Exeter Street Hall – Community Hire Rate

Our Purpose

Exeter Street Hall is a Community Benefit Society – a community-owned charitable organisation run by and for local people. We have approximately 900 shareholders who have invested in preserving and operating this beautiful Victorian building as a thriving community asset.

As a charitable society, we have a dual responsibility: to pursue our own charitable objectives while ensuring the long-term sustainability of the Hall. This means we must cover our running costs and generate income to maintain and improve our building for future generations.

Supporting Good Causes

We recognise that many charities and not-for-profit organisations struggle to access affordable venue space. We are a community benefit society and want to support other good causes doing valuable work in our area, particularly locally-run organisations serving our community.

We believe in supporting a wide variety of causes – from arts and culture to health and wellbeing, environmental action to social justice and social welfare – reflecting the diverse interests and needs of our community.

Our Approach

We offer a limited number of discounted hire slots each year to registered charities and community organisations at reduced rates. The community rate (£15 per hour) is set at the minimum level needed to cover our basic running costs and the staff time involved in managing bookings.

This represents a significant discount from our standard event rate of £30 per hour, while ensuring we meet our charitable duty to maintain financial sustainability.

Eligibility and Allocation

Who can apply:

• Registered charities
• Community Interest Companies (CICs)
• Charitable Incorporated Organisations (CIOs)
• Community Benefit Societies (CBSs)
• Other not-for-profit organisations with clear community benefit

Available slots:

• Saturday evenings: 5-10pm
• Sunday afternoons: 2-7pm
• Minimum 3-hour booking

Limits to ensure fair access:

• One event per organisation per year
• Maximum two events per charitable sector/beneficiary group per year
• Maximum one community rate event per month in the Hall

Conditions

Organisations using the community rate must:

• Take full responsibility for marketing, ticketing, and event management
• Comply with our standard terms and conditions
• Hold appropriate insurance
• Not serve large-scale food events without demonstrated previous experience
• Agree that any bar takings go to Exeter Street Hall

Assessment

Applications will be considered in the context of the Hall’s own fundraising schedule and wider programming plans, and may be declined if the proposed event conflicts with our existing commitments or does not align with our social justice objectives and community values.

We assess applications based on:

• Charitable objectives and community benefit
• Event suitability for our space and location
• Ensuring we support a diverse range of causes throughout the year
• Whether the organisation is locally based or serves our local community

This policy helps us balance our charitable duty to support good causes with our responsibility to ensure Exeter Street Hall remains financially sustainable for the benefit of our community now and in the future.

If you would like to hire the Hall at our community hire rate, please fill in and submit the application form below. It will be sent to our hall manager who will respond promptly. In some cases she may refer the application to the management committee for guidance and/or a final decision.

Please contact our hall manager if you are unsure whether you qualify or have difficulty filling in the form.

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