The Village Halls Podcast
A podcast for anyone involved in the running of Britain's 10,000 village, church and community and anyone interested in the vital community services they provide.
The Village Halls Podcast
Fire Safety For Village Halls
We unpack how village and community halls can manage changing risks, legal duties, and rural challenges with smart, simple practices. Daniel Noonan from Kent Fire and Rescue explains how a living fire risk assessment ties alarms, signage, training, hirer rules, and new tech into a clear plan.
• who the responsible person is under the Fire Safety Order
• why annual reviews and change-triggered reviews matter
• common hazards in rural halls and low water pressure
• what a risk assessment must include and record
• when alarms are needed, testing, and maintenance cycles
• signage, emergency lighting, and evacuation plans
• managing hirer risks and banning pyrotechnics
• keeping exits clear, bins away, and vegetation low
• training volunteers for evacuation and extinguisher competence
• integrating solar, EV chargers, and battery risks safely
• rules for charging e-scooters, e-bikes, and vapes
Hello, my name is Mark Smith and welcome to the Village Halls Podcast, sponsored by Allied Westminster, the UK's largest specialist provider of Village Hall insurance and the home of VillageGuard. Welcome to today's podcast. This is one I've been looking forward to for quite some time. So today we are joined by Daniel Noonan, who is a group manager for Kent Fire and Rescue. So welcome to the podcast, Dan.
SPEAKER_02:Thank you. Thank you for having me. So yeah, I'm Daniel Noonan, as you said. I'm group manager for Kent Fire and Rescue Service with direct responsibility as head of building safety for all of our regulatory functions. So that includes enforcement, our fire risk inspection teams, our risk information teams, fire engineering teams, and also our business engagement. So I'm really pleased to be here today with you.
SPEAKER_01:Perfect. Well, thank you for joining us. So why is fire safety such a key issue for village halls and community buildings?
SPEAKER_02:Fire safety regulations is essential, regardless if you're in a village hall or a more complex high-rise building. Being rural and the rurality of village halls and the use of private functions, I think it's key that fire safety that we're going to speak about today is discussed and is a key point for village hall committees or responsible persons?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, yeah. Excellent. So, right, let's start off here. So, what are some of the most common fire risks that you've seen in community spaces like village halls?
SPEAKER_02:Um, so village halls in terms of fires and their rurality, there's many things that play a key part in those risks with those premises. So you the rurality factor, you've got you've got the different use of those buildings. So the responsible person when they're hiring these halls out don't always know what they're going to be used for or the risks they're bringing into there. Um, you know, your worst case example that people could bring pyrotechnics and things into those buildings, and actually, can the building support that? And is it designed to have those in there? You've got the water, low water pressure in rural areas, um, which is a national issue at the moment in terms of water. Um, and also you've got the fire regulations we need to be aware of in community spaces, um, which is a key point, is having a fire risk assessment, um, which will almost identify all the risks associated with your building and the management procedures you need to put in place for that.
SPEAKER_01:All right, that was going to be one of my questions about does how rural the village hall make a difference? And you just said low water pressure. And I I was saying I wonder if I should ask that because surely it doesn't matter, but yeah, it it it does then. So low water pressure, I think that just means if there's a fire, how do you deal with that then?
SPEAKER_02:If that's so fire and rescue services, Kemp Fire and Rescue Specific. Um, so we are very aware of the risks that are associated with rurality, and we that's why we do have fire stations in rural areas as well. We've got bulk water carriers, which are large vehicles which carry very large amounts of water, which are able to support our fire engines where water pressure is low. Um we are working with water undertakers to look at um where pressures can be increased, how mains can be fixed, and we've got a dedicated water services team that is key to making sure we've got water in rural areas.
SPEAKER_01:Right. And would you know, so if say someone obviously you're in Kent and I want Sky, but say if you said, Oh, there's a it's called LGOL, you know that's low water pressure, so you have to then bring the vehicle, the other vehicle with you?
SPEAKER_02:Um, so we do a lot of work. So, as I said just now, our water services team work with the water undertakers. So we know which fire hydrants are being maintained, we know the water pressure of hydrants, and we know maybe where their water pressure isn't as good as it should be, and that's where we have increased predetermined attendances, which increases the amount of fire engines we would send. So, as an argument, if we had a village hall in a rural area that didn't quite have good water supplies, we would increase our predetermined attendance from say two fire engines to an incident to say three fire engines and a bulk water carrier, that would give us that large volumes of water to support any incident we may need in that area.
