http://www.hounslow.gov.uk/hounslow_community_buildings_directory_feb_2006.pdfis a 2006 list of Community Buildings."There are two main types of buildings included in the directory. Those that rent / hire / lease space to local voluntary / community organisations, and those that may not actually rent out any part of the building but who would regard the building as an important community building (e.g. an advice centre, a community centre, or a faith based centre that includes community work)."As you note, schools may change their policies and the list may no longer be applicable. My own group using a school found the bureaucracy a bit too oppressive.(from ChiswickW4 thread:New conditions have applied to school lettings to community groups since September ( a new policy document was issued in July, I think).The recorder consort group I belong to grew out of an Adult Education Music Centre evening class that ran for ?20 years. With the decline in Learning Skills Council support for non-vocational examinable classes, it became uneconomic to have a tutor , but the Adult Education people suggested that we continue as a "club" . For the last three years we operated out of Brentford School for Girls as a community group, only paying a very modest sum to the school for public liability insurance. (The school was open for other activities in the evening, so the caretaking cost was presumably borne by them.)The new policy (evidently with the new extended schools agenda in mind) required all groups using schools to provide their own child protection policies before they could register centrally with the council and then make a booking with the school. The draft example policy provided for guidance required members of the group to be trained in child restraint techniques and needed sub-policies to detail our anti-bullying strategy. It also required CRB checks on the group leader. We did not think this was terribly appropriate for our group meeting in semi-isolation at 7.30 on a Monday evening. We toyed with the idea of submitting a document saying "We believe in child protection" and a couple more sentences - but we then hit the other problem that the school would no longer allow us to take out liability insurance by contributing a marginal sum to include our group on their policy. We needed to provide our own indemnity insurance for ?£5million and we could not find an easy way to get this at an economic rate for 8 over-50's.In the end, we continue to meet, but in the Chiswick house of one of our members. )
Tim Henderson ● 6377d