Terms of Use

ASHBURY VILLAGE HALL HIRER’S AGREEMENT

We would like everyone who books and uses the Ashbury Village Hall (“the Hall”) to enjoy the facilities, while at the same time staying safe. The following Ashbury Village Hall Hirer’s Agreement (“the Agreement”), containing the Standard Conditions of Hire (“Standard Conditions”), applies to all parties hiring the Hall and are laid out to protect the Hirer, those using the Hall, and the Hall Committee (“Committee”).

In recent years, a number of important laws have been tightened which put significant responsibilities on to charities such as the Hall and we aim to be very clear about what they mean in this Agreement. Please carefully read this Agreement then scroll to the end of the document to accept that you have understood your Hirer’s responsibilities. By accepting the Standard Conditions of this Agreement, the Hirer must comply with these laws. These include, but are not limited to:

2022 Buildings Safety Act

1989/2004 Children's Acts

1998/2018 Data Protection and GDPR

If the Hirer is in any doubt as to the meaning of the Standard Conditions, please contact the Booking Secretary on bookings@ashburyvillagehall.org.

AGE

The Hirer, not being a person under 18 years of age, hereby accept responsibility for being in charge of and on the premises at all times when the public are present and for ensuring that all Standard Conditions under this Agreement relating to management and supervision of the premises are met.

DEPOSIT

A deposit may be required for certain bookings, to be confirmed by the Booking Secretary at the time of booking and will be communicated by the Booking Secretary. Subject to any charges for breakages and/or damage, the deposit will be returned in full to the Hirer within 28 days of the hire date.

HIRE CHARGE

The Hire Charge is payable one week prior to hire date and as agreed with the Hirer. In certain circumstances (e.g. repeat bookings), timescales will be agreed with the Booking Secretary.

USE OF PREMISES

The Hirer must not use the premises, including the car park, for any purpose other than that described in this Agreement and must not sub-hire or use the premises or allow the premises to be used for any unlawful or unsuitable purpose or in any unlawful way nor do anything or bring on to the premises anything which might endanger the premises or render invalid any insurance policies covering the premises nor allow the consumption of alcohol without our written permission.

In particular, the Hirer must comply with the following actions: 

All equipment used, including tables and chairs, to be packed away safely and in the correct place at the end of the hire period. With permission from the Booking Secretary, arrangements may be made to pack the equipment away at a later time

All equipment held in the Hall should not be moved out of the Hall

Report any faults, breakages or damage to the Booking Secretary as soon as possible so that they can be rectified quickly

Use of any items from the First Aid kit should be reported to the Booking Secretary

Any Hall audio-visual equipment must be switched off at the end of your hire. Note that this equipment will typically be set up and dismantled by a member of the Committee

Please check that all taps are turned off in the kitchen and lavatories

The cooker and all other kitchen appliances, including the urn, kettles and any portable appliances, must be disconnected from the mains.

The fridges and freezers must be emptied of ALL food/drink and switched off at the mains. Please leave both doors ajar so the appliance can be aired.

The kettles and urn must be emptied of water.

All lights, except emergency and security lights, must be switched off. Please note that the lights in all toilets automatically switch themselves off after a short period of time. Note that the emergency lighting will always show a bright green guiding light, again, this cannot be switched off.

All internal doors (including the kitchen door) should be closed at the end of your hire. The cleaner’s cupboard in the toilet foyer contains potentially harmful liquids and should be locked at all times and at the end of your hire.

The Hall, the toilets and kitchen (if used) must be left clean and tidy. Waste bins must be emptied and rubbish removed from site. Recycling and waste (the relevant bins being clearly labelled) can be emptied into the provided wheelie bins at the entrance to the Hall. Failure to comply may result in a cleaning charge being deducted from any deposit

On leaving the building all rooms including the store room, kitchen and lavatories must be checked to ensure windows are shut and locked and there is no one is left in the building.

Ensure all external doors (including the emergency exit door that is operated with a bar) are locked before leaving through the main Hall door.

End of Session check lists are displayed on laminated card in the Hall.

