Our Story
Exeter Street Hall is a vibrant community centre situated in the heart of Prestonville, Brighton. The Hall is owned by Exeter Street Community Hall Limited, a charitable community benefit society, and is led and managed by volunteers.
A campaigning group that eventually formed The Hall Get Involved Ltd (the original society that bought the Hall from St. Luke’s church) came together at the end of 2011 when residents were inspired by a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Exeter Street Hall had been put up for sale by St. Luke’s and the community decided they wanted to secure the Hall as a community asset for future generations.
After eighteen months of campaigning and five months of intensive fundraising we raised £180,000, mostly from people who bought shares in our society, and on 8th August 2013 took ownership of Exeter Street Hall. It’s a testament to the hard work of the volunteer team and to the generous contributions of the community and beyond. We are hugely proud to have subsequently picked up some awards for our achievements.
2019: A new Community Benefit Society
The Hall Get Involved Limited ran the Hall from 2013 to 2019. A problem with one of our rules that threatened our charitable status (and couldn’t be altered on its own) forced us to create a new society to take over ownership from 2019 onwards.
Exeter Street Community Hall Limited is a charitable community benefit society, registered with the Financial Conduct Authority under the Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies Act 2014.
The Hall is being run by the same people as before, with the same shareholders and the same ideals and goals. We aim to be ‘A Hall for All’, making our space available to all kinds of people within (and beyond) our local community, who can take part in a wide range of activities.
In 2023 we created a new pamphlet that introduces the Hall and covers all its activities. You can view and download it here.
Funding
The Hall is self-funding, which is a challenge! Although we have sometimes been successful in obtaining capital grants for restoration, running the Hall is expensive and, in addition to our revenue from hiring out the Hall. we rely on a large volunteer team and fundraising to balance the books.
You can buy a share in the Hall or support us in other ways. See our fundraising page.
