Capital grants for between £2,000 and £5,000 are available to a wide range of organisations, including charities, social enterprises and statutory agencies, for village halls in rural areas across England to enhance, upgrade, extend and improve halls so that, as a result, new activities can take place and help bring communities together.
The aim of the Platinum Jubilee Village Hall Small Grants Fund is to support the modernisation and improvement of village halls so that they are fit for purpose and can provide activities which seek to achieve one or more of the following outcomes for their communities:
- Improved health and/or wellbeing and/or reduction in rural loneliness.
- Positive impact on the local environment, contributes towards net zero.
- Support for the local rural economy, and/or
- Promotion of community cohesion.
The Fund shall be available to support modest capital improvements only, where projects aim to:
- Upgrade facilities
- Extend facilities
- Improve facilities, and/or
- Purchase capital items.
Applications may be made for a grant between £2,000 and £5,000, representing 20% of a project's capital project costs, including VAT. Applicants must be able to identify where the remaining 80% is being sourced from. There is no upper limit for the total capital costs, but the maximum grant available from the Fund is £5,000.
Applicants should not include VAT on eligible capital works if they are able to reclaim the VAT, equipment and fittings, contingency and fees (planning, building regulations, legal costs).
- Eligible applications must meet the following criteria:
- Be charity owned and managed by the community.
- Be located in a local rural area with a population of less than 10,000 people, and
- Have a freehold or leasehold in place. If a leasehold interest, there must be at least 21 years left to run on the lease.
Who can apply: Registered Charities, Charitable Trusts, Charitable Incorporated Organisations, Community Associations which are registered charities, multi-purpose Church Halls, Scout and Guide buildings are also eligible where they are open for the whole community, there is no alternative village hall in the vicinity, they are not single use and they are clearly advertised as multi- purpose, Charitable Companies, Parish or Town Councils where they are the sole trustee of a charitable village hall, Parochial Church Councils where improvement works are being carried out to a church and where there is no village hall or other meeting place in the community. Please note that the intended capital works should be to enable the building to be used for a range of community activities. All work must be completed by Tuesday 31 March 2026
Who cannot apply: Community Interest Companies (CICs); Companies - Industrial and Provident Societies, Co-Operatives or Community Associations where no charity registration is in place; Sports Pavilions; School Halls, or Parish Councils that are custodian trustees of the hall charity.
The following are examples of projects that would not be considered eligible for funding (please note that this is not an exhaustive list):
- Architects, surveyors and specialist survey fees.
- Building projects which have already started.
- Capital expenditure which is not to do with the physical improvement of the hall.
- Costs for feasibility studies or planning applications or project managers’ fees.
- Improvements to car parks, parking areas, adjacent recreational areas, and landscaping.
- New build village halls.
- Routine maintenance, defined as simple, small-scale activities (usually requiring only minimal skills or training) associated with regular and general (daily, weekly, monthly) upkeep of a building, or equipment, machine, plant, or system against normal wear and tear, or
- Work that is undertaken solely to ensure compliance with Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) requirements.
Projects must be able to demonstrate they can complete the proposed capital work by Tuesday 31 March 2026.
Please note that potential applicants can make contact with their local hall adviser for advice on their project applications.
The eligibility criteria, Frequently Asked Questions, a copy of the application questions and the online application form can be found on ACRE’s website.
Applications opened on Monday 10 November 2025 and will close when all the funding has been committed. Early application is therefore advised.