The key may be returned to the Booking Secretary or another Committee member. 

END OF HIRE

The Hirer is responsible for leaving the premises and surrounding area in a clean and tidy condition, properly locked and secured, unless directed otherwise, and any contents temporarily removed from their usual positions properly replaced, otherwise we may make an additional charge.

KEY COLLECTION

The key can be collected from - and should be returned to - the Booking Secretary.

DAMAGE TO PROPERTY

The Committee reserves the right to make reasonable charges for any damage to the property and/or contents incurred during the use of the Hall as covered in this Agreement. 

In the event that the deposit does not cover these charges then an additional invoice will be raised.

SUPERVISON

During the period of the hiring, the Hirer is responsible for:

(i) supervision of the premises, the fabric and the contents;

(ii) supervision of children and adults at risk and every care must be taken to ensure their safety at all times. Please refer to our Safeguarding Policy.

(iii) care of the premises, safety from damage however slight or change of any sort; and

(iv) the behaviour of all persons using the premises whatever their capacity, including proper supervision of car parking arrangements so as to avoid obstruction of the highway.

As directed by us, the Hirer must make good or pay for all damage (including accidental damage) to the premises or to the fixtures, fittings or contents and for loss of contents.

SALE OF ALCOHOL AND ENTERTAINMENT

Please note that it is necessary to obtain the necessary licence for events that sell alcohol and/or provide entertainment such as music, dancing or sporting events. Obtaining a temporary events licence requires 10 days' notice to the local council, so please plan ahead. Please also note that alcohol sales, even if the proceeds are going to charitable causes, require a licence. 

It is a condition of hiring that alcohol (except bottled raffle prizes for fetes, bazaars etc) will not be sold or consumed on the premises or such entertainment provided, unless the Hirer has obtained the necessary license and has shown that license to the Booking Secretary a minimum of 24 hours before the hiring commences.

Please contact the Booking Secretary if advice is required on what to do.

For more information, please see:  https://www.gov.uk/find-licences/temporary-events-notice

SMOKING AND VAPING

The Hirer shall ensure that the Hirer’s invitees comply with the prohibition of smoking in “Public Places Provision” of the Health Act 2006 and regulations made there under. In particular, the Hirer shall ensure that a strict NO SMOKING POLICY inside the Hall is enforced. Any person in breach of this provision shall be asked to leave the premises immediately. Any smoking outside and in the immediate vicinity of the Hall is to be controlled by the Hirer, having regard to pollution and risk and any smoking debris shall be cleared away by the Hirer on completion of the period of hire.

This also applies to vaping.

GAMING, BETTING AND LOTTERIES

The Hirer shall ensure that nothing is done on or in relation to the premises in contravention of the law relating to gaming, betting and lotteries.

PUBLIC SAFETY COMPLIANCE

The Hirer must comply with all conditions and regulations made in respect of the premises by the Fire Authority, Local Authority, the Licensing Authority and these Standard Conditions and our fire risk assessment or otherwise, particularly in connection with any event which constitutes regulated entertainment, at which alcohol is sold or provided or which is attended by children. You must also comply with our health and safety guidance within this Agreement.

The Hirer must call the Fire Service (999) to any outbreak of fire, however slight, and give details to the Booking Secretary.

(i) The Hirer acknowledges that you have received instruction in the following matters:

• The action to be taken in event of fire. This includes calling the Fire Brigade and evacuating the Hall.

• The location and use of fire equipment. (Include diagram of location when handing over keys.)

• Escape routes and the need to keep them clear.

• Method of operation of escape door fastenings.

• Appreciation of the importance of any fire doors and of closing all fire doors at the time of a fire.

• Location of the first aid box.

(ii) In advance of any activity whether regulated entertainment or not you must check the following items:

• That all fire exits are unlocked and panic bolts are in good working order.

• That all escape routes are free of obstruction and can be safely used for instant free public exit.

• That any fire doors are not wedged open.

• That exit signs are illuminated.

• That there are no fire-hazards on the premises.

