How Good is our Hall? toolkit
The ‘How Good is our Hall?’ toolkit was designed and developed by Claire Abbott as part of her role as Legacy Practitioner with the Safe Harbour: Open Sea Culture Collective project in Fittie, Aberdeen. Based on the Place Standard: How good is our place? Toolkit, ‘How Good is our Hall?’ uses the values of community learning and development to start conversations about community halls. The tool provides prompts for discussions, allowing everyone who has an interest in a community space to consider a range of elements – from access and transport to green space and sustainability – in a methodical way.
Though the tool was developed with and for the community of Fittie, it can easily be adapted and used for any kind of community, and any kind of space they use. It can offer a mechanism to start dialogue, deliberation and consensus, and to navigate the friction that can often arise from different perspectives on a community’s priorities. The tool pinpoints the assets of a hall and community as well as areas where there is room for improvement, provide evidence for funders and stakeholders, and help inform conversations about legacy and the future.
Presentation: How Good is our Hall?
In February 2023, Claire introduced the ‘How Good is our Hall?’ toolkit in a workshop for those working on Culture Collective projects across Scotland. An extract from Claire’s presentation at that session are available here, which provides some context for the development of the toolkit, as well as an overview of why and how the tool can be used:
Download the toolkit
The toolkit itself takes the form of ten indicators, each of which are scored on a scale from 1 to 8, with a range of prompt questions to inform thinking about each element. The tool and scoring indicators can be downloaded here:
Useful links and further reading
- National Evaluation Framework for CLD
https://education.gov.scot/improvement/hgiocld/how-good-is-our-cld/ - CLD Standards Council https://cldstandardscouncil.org.uk/
- Scottish Community Development Centre
https://www.scdc.org.uk/ - Scottish Community Development Network
https://www.scdn.scot/ - Our Place – excellent resources, recently updated – highly recommended
https://www.ourplace.scot/ - Download the How Good is Our Place? pdf
https://www.ourplace.scot/essential-maintenance - Evaluation Framework for Arts in relation to Health and Wellbeing
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/arts-for-health-and-wellbeing-an-evaluation-framework - Open Road
https://www.openroadltd.com/ - Fittie Community Development Trust https://fittietrust.org.uk/
We hope that this toolkit can help prompt discussions about what matters in your community hall, and what the future might look like.