Boat of Garten Community Hall was this week presented with one of the very first KeyStone Awards at a networking event for village halls and community buildings in Birnam. The award recognises Boat of Garten Community Hall as a very well run organisation that looks after its staff and volunteers, cares for the building, puts the users of the facility first and makes sure that activities happen in a safe and welcoming environment.

The KeyStone Awards were presented at a national networking event on the 5^th of July organised by the Scottish National Rural Network (SNRN) and Scottish Agricultural College (SAC).  It brought together over 160 representatives of village halls and community buildings from every part of rural Scotland. Delegates heard about some of the support currently available to them, including the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisation’s (SCVO) new Keystone quality award for the people who manage village halls and community buildings.

Presenting the KeyStone award SCVO Chief Executive Martin Sime said, “I’m delighted to present this award that reflects the hard work and commitment of the volunteers that run this facility for the benefit of their community. They should be rightly proud of their achievements.”

Lorraine MacPherson MBE, receiving the award on behalf of Boat of Garten Community Hall said, “it was hard work putting together all the relevant paperwork but worth it in the end. Now we have assurance that all our policies are in place, risk assessments have been done, as well as a host of other things which should ensure that our hall runs safely and smoothly. I couldn’t have done it without the help of volunteers and fellow directors of the hall.”

Boat of Garten Community Hall was supported and guided through the process by a mentor from SCVO. Sandra Hogg said, “Boat of Garten has a really well run hall and it was it was great to see how they used the framework of KeyStone to organise the documents. The KeyStone Award is recognition of their hard work running the hall for the benefit of the community.”

Boat of Garten Community Halls was one of eight halls that took part in the pilot of the KeyStone Awards and one of five whose success in achieving Level One was celebrated this week. KeyStone is designed to make the life of the people who manage village halls and community buildings easier by providing information, support and encouragement that will help them manage their buildings more efficiently and effectively.

Source: Lorraine MacPherson