• That the emergency lighting supply illuminating all exit signs and routes is turned on during the whole of the time the premises are occupied (if not operated by an automatic mains failure switching device).

MEANS OF ESCAPE

All means of exit from the Hall must be kept free from obstruction and be immediately available for instant free public exit. In advance of an entertainment or play, the Hirer shall check: that all escape routes are free of obstructions and can be safely used and that no fire doors are wedged open: that exit signs are illuminated: that there are no obvious fire hazards on the premises.

FOOD, HEALTH AND HYGIENE

The Hirer must, if preparing, serving or selling food, observe all relevant food health and hygiene legislation and regulations. In particular dairy products, vegetables and meat on the premises must be refrigerated and stored in compliance with the Food Temperature Regulations. The premises are/are not (delete as appropriate) provided with a refrigerator and thermometer.

All food must be removed from the Hall at the end of the hire period. Kindly check the cooker and microwave before you leave the premises.

CAR PARKING

The lane leading to the Hall is a public road and this must not be obstructed. The Hall car park will accommodate a good number of cars if they are parked sensibly.

POSTERS/WALL HANGINGS

The Hirer shall ensure no bolts, tacks, screws, bits, pins, Sellotape, ‘Blu-tack’ or other like material are attached/driven or fixed into any part of the Hall. Kindly use the hooks and fixings or the concertina display boards provided.

ELECTRICAL APPLIANCE SAFETY

The Hirer must ensure that any electrical appliances brought on to the premises and used there are safe, in good working order, and used in a safe manner in accordance with the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989. Where a residual circuit breaker is provided, this must be made use of it in the interests of public safety.

IDEMNITY AND INSURANCE

The Hirer is liable for:

costs arising from accidental and malicious loss or damage and for loss or damage arising out of your negligence to any part of the premises including its curtilage or its contents

costs arising from accidental and malicious loss or damage and for loss or damage arising out of your negligence done to our WiFi service (if any)

all claims, losses, damages and costs made against or incurred by the Committee, our employees, volunteers, agents or invitees in respect of damage or loss of property or injury to persons arising as a result of the Hirer’s use of the premises (including the storage of equipment) and use of our WiFi service (if any), and

all claims, losses, damages and costs made against or incurred by us as a result of any nuisance caused to a third party as a result of the Hirer’s use of the premises and/or the use of our WiFi service (if any), and subject to sub-clause (ii), the Hirer must indemnify us against such liabilities.

Also refer to the WiFi Terms and Conditions for additional information.

We will take out adequate insurance to insure the liabilities described in sub-clauses (i)a) and (i)b) above and may, in our discretion and in the case of non-commercial hirers, insure the liabilities described in sub-clauses (i)c) and (i)d) above. We will claim on our insurance for any liability you incur but you must indemnify us against:

any insurance excess incurred and

the difference between the amount of the liability and the monies we receive under the insurance policy.

Where we do not insure the liabilities described in sub-clauses (i)c) and (i)d) above, you must take out adequate insurance to insure such liability and on demand must produce the policy and current receipt or other evidence of cover to our Booking Secretary. If you fail to produce such policy and evidence of cover, we will cancel this Agreement and re-hire the premises to another hirer.

We are insured against any claims arising out of our own negligence.

ACCIDENTS AND DANGEROUS OCCURANCES

The Hirer must report to us as soon as possible any failure of our equipment or equipment brought in by you.

The Hirer must report all accidents involving injury to the public to the Booking Secretary as soon as possible and complete the relevant section in our accident book. This is in accordance with the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 (RIDDOR).

HEATING

The heating is controlled by clearly labelled green switches in the Hall foyer. They control a series of wall heaters in the Hall and also the toilet area; instructions on using the wall heaters are displayed in the Hall entrance. No unauthorised heating appliances shall be used on the premises, no LPG appliances are allowed in the Hall.

EXPLOSIVES AND FLAMMABLE SUBSTANCES

The Hirer shall ensure that no highly flammable substances are brought into the Hall and/or premises. No flammable decorations are to be used in the Hall and/or premises, no decorations are to be placed near electric fittings. 

