FAQs
Making a booking and before your hire
Please let us know as soon as possible if you would like to cancel your booking.
A refund of 90% of the hire fee will be paid if the period in question is re-hired. If the period is not rehired, refunds will be at the discretion of Fyfield Village Hall.
In the event that Fyfield Village Hall needs to cancel a booking for any reason, any hire fees paid will be refunded. However, we are not responsible for any other costs as result of non-availability of the hall.
For one-off or irregular hires, we require payment of the following deposits in advance:
- a 20% deposit of the hire charges to secure any booking. The remainder of the hire fees are then payable at least 14 days in advance of the hire date; and
- a damage deposit of £100. This must be paid via a credit/debit card using a payment link that will sent in advance of the hire period.
Our hire charges are based on the rooms required and the day/time of the booking. These are priced on an hourly basis.
Additional extras, for example for use of the kitchen, may also be payable.
We offer discounts to Fyfield residents and for regular bookings.
Our full hire fees can be found in our Hire Charges page.
Fyfield Village Hall maintains public liability and hirers’ public liability insurance up to a limit of £5m. Please contact us for further details.
The Main Hall and the Monica Couling Room are both large enough to accommodate 100 people. When hired together as one hall, this is large enough for a sit down meal of around 120 people.
The club room and bar can accommodate around 30 people.
Please provide the anticipated number of people attending your event through our booking system. If you expect more than 100 we may contact you to discuss specific arrangements, in particular to ensure logistics such as parking provision as well as any health and safety measure that may need to be implemented.
For one-off or irregular hires, the following payments are required:
- Payment for hire fees should be made by bank transfer. Details are provided when invoicing your booking. Please contact us if you would like to pay other than by bank transfer.
- A damage deposit of £100 should be paid by debit/credit card. This will be refunded to the same card after the hire period as long as there has been no damage to the hall, no extra cleaning is required and all waste has been removed. If you would like to pay the damage deposit other than by debit/credit card (eg by bank transfer), this would be refunded by cheque.
For regular hires, invoices are issued monthly to be paid by bank transfer within 7 days.
We are always looking to expand the regular clubs, classes and activities on offer at Fyfield Village Hall. If you are starting a new class/activity or looking for a new venue, please contact us to discuss your requirements.
The Main Hall is approximately 13m x 8.4m (42’7″ x 27’6″).
The Monica Couling Room is approximately 13.5m x 8.2m (44’3″ x 26’11”).
The layout of the halls can be found here.
Users of Fyfield Village Hall can request to hire part of Fyfield Sports Field through our online booking system
Please note that Fyfield Sports Field is managed by Fyfield Parish Council (FPC) and hire is by separate agreement with and payment made direct to FPC. Use of the field as an addition to hall hire costs from £6 per hire. If this is requested via our booking system, we will pass your contact details onto FPC in order to confirm details of the field hire and arrange for payment.
It is possible to view the hall before making a booking. Please check our weekly calendar for our community hub mornings (usually Thursday mornings) when a committee member will generally be available to show you around. Otherwise, please contact us to arrange an alternative time.
We are available to hire for weddings and other all day events. Discounted rates are also available to hire the hall for a whole weekend (from 3pm on Friday until 12pm on Sunday). Please contact us if you are interested a full weekend hire.
About Fyfield Village Hall and your hire
We have a fully licensed bar that is available for users of the hall, for example for private functions. This can be requested through our booking system.
The bar is staffed by members of the Fyfield Village Hall management committee or other volunteers. We therefore cannot guarantee its availability.
Depending on the numbers at your event, we may ask for a minimum upfront spend in order to open the bar.
Bouncy castles and other similar inflatables are permitted subject to compliance with our Inflatables Policy.
Please note that when booking the hall you must provide the details for any supplier of inflatables. We will then ensure that the supplier meets the requirements of the Inflatables Policy, including that they maintain public liability insurance of at least £5m.
We do not offer catering, however hirers are free to use external caterers when hiring the hall. If your selected caterers are not familiar with our facilities, it may be possible to arrange a visit before your event.
All internal and external areas of the hall used by hirers must be left in a clean and tidy condition e.g. floors swept, table tops cleaned, kitchen wiped down and all rubbish removed. Failure to leave the hall in a satisfactory condition will result in an additional cleaning charge of £100.
Cleaning equipment for hirers’ use will be in the kitchen or storage cupboard. Hirers should bring their own tea towels and bin bags.
Hirers are free to decorate the hall for events. However, users of the hall must ensure that decorations do not cause damage. In particular, nails, hooks, adhesive tape, drawing pins or other devices must not be fixed to the walls, woodwork, doors and frames of the building.
Level access is available to all parts of the hall via the club room entrance. Please let us know in advance if you require level access and are not hiring the club room.
Hire of the hall includes use of tables and chairs if required. These are:
- 10 round tables, large enough for 8 people per table;
- 11 rectangular trestle tables;
- 130 chairs – mixture of around 90 folding chairs and 40 fixed chairs.
There is a first aid box in the kitchen and a defibrillator attached to the external wall of the hall between the car park and the entrances.
In the case of a medical emergency, contact the emergency services using a mobile phone and give the following address details:
- Fyfield Village Hall, Houchin Drive, Fyfield, Ongar, CM5 0RG
- what3words.com location: ///tables.coats.hatch
All of the rooms at the hall are centrally heated. The heating is controlled by a timer system and should not be adjusted by hirers.
Our main kitchen is available to use for an additional fixed fee. The fee depends on the use of the kitchen:
£5 for tea/coffee making (tea urn, kettle etc) and use of the worksurfaces (eg for serving prepared food); or
£15 for full use.
The main kitchen is equipped with a commercial oven, electric hobs, fridge/freezer, small commercial glass/dishwasher and tea urn. Also available for use are service platters/dishes, crockery and cutlery.
The clubroom has a small kitchenette attached, which is included in the hire charge. This includes a small fridge, kettle, microwave and mugs for service of hot drinks.
We are fully licensed for both live and recorded music.
The Main Hall and the Monica Couling Room feature an amplified sound system through ceiling speakers. This includes a separate induction hearing loop system in each hall. This system can be connected to a sound source through the Bluetooth adaptor provided. We also have two wireless microphones available for use.
Note that all music must finish by 10pm on Sunday – Thursday and 11pm on Friday and Saturday. This is to comply with licence conditions as well as to minimise the disturbance of our neighbours.
For single or irregular hires, you will be met at the hall at the start of your hired time in order to provide access, show you any of the facilities as required and answer any questions.
At the end of your hired time, the hall will be closed for you. Please ensure all areas of the hall that you have hired are clean and tidy with all rubbish removed at the end of the hire period.
It may be possible to issue keys to regular hirers, subject to availability and use of the hall. Keyholders must ensure that all use of the hall is booked on our booking system.
Our car park has capacity for around 30 vehicles including 2 disabled spaces.
All users of the hall must remove all rubbish and waste from the hall at the end of their hire. Please do not leave waste in or around the bins outside of the hall.
All hire periods must include adequate set up and pack away time for your event.
We have superfast broadband from Gigaclear available for users. The current password is displayed in the hall.