Welcome to my first edition of this e-newsletter for Community Buildings in Warwickshire.

It was great to see some of you at Hatton Park Village Hall in March to say goodbye to Mavis Wilkins, who had provided a sterling service to village halls for many years. I know Mavis was delighted with the many messages of support that she received.

In order to provide a faster, more responsive and efficient service, we are asking all members to provide us with one or more email addresses. We are sometimes told about a funding opportunity which has a very short timespan, or have a message to pass on from the Charity Commission about bogus callers. We would like to be able to respond immediately rather than waiting for the next issue of our newsletter. We can send information to every member of your committee and save you the problem of circulating the newsletter! Be assured that in accordance with our data protection policy any email addresses given to us will never be passed on to a third party.

Fire extinguishers: We have negotiated a 10% discount with Signal Fire & Safety on the cost of your annual fire extinguisher check.  Contact Paul on 01782 373742 and quote 'WRCC discount'.

If you are struggling with funding why not have a look at our funding page which is regularly updated with details of organisations who can provide grants and funding for community groups, community buildings etc.

The Trusthouse Charitable Foundation is actively seeking funding applications from charities and not-for-profit organisations which are addressing issues in needy rural areas, particularly projects which encourage a sense of community such as community centres & village halls.

The 'Trustees Roles & Responsibilities' training in March was well attended, and well received, and I hope to meet more committee members at our future training events.

Membership invoices were sent out during April and May with a letter explaining the changes to and benefits of WRCC membership.  WRCC is sometimes asked to provide details of local venues and one of the membership benefits is having a link on our website to your own. One such enquiry has been received from 'School of Everything', who are looking for venues and spaces suitable for learners, teachers or groups to use. Add your details to their database and attract new learning activities to your community.

http://www.ruralwarwickshire.org.uk / communitybuildings@wrccrural.org.uk