About the Group

Why should I join?

We could say that you are already a Member if you live or work in Hallow! If you live outside the village and wish to get involved there is a facility for you to become a Country Member. If you do not want to make any commitment and just wish to know what is going on under the Group's umbrella you can become an Affiliate. By giving us your name and contact details, it will allow us to tell you what is going on and hopefully encourage you to help us improve our community.

When did it start?

In the Autumn of 2005 a few individuals in the village got together with the idea of building community spirit in the village - the first aim was to enter Hallow in the Calor Gas `Village of the Year Competition'. The idea caught on! The Group was formed with the support of the Parish Council. Its first public event was the Christmas 'Carols by Torchlight', held in December 2005, attended by over 200 people. The inaugural meeting of the Hallow Village Community Group was held in February 2006.

Why does it exist?

As it says in our Constitution - the aim of the Group is to promote community activity in the village. The objectives are: to involve all villagers; to look at all aspects of village life; to facilitate community events and to enhance communication and co-operation between village groups. The Group is not all about organising social events; (although it does some of this) it also seeks to get things done in and around the village.

What has been achieved so far and what is being planned?

In 2006 Hallow was chosen as runner up in the `building community life' category of the Calor Gas competition and was highly commended for "having such a lot of good ideas for getting the community together for everyone's benefit". The Group now feels it has "outgrown" this event and for now has decided to deploy its resources in other directions. The Group has helped with charity events, organised litter picks, village walks, barn dances, village cricket matches, treasure hunts and community work parties. It has also helped to publish a short History of Hallow and participated in car boot sales to promote a sense of community and to raise funds. At Christmas 2007 our activities were extended to a Christmas Tea for the older members of our community and a Santa's Sleigh Ride around the village. Both of these new events were very well received and great fun to arrange. Its latest venture was to look into the possibility of, and interest in, "Twinning" Hallow with another town/village; regrettably, due to lack of public interest, this was not taken up. Although fund raising has not been the main aim of the Group it has been able to make occasional small grants to village facilities and organisations and is now in a position to offer small grants on a wider basis.

How do we communicate?

The Group is set up on the basis of electronic communication (e-mails) but we are aware that not everyone has, or wants to use this form of communication. Where necessary we arrange for paper copies of information to be passed on by designated "e-mail buddies". We also have this website, which we hope will become more used in the future.

What would be expected of me?

As it is one of the main aims of the Group to encourage a sense of Community, we hope that people will become Members or Country Members. We do hope that if you seek this status you will be prepared to attend the quarterly General Meetings, help occasionally to arrange or staff events and otherwise generally get involved in areas of the Group's wide ranging activities. For a greater involvement the Management Committee still has vacancies! If this is not for you but you do like to know what is going on in the village and want to attend some of the events we organise, Affiliate status would probably suit you. We will e-mail you with details of events but you will not receive Minutes of meetings etc.