SPEAKER_01:Right, right, that's really interesting. Um and uh uh while that's in my mind, pyro someone's is pyrotechnics a thing in village village halls? I would think that's definitely a fire risk.
SPEAKER_02:No, it definitely is, and and it's it's not something that village halls generally have or would allow. Um, but we know that sometimes you don't know what risks are being brought into your village hall with venues. So for us it's key that setting out that those responsible for village halls are aware of what is going to be held in that in that um event and they make it clear that pyrotechnics and bits aren't allowed. Um, if identified in a fire risk assessment, the building suitable for that, um, we still would recommend you know that you don't have pyrotechnics. Um but ultimately we know that some do bring them into these venues and nationally and worldwide we have seen um venues where pyrotechnics have been brought in where they shouldn't have.
SPEAKER_01:Um that's like a company sketch right there. So uh who is legally responsible for fire safety in a village hall? Because a lot of it's volunteer run.
SPEAKER_02:Absolutely, yeah. So for a community or village hall, generally we know these are often run by charitable charitable trusts or committees. Um the responsible person is usually responsible for fire safety in a um village or community hall. So the trustees of a charity, um, if the hall is run by charitable trust, they would be identified as the responsible person to us under the fire safety order, um, or the management committee as a corporate body, um, if the hall is managed by a committee, would be the responsible person. Um so essentially it's who he whoever has control of the premises um in connection with carrying out a trade or leasing it out for hire would be deemed as a responsible person. Right. And and then in our eyes would be deemed as being required to ensure fire risk assessment, management procedures, evacuation procedures and everything are in place for the hall.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, yeah. That's good. That's good to know. So what are the minimum fire safety requirements that every hall must meet? So this is under UK law.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, so um under the fire safety order, um, the minimum requirement is a fire risk assessment, and that is almost your fundamental building blocks to identify any risks within your premises. Um so that fire risk assessment will identify the hazards, so be that cooking, electrics, safe storage of cylinders, things like that. If you've got, you know, say you're a village hall that's powered by gas, um, gas bottles outside, so it would fundamentally identify all the risks and hazards associated with that, it would identify the people that are at risk and it would evaluate those risks and give recommendations to reduce or remove those risks. Um, and it would also record your findings and actions. Um, and with that, it needs to be reviewed regularly or after any significant change in use or a new risk is brought into the premises. But that's your fundamental part of what you should have in place because that identifies everything else from there for safe management of your building. Now it's very key that once you've got a fire risk assessment and that's been put in place, that you listen and adopt the recommendations that are in there, um, because that ultimately is making your building safer and reducing risk for not just yourself as a responsible person, but members of the public that use that premises, bearing in mind village halls and public spaces are generally rented out to members of the public unfamiliar with the building. So it's really key that that fire risk assessment is done and shared with those that are renting the hall from you. So it's good having the risk assessment done and it's your building blocks, but that needs to be shared with every use of that hall when you're hiring that hall out. Um and that would identify things like um management of fire exits. We know that village halls in rural spaces that the fire exits will be locked until they're used or hired out, so it's ensure there's robust procedures in place for managing those risks.
SPEAKER_01:All right. So I assume you'd have to update like an annual update, but it's just any time there's a change if you break if you decide to swap over to gas bottles instead of electric cooking, that's when you would have to redo the or that section or the whole thing?
SPEAKER_02:Uh so reviewed yearly, so minimum reviewed annually.
SPEAKER_01:Right.
SPEAKER_02:However, any significant change to the premises. So that could be if you have an extension put on the side of the village hall. If you change the layout, so if you've got an open planned layout, and maybe you cut apart off and add some offices in, so you change the layout of that village hall.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:And so any fundamental changes or new risks being brought in. So you may add a kitchen now to your hall. So if you bring in a new risk, such as cooking risk into that premises, you need to have your risk assessment review because you're bringing new risks in that need to be managed.
