Made with care for the volunteers who keep Britain's halls running.
Product updates
Everything we have changed, and when
Most of what is on this page started as an email from a village hall. We write these in the same words we send our
halls, so you can see for yourself how often this thing actually moves.
Answer enquiries from your phone, and turn one down with a word to the hirer
When somebody has asked to book and is waiting for an answer, the Today screen in the Village Hall Hub app now says so at the top - for example 3 enquiries waiting. Tap it for the list, soonest first, with what each person wrote when they asked. Tap one to answer it: Confirm this booking (the hirer is emailed, as on the website), Pencil it in for now to hold the room, or Say no. Saying no from the app offers to email the hirer for you, with a reason in your own words if you want to give one - or switch that off if you would rather ring them. A pencilled-in booking can now be confirmed or turned down from the app too. Declining on the website is unchanged and still tells nobody. Update Village Hall Hub from the App Store or Google Play to get this.
New feature
App
Change a booking's details from the app
Open any booking in the Village Hall Hub app - from Today, the Diary or a hirer's page - and tap Change the details. You can change what it is called, the day and times, how many people are coming, whether it is private, and the note the hirer can see. If a new time clashes with another booking in the same room, the app says so and nothing is changed. Moving a booking to another room or hirer, or changing what it costs, is still done on the website. Update Village Hall Hub from the App Store or Google Play to get this.
New feature
App
Open an invoice in the app, see its PDF, and look up paid ones
Tap Money in the Village Hall Hub app, then any invoice, to see it in full: every line it charges for, each payment made against it, what is still owed, and a See the invoice as a PDF button that opens the same PDF the hirer was sent - handy for forwarding. Record a payment is there too while anything is owed. Above the list, Unpaid, Paid and All let you look up invoices that have already been settled. Update Village Hall Hub from the App Store or Google Play to get this.
New feature
App
Each hirer has their own page in the app
In the Village Hall Hub app, tap More, then Hirers, then any hirer. Their page shows how to reach them - tap the number to ring it - and underneath, two tabs: Coming up, with what they have booked from today on, and Invoices, with every invoice they have had and anything still owed at the top. What they owe is on the Invoices tab itself, so you can see it without opening it. Tap a booking to see it or answer it, or an invoice to open it. Correct these details, at the top, is where changing their phone number or address now lives. Update Village Hall Hub from the App Store or Google Play to get this.
New feature
App
Record a compliance item as done from the app
When the insurance is renewed, the fire risk assessment reviewed or the gas certificate comes in, you can now record it straight from the Village Hall Hub app. Tap More, then Compliance, and press Record it as done on the item. Choose the day it was done, and the app fills in when it is next due - a year for insurance, five years for the electrical test - which you can change, or clear for something that does not come round again. Add a note if you like, such as a certificate number; it goes under the item's notes with the date, without losing what was there. The item turns green, its reminders stop, and any alerts about it are marked as seen. It works with no signal too, and is sent when you are back in range. Only people allowed to change compliance see the button. Update Village Hall Hub from the App Store or Google Play to get this.
New feature
App
Add a photo when you mark a maintenance job done in the app
Marking a maintenance job done in the Village Hall Hub app - More, then Maintenance, then Mark this done - now lets you take a photo of the finished job, or of the contractor's invoice, or choose one from your phone. It is kept with the job, the same as a photo added on the website, and can be opened from the job's history there. A job marked done without a photo still works with no signal, as before; one with a photo needs a signal to send. Update Village Hall Hub from the App Store or Google Play to get this.
New feature
App
Report a fault from your phone, with a photo, and mark it sorted
Walking round the hall and spot a cracked window or a dripping tap? In the Village Hall Hub app, tap More, then Faults, and press Report a fault. Say what is wrong, when you noticed it, and take a photo or choose one if you like. It goes on the same list as the faults your hirers report, under Bookings, then Reported Issues on the website, where the photo can be opened from the fault. The Faults screen lists everything still waiting, with who reported it; press In hand when somebody is dealing with it, and Sorted when it is done, with a line about what was done. Without a photo it works with no signal too and is sent when you are back in range. Update Village Hall Hub from the App Store or Google Play to get this.
New feature
App
Record spending from your phone, with a photo of the receipt
At the till with the receipt in your hand? In the Village Hall Hub app, tap More, then Spending, and press Record spending. Put what it was for, how much, who it was paid to and the day, choose a heading if you like - or leave it for the treasurer - and take a photo of the receipt. It goes straight onto Finance, then Spending on the website with the receipt attached and ticked off as received, paid from your main bank account. Switch on Still to pay for a bill that has come in but not been paid yet. The Spending screen also lists the last three months, so you can check something has not already gone in. Spending is in the app for halls on the Professional plan, the same as Finance on the website, for anybody allowed to see spending; the treasurer, owner and administrators can record it, and trustees can look. Without a receipt photo it works with no signal too. Update Village Hall Hub from the App Store or Google Play to get this.
New feature
App
Ask Hallie from your phone
Hallie, the assistant in the corner of the website, is now in the Village Hall Hub app too. Tap More, then Ask Hallie, and ask her anything about the hall - who is in on Saturday, what is still unpaid, when the fire extinguishers are due - or tap one of the questions she suggests. She answers from the same records as the website, only looks up what your own login is allowed to see, and uses the same monthly questions, so the number left is the same whichever you ask from. As on the website, she can pencil in a booking, draft an invoice or record a bill for you: she shows it as a card with exactly what would be saved, and nothing is saved until you press the button on it. On an invoice card you can untick any hires to leave off before you raise it. She needs a signal to answer. If your hall runs out, extra questions can be bought from Hallie's panel on the website by whoever looks after your subscription. Hallie is in the app for halls on the Standard and Professional plans that have her switched on. Update Village Hall Hub from the App Store or Google Play to get this.
New feature
Headings on the action log: Finance, Maintenance, Health & Safety and more
Every action on the committee's log can now be filed under a heading: Finance, Maintenance, Projects, Health & Safety, Bookings, Fundraising, Governance or Other. Open Meetings, then Action log, and choose the heading when you add or edit an action. The log groups the actions under their headings, with a filter to see one heading on its own, and so does the Actions tab on each meeting. The printed minutes list the actions under the same headings. Actions already on your log are simply left without a heading until you give them one, and they still show as before. Thanks to Duncan Brown at Whatfield Village Hall for asking.
New feature
Send a payment chaser yourself, whenever you choose
If you have turned the automatic payment reminders off because you would rather decide for yourself who gets chased, there was then no way to send a reminder at all. There is now. Open Invoices, find the invoice, press the three dots at the end of its row and choose Send a payment chaser. The same button is at the top of the page when you open the invoice. It sends the hirer the usual reminder email with what is still owed and a button to view the invoice, worded as overdue only if it is. It asks you to confirm first, and tells you when a reminder last went out for that invoice, so two of you do not chase the same person in the same week. It works whether your automatic reminders are on or off, and only appears on an invoice that has been sent and still has money owing. Thanks to Sarah at Binfield Memorial Hall for asking.
New feature
Tick the whole committee at once on a meeting
Go to Governance, then Meetings. When you set up a new meeting, the Attendees step now has Select all above the list of committee members, so you can invite everyone in one click and then untick anybody who is not coming. The same Select all and Deselect all are on the Attendees section when you edit a meeting to record who actually came. Thanks to Duncan Brown at Whatfield Village Hall for the idea.
Most of this came from a village hall asking
If your hall needs something this does not do yet, say so. That is how nearly everything above got built.