Large candles and all other naked flames are prohibited with the exception of birthday cake candles.

Indoor fireworks are prohibited.

HELIUM BALLOONS

Helium balloons are not permitted within the Hall.

NOISE

The Hirer shall ensure that the minimum of noise is made on arrival and departure, particularly late at night, and is responsible for maintaining orderly behaviour both inside and outside the Hall. Please stop any music by 11pm and keep noise to a minimum beyond this. 

Car doors banging and loud talk in the car park can be disturbing to local residents and we ask you to kindly be considerate of others in this regard.

DRUNK AND DISORDELY BEHAVIOUR AND THE SUPPLY OF ILLEGAL DRUGS

The Hirer must ensure that in order to avoid disturbing neighbours of the Hall and avoid violent or criminal behaviour:

No one attending the event consumes excessive amounts of alcohol

Alcohol shall not be served to any person suspected of being drunk

Alcohol is not sold to any person suspected of being under the age of 25 without ID.

(ii) No illegal drugs are brought into the Hall or its immediate vicinity.

Drunk and disorderly behaviour is not permitted either in the Hall or in its immediate vicinity. We will ask any person suspected of being drunk, under the influence of drugs or who is behaving in a violent or disorderly way, to leave the Hall in accordance with the Licensing Act 2003.

SAFEGUARDING CHILDREN, YOUNG PEOPLE AND ADULTS AT RISK

The Hirer must ensure that any activities for children, young people and adults at risk are only provided by fit and proper persons in accordance with the Children Act 1989 and 2004, the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 and any subsequent legislation. When requested, you must provide us with a copy of your Safeguarding Policy and, if necessary, evidence that you have carried out relevant checks through the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS). All reasonable steps must be taken to prevent harm, and to respond appropriately when harm does occur. Relevant concerns must be reported.

Where the Hirer does not have their own Safeguarding Policy, they must abide by our Safeguarding Policy. This can be located on the Ashbury Village Hall website.

Whilst considering children and adults at risk, hirers are asked that these groups must not be allowed in to the kitchen area which contains appliances, potentially hot liquids and sharp cutlery.

The cleaner’s cupboard in the toiler foyer (which contains potentially harmful liquids) must be locked at all times to protect children and adults at risk.

CANCELLATION

The Committee reserves the right to cancel this hiring by written notice in the event of the premises being required for use as a Polling Station for a Parliamentary or Local Government Election or by-election. In the event of the Hall being rendered unfit for use for which it has been hired, the Committee shall not be liable for any resulting loss whatsoever. The Committee reserves the right to cancel any hire period by written notice to the Hirer.

STORED EQUIPMENT

The Committee accepts no responsibility for any stored equipment or other property brought on to, or left, at the premises overnight.

NO ALTERATIONS

No alterations or additions may be made to the Hall nor may any fixtures be installed or placards, decorations or other articles be attached in any way to any part of the premises without written prior approval from the Booking Secretary.

ANIMALS

The Hirer shall ensure that no animals except Guide Dogs/Assistance Dogs are brought into the premises other than with written prior approval from the Booking Secretary.

FILMS

The Hirer must restrict children from viewing age-restricted films classified according to the recommendations of the British Board of Film Classification. The Hirer must ensure that you have the appropriate copyright licences for film. This Agreement confers the required permission on the Hirer. (The Deregulation Act 2015 requires you to have our written permission to show a film).

Note: The Hall is not licensed for the streaming of live programmes on any device.

MUSIC AND MUSIC COPYRIGHT LICENCING

The Hall holds relevant licences under Performing Right Society (PRS) and the Phonographic Performance Licence (PPL)..

must restrict children from viewing age-restricted films classified according to the recommendations of the British Board of Film Classification. You must ensure that you have the appropriate copyright licences for film. This Agreement confers the required permission on you. (The Deregulation Act 2015 requires you to have our written permission to show a film).

FIRST AID AND FIRE FIGHTING EQUIPMENT

The First Aid Kit is kept within the right hand kitchen cupboards.