SPEAKER_01:Ah, right, right. So I think it see like like lawfully, do you have to have like signs above fire exit doors that obviously, if there's a power cut, they'll they stay like you know in the cinema, you always see them around there. Is that a is that a requirement as well? Obviously, it's useful, very useful, but is it a legal requirement to have those?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, so you absolutely so your fire risk assessment needs to have that, and what that will also identify is where you're missing fire exits for signage, what your evacuation procedures should look like. So a solid fire risk assessment will identify everything you should have in place, and then your evacuation procedures follow that. So that will be things that you spoke around. So what type of fire alarm system you need in that premises, um, your signage, your emergency lighting, things like that that will identify everything you need to have in place based on your premises type. And there's a guidance, um, a government guidance you can go to, which is found on our website on Kemp Farm Rescue website for village halls and things like that, will identify everything you need in there. It also will identify um a fire risk assessment template that those can use if they wish to in simple, small village halls. If you go to a large, more complex village hall that's maybe being used, um you've got a nursery in there and things like that. It's recommended that you get a very a qualified fire risk assessor to carry out the risk assessment for you because they've got the knowledge, the experience, and qualifications to take that more detailed analysis of your building and identify the risks for you.
SPEAKER_01:That's great to hear you've got a template. What I'll do, uh even obviously it's it's um UK wide the podcast, I will put the link to your you know your template on this on this podcast page because uh I never even thought to ask actually that. But yeah, that's really good. You've got a template.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, that's the that's the government guidance. So a fire and rescue service would not carry out your fire risk assessment for you. Um so that's that would be down to the responsible person or the contractor you get in place for that. The fire and rescue service will advise you, guide you, point you to the relevant legislation, relevant guidance to support you. And we've got two areas from a Kemp Fire and Rescue Service perspective. So we've got our business engagement team, so in village halls and stuff and premises like that, we will give the advice from our business engagement team, and then we've also got our fire risk inspection team, which are the carry out the um the regulatory inspections and support from a more detailed legislation side under regulatory reform fire safety order, but generally in village halls, we really use our business engagement team um to promote that safety advice and guidance where we can.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, that's really interesting. Yeah. So you mentioned if fire alarms there. So that's one thing I wanted to ask you about. So obviously, fire alarms obviously have been around for uh a long time. How often do you have to upgrade them? Because obviously, I don't know how they don't do they go out of date.
SPEAKER_02:No, so in terms of fire alarm systems, they they don't go out of date, but no, not every premises are the same. So your fire alarm system will be specific to that premises type. So not all village halls will require a fire alarm system because your method of alarm could be that it's by voice and you shout. Depending if it's a one, you know, a single room village hall, you wouldn't need a very detailed alarm system, but ultimately that's what the fire risk assessment will identify. Yeah, it identifies the type of fire alarm based on the risks associated with your building and recommendation on what alarm type you have in place from that. Um, in terms of your fire alarm system in a more complex premises where you've got a hardwired system, um, that would need a six-monthly um service maintenance by a qualified fire engineer if that's the type of system you've got. That's not to take away from your weekly fire alarm checks you would do just to make sure the sounders and things work. So, yeah, so you so that's as a village hall responsible person, test your fire alarm weekly just to make sure the sounders work, that following no events, you've got no, if you've got a hardwired system, you've got no broken fire alarm activation boxes and things like that. So that's what the weekly test is involved, is just making sure the detector heads are still there, you've got no fault on your systems and everything as it should. The the six-monthly more detailed one, if you've got a hardwired system, is to go into the the detailed operation of the system, make sure the sounders work and everything like that from detector heads. So, yeah, it's the more detailed one. But as I said, not all village halls will need or require a hardwired system like that. Your fire risk assessment will identify which type of system um is relevant for your building to mitigate the risk and provide that early warning to members of the public based on its use.
SPEAKER_01:Right. So with the fire alarm, I was speaking to a village hall and uh they had a new a new um fire alarm put in. And I was just out of curiosity, I was like, oh, did they uh connect it to the web? It says, No. I said, Well, how do you if no one's there, how do you know if there's a fire, you know, obviously if there's a fire and nobody's there, you know, no one's gonna hear the alarm. So if it's connected to something that can talk to the outside world, it can send a text or a message to somebody. What how if there's a fire in the hall, that hall, how do how is someone notified that there's a fire?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, it's it's very different, and it depends, and there's so many different ways that alarms can be received. So you they can go to alarm receiving centre. Um, so that is where as an alarm activates, it goes to alarm receiving centre, then it will notify either Kemp Fire Rescue Service or it would notify the responsible person your alarm sounding. Um, not all village halls will have that function, some will just sound until some hears it. So there's many different ways, or some goes, I know the local village hall to me, it connects to, as you quite rightly just said, connects to a tech service to the responsible person to let them know it's sounding off, or a key holder or maintenance person. There's many, many different ways, and there's no one size fits all with this. It depends on the responsible person, the type of fire alarm system they've put in place, if it's hardwired and links, or is it just single points that sound off a battery? There's so many different ways that not one there's not one answer for that question.
