Small grants now available to village halls in England
10th November 2025
Defra funded grant scheme reopens today for small grants for committee’s managing rural community buildings. The lower thresholds of £2,000 – £5,000 aim to support smaller projects.
In 2023, a £3 million village halls fund was launched to provide support for the modernisation and improvement of village halls in England. A further amount was provided for the financial year ending in March 2026.
Managed by Action with Rural Communities in England (ACRE), the fund has already awarded grants to 100s of village and community halls, helping them undertake ambitious improvements to their building. Works undertaken or scheduled to take place include new roofs, insulation, extensions, and more energy efficient heating systems.
The grant fund is today re-opening to new applicants who wish to undertake smaller projects such as disability access, toilet upgrades and new kitchens. Grant awards of between £2,000 to £5,000 are available where match funding of 80% is in place. Project expenditure must take place before 31 March 2026.
A streamlined on-line application process and simplified eligibility criteria will make it easy for small projects to come forward for support. The scheme will remain open available funding is fully allocated.
Deborah Clarke, Village Halls Manager at ACRE said, “We hope the small grants now on offer will help more village hall management committees make much needed improvements to their buildings. 95 community buildings benefitted when the fund was open previously.
With increasing energy costs and the cost-of-living crisis, the need to have warm, welcoming and accessible spaces open to everyone has become ever more important in the countryside. Often village halls are the only place where people can meet and socialise locally, and they provide a venue from which many self-employed people earn a livelihood.
The availability of grant funding from government supports the continued use of these important rural assets”.
Notes to editors
ACRE (Action with Communities in Rural England) is a charity speaking up for and supporting rural communities. It is the national body of the ACRE Network, England’s largest rural grouping of charities which facilitate a wide range of community-led initiatives that encourage a culture of volunteering and mutual aid, reduce social isolation and loneliness, increase the supply of affordable housing, boost the local economy, and reduce impact on the environment.
Details about how to apply to the small grants scheme can be found here.