NO RIGHTS

This Agreement constitutes permission only to use the Hall and confers no tenancy or other rights of occupation on the Hirer.

HIRE CHARGES

Hirers are advised that charges may be reviewed on 1st January annually. Hirings arranged before that date for events after that date will be charged at the rates applicable at the time of booking.

DISCLAIMER

The Hall will not be liable in the event of any Hall equipment failing in use. The Committee undertake to repair or replace failed equipment as soon as practically possible but cannot be held responsible for any consequential liability.

WIFI TERMS AND CONDITIONS

WiFi Services

When using the WiFi service the Hirer agrees, at all times, to be bound by the following provisions:

(i) not to use the WiFi service for any for the following purposes:

(a) disseminating any unlawful, harassing, libellous, abusive, threatening, harmful, vulgar, obscene or otherwise objectionable material or otherwise breaching any laws;

(b) transmitting material that constitutes a criminal offence or encourages conduct that constitutes a criminal offence, results in civil liability or otherwise breaches any applicable laws, regulations or code of practice;

(d) making, transmitting or storing electronic copies of material protected by copyright without permission of the owner;

(ii) to keep any username, password, or any other information which forms part of the WiFi service security procedure confidential and not to disclose it to any third party.

(b) Termination of the WiFi service

We have the right to suspend or terminate our WiFi service immediately in the event that there is any breach of any of the provisions of these Standard Conditions including without limitation:

(i) if you use any equipment which is defective or illegal;

(ii) if you cause any technical or other problems to our WiFi service;

(iii) if, in our opinion you are involved in fraudulent or unauthorised use of our WiFi service;

(iv) if you resell access to our WiFi service; or

(v) if you use our WiFi service in contravention of the terms of these Standard Conditions.

(c) Availability of WiFi Services

(i) Although we aim to offer the best WiFi service possible, we make no promise that the WiFi service will meet your requirements. We cannot guarantee that our WiFi service will be fault-free or accessible at all times.

(ii) It is the Hirer’s responsibility to ensure that any WiFi enabled device used by you is compatible with our WiFi service and is switched on. The availability and performance of our WiFi service is subject to all memory, storage and any other limitations in your device. Our WiFi service is only available to your device when it is within the operating range of the main hall.

(iii) We are not responsible for data, messages, or pages that the Hirer may lose or that become misdirected because of the interruptions or performance issues with our WiFi service or wireless communications networks generally. We may impose usage, or service limits, suspend service, or block certain kinds of usage in our sole discretion, to protect other users of our WiFi service. Network speed is no indication of the speed at which your WiFi enabled device or our WiFi service sends or receives data. Actual network speed will vary based on configuration, compression and network congestion.

The Hirer is involved in fraudulent or unauthorised use of our WiFi service;

(iv) if you resell access to our WiFi service; or

(v) if you use our WiFi service in contravention of the terms of these Standard Conditions.

(d) Privacy and Data Protection

We may collect and store personal data through the Hirer’s use of our WiFi service.

We may process all information about the Hirer which is provided in relation to our WiFi service in accordance with your legal rights under the Data Protection 1998 and solely for the purposes of offering the WiFi service.

By using our WiFi service, the Hirer agrees to the terms of these WiFi Terms and Conditions. If you would like more information or object to anything in these conditions, you should speak to the Booking Secretary.

When using the WiFi service the Hirer agrees at all times to be bound by the following provisions:

not to use the WiFi service for any for the following purposes:

disseminating any unlawful, harassing, libellous, abusive, threatening, harmful, vulgar, obscene or otherwise objectionable material or otherwise breaching any laws;

transmitting material that constitutes a criminal offence or encourages conduct that constitutes a criminal offence, results in civil liability or otherwise breaches any applicable laws, regulations or code of practice;

interfering with any other persons use or enjoyment of the WiFi service; and

making, transmitting or storing electronic copies of material protected by copyright without permission of the owner

to keep any username, password, or any other information which forms part of the WiFi service security procedure confidential and not to disclose it to any third party.