SPEAKER_01:All right, right. And you mentioned there about you know, they don't necessarily some village halls may not need to have an alarm system in place. I take it that would you still be like, well, you need to have the you know the ones you have in your house that meet the sound. Is that or or is it is that you can even just go without that if if it was part of your assessment?
SPEAKER_02:It totally depends on what the fire risk assessment based on the use of the village hall, um, the size, capacity, you know, as we said earlier, is it being used for different bits? Is it purely for private hire and functions and events? Um, there's so many different ways um and areas to consider, but this is what the the fire risk assessment, and I know I keep going back to the fire risk assessment, but ultimately that's the fundamental building blocks of everything you do in not just the village hall, but any any premises that's um being used for public hire, public use and things like that, because it it it details every risk associated with that premises and then the mitigation risks, and then that will link to your evacuation plan. So, how are you going to raise the alarm? How are people going to evacuate that premises? How many exits have you got? Um, you know, your emergency lighting requirements, it it links everything um back from that.
SPEAKER_01:So I suppose once you've got your risk assessment in place, how do you stop hirers from creating additional risks that you never thought about? So obviously pyrotechnics, see if if someone did decide to put pyrotechnics up in a in a village hall, does somebody from the village hall committee have to be at these events? Or how do you how do you even manage that?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, so no, um the the hirers do not need to be at the events. I think it it's around making them clear with the fire risk assessment. So if I was coming to hire out your village hall, you know, you'd say to me, What are you using it for? So I've got a disco, it's an 18th birthday party, whatever that that may look like. Um so you'd say, right, so there's no pyrotechnics, you know, these are the fire escapes. Um, you need to keep those clear. A key point for village halls and those responsible for village halls is your fire exits to ensure they keep clear. Quite often we see bins on the outside by fire exits that hirers maybe aren't aware of when they open them doors and the fire exit doors don't open because there's a bin behind it. So it's about keeping the fire exits clear, um, making sure the vegetation and bits is all kept down low as well to minimise any fire risk you have. As we know, rural rural areas are often um village halls often surround large farms that you know, large green, green spaces, things like that. We know rural areas are more prone to wildfires, you know, it's a significant risk across the UK. Wildfires has been where the the heat climate is increasing. Um so it's about making sure the foliage is kept short, bins are away from fire exits. And when you rent halls out to people, just making it clear of you know, this is the use of the hall, this is the risk associated with it, and these are the boundaries. You know, you can't have pyrotechnics, um, you can't have open fires, you know, not that not that they would, but it's just about making it clear what they can and can't do when hiring out the village hall spaces.
SPEAKER_01:Uh so it's it's kind of just down to trust that you lay out what the rules are and just to trust that they they do it as the the rules see.
SPEAKER_02:Making them clear of you know, as the hirer, you are responsible for this building in terms of um fire exits, making sure they're clear. You know, when you when you're setting out your tables, you you must keep these fire exits clear. This is the safe escape route. This is where the the assembly point for the um in the event of a fire, this is where all those who are occupying the village hall need to must set. So it's just about the fire procedures you've put in place, making sure you share those with anyone that hires out the village hall.
SPEAKER_01:Right. I think those should they be available at all times on like a notice board, say when you go into the hall? Because even if I wasn't hired in a hall and I went in, uh having like a fire assessment on the wall would be quite useful if it was evacuation procedures, absolutely.
SPEAKER_02:So um on the on the village hall notice boards, you know, the evacuation procedures, this is where the evacuation point is. You know, this is a plan of the building, so um this is where the fire exits are, um, things like that. So yeah, it's very, very key to make sure you've got your evacuation plan um together and shared with those who use that hall and space. Um and visually for those that can see that, um, and then the fire risk assessment, as we touched on, just making sure that's shared with any hirers that use the hall.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, yeah. Well, that's good. Uh so would you recommend that uh like trustees and volunteers you know have fire safety training for for running the hall?
