Does your community building use microphones?

The following information has just been brought to my attention:

On 1 January 2013 a line-in-the-sand was drawn for the legal use of many wireless microphone systems widely used in churches, schools, pubs and clubs across the UK. According to national specialist retailer and installer EAV Pro Audio, up to 75% of users may be unaware of an impending change in the law, which could directly affect them.

Following the ‘digital switchover’ this year, some of the radio frequencies currently used by wireless microphones are being re-allocated to allow the broadcast of Freeview television signals and new 4G mobile technologies. The knock-on effect is that many wireless microphones legally in use today will conflict with these signals and will therefore be outlawed come the New Year deadline.

EAV managing director, Glyn Chapman said, “We’re shocked by just how little awareness there is amongst users about the upcoming changes in the law.”  He went on to say, “in our experience, up to three quarters of users don’t understand the changes, let alone know if their equipment will be compliant come 2013.”

Not all equipment will be affected by the changes, but the technicalities can be complicated by the number of microphones in use, the location and frequency settings currently in use.  EAV urge all wireless users to seek professional advice if they haven’t already.

Talking about how people can check their compliance with the law, Glyn said, “we urge people to use our online equipment checker or call us for free advice if they are concerned – we’re always happy to help demystify the complexities of the technology!”

Wireless microphone users can check their compliance by using the special free tool at www.e-av.co.uk or by calling 0845 125 9409 and talking to one of EAV’s specialists, again free of charge.

ACRE News Release

ACRE urges village halls to respond to food safety consultation 

Moves to clear up the confusion around the laws on serving food in village halls have been welcomed by ACRE (Action with Communities in Rural England).

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is currently consulting on draft guidance on how food law applies to food provision in England’s 10,000 village halls and to other community activities.

ACRE, which runs a national Village Halls Information Service, hopes the guidance will help village hall volunteers who are already struggling with a raft of red tape.

And the charity is urging village hall committees to respond to the FSA consultation, which closes on May 21, by visiting www.food.gov.uk

The FSA draft advice will help local authorities decide whether a community food operation is deemed to be a ‘food business operator’ (FBO).

FBOs need to be registered with their local council and must comply with food hygiene legislation. Operations that do not need to be registered are still legally required to supply food that is safe, but are not required to comply with food hygiene laws.

Food hygiene laws say that for a food operation to require registration it must have both ‘a certain continuity of activities’ and ‘a certain degree of organisation’.

Deborah Clarke, ACRE’s Rural Community Buildings Officer, said: “There has always been a degree of confusion over whether village halls need to register as FBOs, with some volunteers being given conflicting advice by local councils.

“The guidance makes it clear that it is the food provider using a village hall, not the premises itself, that needs to be registered.

“It also reassures village halls that they don’t need to register for one-off events, such as fetes. The general rule of thumb is that operations which provide food less than once a month don’t need to register.

“Where food is provided at least once a month, decisions on whether such operations require registration depend on the degree of organisation involved. We would suggest that village halls who run regular food events, such as luncheon clubs, take advice from their local council.

“If organisations using village halls do require registration, each food business must be registered separately.”

ACRE, the umbrella organisation for the 38 members of the nationwide Rural Community Action Network (RCAN), works with RCAN to deliver a local advisory service for village halls, supported by insurance broker Aon (UK) Limited.

ACRE is campaigning for better support for village hall volunteers, who are struggling with red tape, loss of funding and the increasing needs of people who use them.

Deborah added: “Managing a village hall is a complex and time-consuming task for 80,000 volunteers across England. Our network of advisers ensures they have accurate information about the law, training and one-to-one advice and support with business planning.”

Affordable finance for renewable energy projects

PURE The Clean Planet Trust has £1m of low cost loan finance available to community groups and charities hoping to install renewable energy and energy efficiency measures. The loans are designed to be affordable for borrowers ranging from £10,000 to £100,000 and covering up to 65% of project costs with an interest rate of 4-6%. Projects must be in the bottom 50% of the country as measured by the Index of Multiple Deprivation. More information is available at www.puretrust.org.uk

Charity Commission revise Trustee Declaration

The Charity have issued a revised version of a sample Trustee Declaration. This can be accessed here

Applying for funding?

If your group is looking at applying for funding for the hall, have you evidenced the need?

According to the Big Lottery Fund, some of the common weaknesses in applications are:

• Not being 100% clear on the need
• Not sufficiently incorporating equalities principles and
• Not evidencing community buy-in and engagement

Not sure where to start?

Community Impact Bucks can help!

One of our services is to support the development of locally produced community-led plans. Going through the process of developing a community-led plan for your local area by the very nature of its application, brings the community together to look at what they want for the future of their community. As part of this, making sure that the community building is included in the consultation exercises should provide your committee with not only the evidence required by potential funders, but also means that you can be sure that the decisions you have made about the community building are truly representative of the wishes and needs of local people.

If you would like to talk about the possibility of starting the community-led planning process, which can be fun and engaging, please do get in touch.

Sarah Allwood

sarah@communityimpactbucks.org.uk

Google launches campaign to help small charities get online

As a charity, you know better than anyone how tough it is doing incredible things on a shoestring budget. But did you know you could drum up even more volunteers and donations through social media, video and other online tools?

To tell you more, Google has teamed up with Media Trust and Charity Technology Trust to launch Grow Your Charity Online.

There are stacks of free tools to try, and you could even get extra support from Google Grants. Better still, you don’t need to be a computer whiz to start seeing results.

http://www.growyourcharityonline.com/

Charity Commission approves Charitable Incorporated Organisation document from ACRE

The Charity Commission have approved the ACRE village hall foundation CIO document.  The final version with notes will be available soon.