Martyn’s Law receives Royal Assent

The Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025 – also known as Martyn’s Law – received Royal Assent on 3rd April 2025. The Government intends there to be an implementation period of at least two years before the Act comes into force, to enable a new regulatory body to be set up to advise, support, and … Read more

CBN meeting March 2025

Our CBN meeting in March took place at Hollingdean Community Centre, which was an opportunity for some of us to visit a new venue. We had a good turnout and as always, it was a pleasure to welcome some new faces as well as some familiar ones. Our guest speaker was John Mitchell, who talked … Read more

Artificial Intelligence (AI) news from the National Lottery Community Fund

Are you wondering what AI can do for you and for your organisation? Are you concerned about the increasing spread of AI and wanting to ensure it is used safely and responsibly within the charitable sector? Recent developments from the National Lottery Community Fund may be able to help. A free, online event is taking … Read more

Next CBN meeting – March 2025

Our next CBN meeting will be on Tuesday 11th March 2025, at Hollingdean Community Centre at 2pm. We’ll be joined by John Mitchell from the Social Value project, who will be explaining about how the project works, what type of works can be carried out under the project, and how to access support. We look … Read more

Virtual fundraising: Charity Digital explores how it’s changed

Charity Digital explores how virtual fundraising has changed and whether or not it is worth continuing to invest in social media fundraising tools. Their research shows that whilst Facebook usage in the UK has decreased since 2020, people aren’t deserting social media – they’re simply diversifying and splitting their time between several different platforms. Successful … Read more

Sport England – new report on physical activity and children’s mental health

Activities to support good mental health will be high on the list of activities in many of our centres. Those activities might include therapeutic support, social groups, physical activities, intellectual activities, and probably lots more. Many different types of activity can help to support good mental health in our community. Sport England has recently published … Read more

CBN meeting November 2024

As always it was a pleasure to get together face-to-face again at our November meeting. We had no guest speaker for this one, so we concentrated on hearing from members and discussing current hot topics and priorities. We talked through some of the announcements in the recent Budget, some of which will affect our buildings, … Read more

Martyn’s Law – Consultation Results

Earlier this year, the Government invited responses to a public consultation about the proposed Martyn’s Law (Protect Duty) Bill. The consultation results have now been published, and show that 1981 people responded to the consultation, of which 24% were responding on behalf of village halls or community centres. A revised Bill has now been issued, … Read more

Research shows that community buildings are falling behind in energy efficiency

A recently published report from social finance lender Social Investment Business looks at how community buildings are investing in increased energy efficiency measures. The research shows that most community buildings in England are taking slower steps towards increased energy efficieny than other non-domestic buildings including offices. This is probably not a surprise to those involved … Read more

HSE scam alert

We have been made aware of a scam which purports to be from the HSE regarding Electricity at Work Regulations (EAWR). HSE has received reports of letters being sent to organisations supposedly from the EAWR compliance team, using HSE’s Merseyside office address in the letterhead. Some organisations have received follow-up letters serving ‘penalty notices’ and … Read more