SPEAKER_02:Um so yeah, in in terms of training, so employees, volunteers, and things like that, I think the key part of training is the evacuation training. So they're aware of what the evacuation policy is for that premises, where the muster point is, um, and how to evacuate people safely in the event of a fire. So then when the hall's hired out and you're sharing the keys with those members of the public, that knowledge can be passed on. So, you know, this is how we safely evacuate the building, this is how we how we evacuate, this is where we go to. If the village hall has got fire extinguishers, those responsible for that building must be trained in them, those fire extinguishers must be maintained, um, and those who use them must be competent to do so. So it depends on the the risks of your premises and what uh mitigation measures you've got in there which will dictate your training.
SPEAKER_01:Ah, right, right. So it's you said there about the the evacuation, uh just while it's on my head, is that obviously in my head now it says it is, but is that the first protocol, or would you try and you would you lift the fire semester off the wall first and try and battle it, or would your first things like everyone get out the way you're meant to go, or would you like let's try and fight the fire? Because obviously that's that's what you guys are there for. But is it what's the line? Where do you say, oh, let's get out, let's fight the fire ourselves, if it's a small fire, what's what's the safest?
SPEAKER_02:The safest way, those if a village hall is expecting someone to tackle a very small bin fire, they must be competent to do so, and that comes down to training in the right fire extinguisher. So, as an example, why training is so important, we would never expect someone to tackle a fire who is not trained or qualified to do so. And the risks associated with that is if there was a very small fire in an electrical cupboard and you picked up a water fire extinguisher instead of the correct one, that the risks and the the impact that could have on fire growth is significant. So we would never ever encourage or ask anyone to tackle a fire, however small, if not competent or trained to do so, and which is key that if you've got firefighter media there, that those responsible must be trained to use them.
SPEAKER_01:Well, that's fine. Who would you go for training? I I probably in a city it's much easier from up here, but where would you go to get training for your volunteers?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, there's many, many trading providers out there. Um, none that I would sit and recommend as a fire rescue service, but there's many training providers out there. Your fire risk assessor will also be able to highlight suitable and competent training providers for you. Um, but there's many very different training providers out there that can provide uh either physical or online training and safe use of um fire extinguishers and bits like that.
SPEAKER_01:Oh, excellent. Right. So with without naming names, so have you come across any incidents in village halls that could act as a license for others?
SPEAKER_02:So I think in terms of worldwide, there's been significant incidents in public venues, village halls, and things like that, and some that have tragically ended in a loss of life. Um the where where we see village halls get it right is those that have got a solid risk assess fire risk assessment as their building blocks to build things from, to build the, you know, as we touched on, um, to identify the risks, how to manage that risk and where to remove that risk where possible. So those that get the foundations in right really do have safe village halls and really do set the bar above others. Um so it's really key that the fire risk assessment is your building blocks for fire safety in your village hall. Excellent.
SPEAKER_01:So this is the last question I've got for you. The if village halls start bringing in new technology like solar panels, yeah, EV chargers or new heat systems. Now, the reason this is on here is because the last person I interviewed on the podcast, their it wasn't actually about this, but it just so happened to be the catalyst, their uh EV charger blew uh no, the solar panels blew up, or the battery pack blew up. When you bring in this new technology, what obviously you have to redo your fire risk assessment, but are there any obvious things you should do when you bring these new technologies into the into the halls?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I think as technology in the built environment evolves, um this really does emphasise the need for your fire risk assessment to be in place, to have it reviewed annually. And we know that there's many grants village halls can get at the moment in terms of installing solar panels, electrical vehicle charging points, and bits like that. The fire risk assessment is key to making sure you've got the safe boundaries between your building and the the um electrical vehicle charging, um, that you've got adequate spacing around it. So it's really key that your fire risk assessment is in place because that will give you a suitable management management of the risk associated with this new technology that's coming into the environment. And I think again it will be around um as you hire out halls and things like that, making it clear that you can't charge your electric um scooters inside the premises as you hire it out. So I think again it's just making setting clear boundaries to those you hire the hall out that we don't allow vape pens to be on charge, we don't allow electrical electric scooters to be on charge in our hall at any time. So I think it's the management procedures that are fundamental to how we manage the new risks and emerging risks in the built environment.
SPEAKER_01:Right. So I suppose if you're putting these things in, that should be part of your business plan, not an afterthought. It should you think about it before you put them in, so you can then you can then deal with it beforehand.
