How to book St Boswells Village Hall

St Boswells Village Hall is a multi-function hall with a great variety of potential uses including sports, meetings, concerts / rehearsals, coffee mornings, training / presentations and indoor markets.

Please refer to the calendar before making a booking request to see if the room you require is available.

There are three halls, which are available for hire either separately or together.  The Main/Greater Hall, which incorporates a stage, offers an excellent space for such major events as weddings, receptions, and parties, and also for indoor sports including badminton. Hirers are expected to bring any sound and lighting equipment which they may need. The hall does own high-quality equipment but this requires a qualified engineer to operate. We ourselves do not provide this service. (Only qualified persons approved by the hall committee are allowed access, and any inquiry must be made well in advance.) The Lesser Hall has a smart TV as well as a pull-down screen, and a projector can be set up if sufficient notice is given. It is an ideal venue for presentations, business meetings and private film shows. Please ask the Bookings Clerk about special hire costs. The Lesser Hall is linked to the kitchen by a serving hatch; the Upper Hall incorporates a small kitchen area. 

Upper Hall

8m x 5.5m = 44m2 overall (of which 8m x 1.25m = 10m2 is the platform/small stage)

Capacities:
Standing/dancing 50
Seating—tables & chairs 30
Used for both of the above 44
Closely seated audience 60

Bookings policy

All bookings must be approved by the Booking Clerk. The clerk liaises with our caretaker to arrange access to the hall and carry out the necessary preparation. You may expect to receive a response to your booking request or booking-related inquiry within 3 working days. Emails are checked periodically between the hours of 9.00am and 5.00pm Monday – Friday. We do not check emails on weekends. Given that we are all volunteers (apart from our superb caretaker, who is just part time) we cannot provide a fuller service. Last-minute requests (e.g. for a booking that same day, or for access to the hall very shortly before a booked event) can rarely be accommodated.  We urge everyone to plan ahead. That way we will achieve the fullest and most efficient use of the hall.

Bookings are made on the strict understanding that users will abide by any Covid prevention or other health requirements – the latest information is available on our website at https://stboswellsvillagehall.org/covid-policy/. Here is our current Risk Assessment.  All Covid-related questions should be addressed to our secretary, rather than the Booking Clerk.

The booking process

1. Check the Hall Availability Calendar.
2. Check the Hall Hire costs, as listed in this PDF.
   
3. Read in full the Hiring Agreement Terms & Conditions,  available here. In the booking request form below, you must confirm that you agree to be bound by its statement of our policies and procedures. This is the basis of your contract with us – so it’s important to read it! A convenient users’ information pack outlining The Hall’s Policies may be read here. Several important policies are highlighted below.
4. Hirers are responsible for ensuring that the premises are locked up after their event, with all lights (including in the toilets) and appliances turned off, and the thermostats turned down to zero.
5. The person who makes the booking is responsible for ensuring that the hall is left in the same condition as it was at the start of the let. Tables and chairs must be put away just as they were. If you used our kitchen utensils and crockery they must be washed up and put away. Otherwise our next users may be seriously inconvenienced. (And additional charges may apply.)  The hall is owned by the community and run on its behalf by a small group of volunteers – so, please help us to maintain it.
6. The hall is strictly a no-smoking building: no smoking or vaping is permitted anywhere on the premises. The fire alarm may go off – vaping can trigger it – and as a result the Fire Brigade may attend! Note that the hall is not automatically connected to the fire service, so if there’s an emergency you must ring 999.
7.  Our Fire Regulations must be read out at the beginning of each event, and the evacuation procedure explained. It is the responsibility of event organisers to familiarize themselves with this information and advise their clients accordingly. Wheelchair exits. When explaining the fire evacuation procedure, wheelchair users should be directed 1. to the main entrance/front door AND 2. to the fire door on the east side of the building,  located at the bottom of the stairs to the Upper Hall. Anyone in the Greater Hall who is using a wheelchair or walking support device should proceed through the door to the left of the stage and then make a sharp left, exiting via the fire door there; a ramp leads down towards Main Street. NB wheelchair users may find it difficult to use the two fire doors to the rear (north side) of the Greater Hall, given the steps down to the ground. They should be advised of this. Our assembly point is at the bus stand.  Ensure you have taken the number of people present at the beginning of your event, so you can check they are all present and correct.
8. We welcome weddings and comparable weekend hires. The usual hire period is from Friday  lunchtime until Sunday lunchtime. (To include ample time for setting-up and clearing-up.) Any other arrangement must be negotiated with the Booking Clerk. We want to ensure that all bookable spaces are clear and free to be used by clients arriving at the hall first thing on the Monday morning, all equipment, decorations etc. having been removed in good time. Failure to have done this may incur an additional charge.
9. In the case of parties and certain other events a security deposit (as determined by the Booking Clerk and Treasurer) must be paid, together with the hire charge, when the booking is confirmed. If our Terms & Conditions are not met this deposit shall be retained.
10. It is the responsibility of the named hirer to make any contractors they use aware of the hall’s policies, and to provide them with the key safe code so they can access the building and secure it afterwards.
11. Following major events, all rubbish (including cans and bottles) must be removed from the building and disposed of elsewhere. 
12. St Boswells Village Hall is an unlicensed venue. Anyone supplying alcohol on the premises must ensure they have any necessary licenses from the Scottish Borders Council. BYOB does not require a license.
13. Our insurance does not cover bouncy castles – anyone wishing to have one should discuss insurance with their provider.
14. Late-night events must finish by 1.00am. One hour maximum is allowed for clearing up. The doors must be locked no later than 2.00am. Noise must be kept to a minimum, out of respect for our neighbours.
15.  Please complete the booking request form below. Remember: all bookings must be approved by the Booking Clerk. You cannot assume your request has been met until you’ve heard from her. Contact us immediately should you wish to change or cancel a booking.

Important

To successfully submit a booking request you must complete ALL the fields, tick ALL the check boxes, press the “Submit booking” button, and keep the page open until the form is confirmed as being sent. If you haven’t filled in a required field the form won’t send. Any uncompleted field will have a red line around it – to indicate you need to provide the required information.

We take your privacy seriously, and, in accordance with legal requirements (Data Protection Act, 1998), will only use your personal information to administer your application.