Background

Whitehouse has had a village hall since 1961. Prior to 1959, the villagers of Whitehouse were able to use the hall situated in an outbuilding at the Home Farm, Glenreasdell Estate, as a meeting place. In 1954 the Home Farm was sold by the Glenreasdell Estate. The school was used for a while after this, then in 1959 a Trust was set up to run and manage a new Village Hall which was built on the current site of our Village Hall.  The official opening event of the Hall was 27th December 1961 and was attended by about two hundred people.

 
The Village Hall has been well maintained and cared for over the years. The refurbishment and extension to the Hall was completed in 2000.  Internal improvements in the kitchen now provide a modern facility which enables the hall to be used for functions. Externally, an overflow Car Park has been developed which provides additional parking when functions are held.  A Picnic Area with benches has been created, to the side of the hall, for locals and visitors to enjoy using. More recent projects include installing uPVC replacement windows throughout in 2021 and in 2022 we will be installing an air source heat pump.

 

We have transformed the village hall into what is now a first-class village amenity which we can be proud of and will benefit our community for years to come.

 

The Charity

Although the building itself is called Whitehouse Village Hall, we are a registered Scottish charity Whitehouse Village Hall (No. SC028342) and as such has a number of Trustees who oversee the charity with the support of the Committee which manages the hall on a day-to-day basis. There have been legally-binding governing arrangements since the early days (1959) – well before it was a registered charity in November 1998.

 

Our Mission Statement (also known as ‘the Objects’)

“The said subjects and the building erected or to be erected thereon are dedicated and shall be held by us and our successors as Trustees in all time coming for the purpose of physical mental training and recreation, and social, and moral and intellectual development through the medium of reading and recreation rooms, library, lectures, classes, recreation or otherwise as may be found expedient of the inhabitants of Whitehouse in the County of Argyll and its immediate vicinity, without distinction of sex or of political or religious or other opinions subject to the provision of these presents”

 

Our responsibilities – looking ahead

The Trustees of the charity, with the support of the Committee, key focus is on maintaining a viable facility for users from the local community. It needs to be affordable for them and – under Charity Commission rules - they have must have priority if there is a conflict of use.

 

At the same time, as times change, we need to be open-minded about developing a facility that has commercial appeal, so we can potentially benefit from new sources of revenue, as well as providing an inexpensive venue for the people of Whitehouse vicinity.