SPEAKER_02:Absolutely, yeah. And this is why a competent um fire risk assessor will evaluate all these risks, the risks of the variation of use that people can bring into your halls as well. Yeah. Not just about the physical building itself, but evaluate the risks that the hiring out the hall can bring as well. Um, and also take into the risks outside the hall. So the parking, you know, what does that look like in terms of electric vehicles, um, bins up against your building, keeping um vegetation cut and um down low to a minimum, things like that. This is what the fire risk assessor will really support you with um and really help you identify the risk management and reduce them where possible.
SPEAKER_01:All right, excellent, right. I'll go here you mentioned vapes. I want to ask you a question irrelevant to village halls. Are vapes are they that bad? You know, it just like spontaneously there was a thing in the news a while, you know, a while ago that they just kind of spontaneously blew up. Is that still a thing or have they sorted that problem out?
SPEAKER_02:There's nationally, there's many risks associated with vent vape pens, electric scooters, um, the emerging technology that comes with these, and as people adapt um them from their manufacturers' recommendations, so they maybe change the batteries to give them longer life, yeah, or in e-scooters they change the batteries to give them more power and faster. Anytime you start adapting these and trying to make things quicker, it brings an inherent risk into village halls, private dwellings, everything like that. So it's when we adapt things away from manufacturers' recommendations that these risks increase, um, which we would recommend not to um adjust or change anything away from manufacturers' um settings. Don't leave vape pens or scooters or anything like that on charge overnight. Turn plug sockets off. Um, don't leave these things on charge when you're out the premises. If you do have them in your home and you do charge them, make sure you're always with them. And when you leave the premises, turn them off.
SPEAKER_01:Is it just lithium, or is it just because it's like the vape pens and the scooters are very popular? Is that why it's a bigger uh an increase, or is it just anything with lithium batteries? Is that is that what you do?
SPEAKER_02:Or yeah, it's just the risks associated with lithium ion, the various range of different battery types that are now coming into the built environment, um, bits coming in from abroad, and there's so many risks associated with these now, and it's an ever-evolving technology. Um, so as the technology develops and things improve, we know we've got this version one of these lithium iron batteries and e-scooters and things where maybe they haven't got the same technology as it's evolving. Um, so we know that there's a big range of risks associated with not just vapes, you know, e-scooters, e-bikes, electric vehicles, you know, it's a it's an ever-evolving risk now we've got in the um in the UK, uh worldwide.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, that's really interesting. Because I know I've from a drone battery is I have to keep them in a meat, like it looks like a tinfoil bag, or it's not tinfoil, but I have to keep it in a special bag when they're when they're not being charged.
SPEAKER_02:And this is the thing with with um vapes and uh e-scooters, things like that, they can get overcharged as well. You know, if they've sat on charge for extended periods of time, they overcharge themselves as well, which obviously brings a risk associated with that as well.
SPEAKER_01:It's it's extremely interesting. Uh so I suppose if you were to have one piece of advice for village hall committees uh members that are listening today, what what would that be?
SPEAKER_02:Throughout this podcast, the amount of times I must have said fire risk assessment, but I can't emphasize it enough. Um, ensure you've got a current fire risk assessment, you follow and address the significant findings identified by your fire risk assessor. And to ensure the premises is safe for yourself and the public in which you're utilising the building, make sure that fire risk assessment is in place. Um, it is the fundamental building blocks of everything you need to do as a responsible person. Um, and that is the key point, key bit of messaging I'd like to get across today.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. Excellent. Well, thank you very much. It's been a uh fascinating podcast. Uh I've tried to restrict myself from asking too many silly questions about things that are relevant. But yeah, it's it's brilliant to have you on there with all that knowledge. Uh it's very much appreciated, and I'm sure all the listeners will appreciate it as well.
SPEAKER_02:No problem. Thank you. Thanks for having me.
SPEAKER_01:No worries. Many thanks to our headline sponsor and specialist Village Hall Insurance Provider, Allied Westminster, the home of VillageGuard, for making this podcast possible, and to online booking system provider Hallmaster, who also sponsor our podcast, and can be found at hallmaster.co.uk. You've been listening to the Village Halls Podcast, a unique listening community for Britain's village, community, and church halls, and anyone interested in the vital community services they provide. We'll be back again soon with another episode. For more information, please visit the Village Hallspodcast.com, where you'll also find links to our social media pages. Thanks again for listening in, and until the next time, goodbye for now.
