How Stainton Village Hall has been used throughout Covid-19
01/26/2021
In 2018, to mark the first Village Halls Week, we talked to Judith Derbyshire a committee member at Stainton Village Hall in Cumbria. She told us about the hall, which was in the middle of a rebuild to turn its WWI recreation hut into a modern facility to serve the local rural community. The work was completed, and the hall officially opened in March 2019.
Three years later, we’ve talked to her again to find out how the hall has been used through the pandemic.
Stainton
Stainton is located in Cumbria at the north-eastern edge of the Lake District. The village has roughly 400 households with a mix of ages, but generally older residents, a proportion of who live on their own. The village hall works to “support, encourage and promote a vibrant, happy community spirit through the provision of an accessible, welcoming, safe and versatile space that is available for the enjoyment of a wide range of activities that will fulfil the needs and aspirations of our local community and contribute to their wellbeing”.
Judith said: “It has been great seeing how the use of the hall expanded once the new building was opened. More people have been enjoying events and exercise classes, using the community café, farmers’ market, playgroups, and attending plays and live music .
“When we first went into lockdown in March 2020, we closed everything. The County Council working with the District Council and many other local organisations, launched a support line. However, they found that generally, in the rural parts of Eden area, there weren’t many calls because residents in villages like Stainton mobilised quickly to support each other. People were doing shopping for others and collecting prescriptions. Our local pub and hotel did takeaways and deliveries of cooked meals. The Post Office/shop provided a brilliant service to many housebound residents. And the Village Hall Committee WhatsApp group was a great communication system to help find solutions to all sorts of problems.”
Seasonal cheer and raising spirits
“We’ve definitely seen a wider group of people getting involved with the hall and the wider village community in 2020. The Village Hall Committee has been holding Zoom social events to help people stay connected since April. Initially we adapted in-person events we had planned and added weekly chat sessions via our Virtual Village Hall. 2020 was our centenary year so we had a lot planned including history talks and a VE Day celebration. A virtual walk round event in December about the history of the village, created lots of buzz with people sharing their memories and historical knowledge.
“In May we also launched monthly Zoom book club meetings and Zoom quizzes, both well attended and so we extended the programme so there was something on every Friday night. People have been making quiz teams out of their friends and family including from abroad. It is a lovely way to bring people to together to join in. Our quiz uses individual breakout rooms for teams so people can chat with each other if they are not in the same location.
“In September we temporarily re-opened with safety measures in place. The farmer’s market was held outside and the local Methodist Church used the porch to hand out Messy Church activity packs for families. But now everything has stopped again.
“In December, the hall was part of the village advent calendar trail, organised by a resident with excellent communication and IT skills. On each day in the run up to Christmas, a new house or building in the village revealed a new decoration. Each location had a QR code poster with a link to watch a short video from the household celebrating their Christmas. These videos could also be accessed via the Stainton Fun Events Facebook group. People who weren’t on Facebook and weren’t going out, could sign up to get images of each window sent to them by email. It was lovely to do something as a community to raise spirits. I later heard that people had explored parts of the village they had not visited before. Two local artists worked on fabulous displays in the windows of the village hall.
“If there are interesting new things to see, people are more likely to get out for a daily walk around the village which is good for both mental and physical health. Our advent trail was similar to the Winter Wanderland concept which is being supported by Eden District Council. They are giving money to local artists to encourage different communities to take part.
“Following our Winter Wanderland in December, we agreed that we needed to do something else to encourage people to get out and about during lockdown three coinciding with dark cold winter days. So, weekly village explore trails are now being produced, posted on noticeboards and publicised through the Facebook group, Twitter and NextDoor. A village hall committee member made the latest version using old photos of the village and a map from the 1920s, to encourage people to compare the photos with the present day view. Other trails have used photos of local features to encourage people to get out.”
Current uses for the hall
“The hall is now closed to everyone and we can’t see this changing any time soon. The only reasons it might be used is for NHS purposes such as vaccination or training for health staff.
“As a rural area we don’t have a GP surgery or any healthcare facilities in the village. People have to travel by bus, car or taxi to Penrith our nearest town. Many local residents have been shielding since March. They may now be preparing to receive the vaccine but may have to go to Penrith to get it which presents practical and emotional challenges. People are getting lifts, whilst taking safety precautions, from neighbours and friends to get their vaccine. I have heard of one resident who had the jab given by his GP surgery at his home. We are hopeful that once the Oxford vaccine is available, it may be that the village hall could play a part as a very local vaccination centre, but we will have to see what is being planned in the area.
“The County, District and Parish Councils are doing lots of contingency planning about other winter emergencies. Usually, the village hall would be at the centre of a response to bad snow or flooding, acting as an evacuation point or hub for supplies. We need to be ready should this happen and we need to know how to act to keep everyone safe in this time of COVID-19.
“As part of our management of the building, we are going in every week to check everything is working, to run the water and do essential maintenance tasks. We’ve been researching best practice about how to heat / air the hall to ensure it is COVID- 19 safe. We have an air ventilation system and air conditioning, however it is hard to get a clear answer about how to operate in a safe way to reduce transmission hazards. Hopefully the advice will be available once we are able to reopen.”
Support and connections
“Throughout this time we have been connecting with others through the Cumbria Village Halls Network, a group on Facebook. It was set up a couple of years ago as a way to exchange information for example on risk assessments and ventilation, but also to share different ideas for supporting our communities. It has over 100 members. This year, we have learnt lots about using Zoom, WhatsApp and social media which we were keen to pass on to other halls wanting to get to grips with technology to build their community engagement and support this year.
“We got some funds from the government which helped pay for our ongoing costs. We used some of this, with a grant from the Parish Council, to pay for work to resolve a problem with access to the building. We were able to complete the work whilst we were closed.
“We’ve also had support from the District Council, ACRE and Cumbria CVS who have been working hard to help communities to help themselves.
“Although not the year we planned, we, as a community and village hall, have adapted to find new ways to come together. The village hall is a vibrant hub for our community whether in person within its walls or virtual as a driver of community activity and support.”
- 2018 article for Village Halls Week featuring Stainton
- Village Halls Week is run by ACRE, this year is a celebration of survival.
