve featured in our podcast since we first started back in 2021.

The more… new, unusual, impactful or interesting a story you have to tell us, the more chance you’ll have to win a prize for your village, church or community hall.

And talking of prizes, a reminder that this year thanks to the incredible generosity of our show sponsors, Allied Westminster, we’re offering a third prize of £1,000 in funding for your hall, £1,500 for second and a whopping £2,500 for whoever our judging panel puts in first place.

We believe the incredible contribution all of you out there who are connected to village halls make to your communities should be recognised and rewarded.

So, what are you waiting for. Get your committees together and think who you know… or what you’ve all done… that is inspirational… and then tell us all about it.

Entries close on 17th November, so there’s a bit of time, but remember time passes quickly. We can’t wait to hear from you and best of luck with your entries.

In the meantime, thanks as always to our headline sponsor and specialist insurance provider Allied Westminster, for making our podcast possible and whose services you can discover more about at villageguard.com. And to online booking system provider Hallmaster, who also sponsor our podcast and can be found at hallmaster.co.uk.

You’ve been listening to The Village Halls Podcast, a unique listening community for Britain’s VILLAGE, church and community halls and anyone interested in the vital community services they provide. Please visit thevillagehallspodcast.com to subscribe, sign up for updates, link though to our social media pages and to find out more AND until the next time, goodbye for now.