to think the village hall should let long-term renters have their own key?

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I run a parent and baby group along with a friend of mine. She has been doing this longer than I have, and set up in my village hall nearly two years ago now. I joined her around 8 months ago and also use the same hall for some of my sessions.

As a user of the hall and a village resident, I was invited to become a trustee of the hall. My friend asked me to raise the question at the next meeting whether she could have her own key. For all this time she (and I) have had to drive to someone's house, park in the road, jump out and collect the key, do a three point turn near a blind corner and then go to the hall.

I do not think this an unreasonable request; between us we rent 10 village halls and in each and every case we have been provided with our own key/alarm code etc, even if it has been the very first time we have rented the premises.

The answer back has been no. No explanation as to why, just 'no, she can continue to collect from the box'. I was unable to attend the meeting where this was raised so when I got the initial response back from the secretary I replied saying 'could you explain why' and I've had another email from someone else (CC the chairperson and others) to basically say 'no' again.

I just don't get it. I don't think I'm being unreasonable at all. My friend has been renting the hall for over two years (and to be honest is the only regular business the hall gets) and has never let them down. I know it's only a key but when you have a car boot and back seat full of equipment that takes you 45mins to set up and put away every session and then you have to quickly get onto the next venue, then every minute counts and it's a royal PITA.

I've found myself getting infuriated with the committee and have sent quite a snippy email back which I expect isn't going to go down well. I know that's probably BU but with regards to expecting to be allowed a copy of your own key when you've got 2 years history - AIBU?

How about a different aproach, saying that the hall should be unlocked and locked, by the caretaker. This will cost them more!

Wondered if it was an insurance issue, but they would have told you if it was.

Soem operate one way, others another. Maybe they (or owners or insurer) don't want multiple keys in circualtion, higher risk of being lost, copied and so on.

I like the suggestion Angelswings :) That wouldn't go down well at all ;)

I also initially wondered insurance but if they're happy to leave the key outside in a box at the caretakers house (which EVERYONE in the village knows is there) then I can't find that very likely. Sorry, just realised I forgot to add this bit in the original OP.

That's why I find the whole insurance, higher risk of being copied etc thing not plausible, because ANYONE could walk up to the box, collect the key and get it copied and they'd be none the wiser...

Oh, and we are the only people who rent the hall on a weekly basis. The hall is in quite a bad state of disrepair and they really struggle to rent it out. The caretaker is also a right bitch and has put so many people off with her attitude when showing people around (lots of mums from my classes think about renting the hall for birthdays etc so I hear all the gossip). I just think they should be encouraging us to continue to use the hall rather than making life more difficult iyswim?

It's no good raising questions at meetings you don't attend. If you are a trustee, get your feet under the table, see who makes the decisions and who just flops along. I bet you will find a few old stick-in-the-muds who've "always/never done it that way"

I don't you are are being too unreasonable but...

It might be insurance but they might not want to set a precedence for groups holding keys to a building which they are ultimately responsible for.

It does seem awkward but I would be more inclined to ask for a discussion around making the hall/key more accessible rather than sending a snippy email. Your role as a Trustee goes further than just your own issues.

It was unfortunate that I couldn't attend this meeting but DH was away during the day on business and couldn't get home in time to look after DS. I had fully intended on discussing it through and had it added to the agenda. I have been to 3 or 4 meetings know and there are definitely those 'who always have done it that way' and unfortunately it seems to be those who I am coming up against now...

I definitely do have a role which goes further than raising just my own issues btw - I haven't asked for a key for myself; my friend specifically asked me to raise it on her behalf and I'm heavily involved in our current grant funding applications so I didn't just take this role to get my own way! I did't think all the other stuff I do as a trustee was hugely relevant which I why I didn't mention it.

We live in a small village and the preschool have a locked storage cupboard in which they keep a very small amount of petty cash less than £50.When it was stolem the police had to be involved because the preschool are aregistered charity.so many keys had been distributed over the years they were very scathing of the village hall committee and said they had been negligent.If something of substantial value had been stolen they said the insurance prob wouldn't have paid out.

they have probably been asked before and always said no, so that saves them having to think about it or come up with any sensible reasons.

After giving them a while for their ruffled feathers to settle down. try to find out who else has a key, and who is lent one, and why.

I bet you will find there are a favoured few who get better treatment. That would give you the opportunity to talk about fairness and equality. Do they have a key register, with numbered keys being signed for? When did a key last get lost "I put it back"/"well it isn't there now"?

Spider - I completely understand re: being negligent but there are ways of managing the situation that would mean that keys are just issued willy-nilly surely? Plus we are the only regular booking so it would be just one key to account for! We are a charity though so maybe that does have a bearing. I just wish they would bloody TELL me what the reason is instead of being so defensive of their current policy.

I would also understand if we had anything of value in there to pinch! It is such an old, decrepit building that has two Tesco Value kettles and a Value microwave :) If they're like this when the hall is in this state, I dread to think that they'll be like if we get any funding for refurbishment and it's brought upto scratch!

Thanks for your positive ideas Piglet; I do know there are a favoured few (one of whom is the prime 'no' person) and I will go away and think of solutions to making the hall more accessible to all that will satisfy their concerns... at the moment there is no key register; just the main set of keys that live with the caretaker and who puts them in the box (supposedly when she knows the hall is being rented). There are often moments of 'where is the key?!' as one of the very first times I rented the hall I forgot to put it back straight away and that night there was a committee meeting and the caretaker was going a bit spare trying to find it.

I'd be a bit wary of having a key tbh, if anything ever happened at the hall and there was suggestion of a key being used you are totally free from suspicion. I'm sure its a pain having to go and get it but I'd put up with the hassle.

It would still be interesting to know why though

I'd be inclined to say it's probably the insurance thing (although if it is I'm not sure why they don't just explain that to you!). I work for an insurance company (dealing with commercial insurances) and most have a security condition in the policy wording as standard. A lot of these will talk about access and keyholders.

I think there may be a suspicion that if you have a key, you will be in there more than you pay for. It could have been an issue in the past.
It seems that the hall is a bit unloved - maybe any spare keys have been lost and nobody can be bothered to have spares cut.

Its good advice not to go in all guns blazing - talk to a few people and find out what the issues are.

Chances are the Village Hall is financially supported by the Parish Council.
Speak to the clerk or one of your councillors and ask their views.
Make sure that this new idea is an opportunity not a threat

Why don't you request a key safe on the wall of the actual hall with the code changed at regular intervals?

as somebody who checks the accounts of parishes and village halls -

the key safe would be torn off the building or angle grindered open within hours

I see people pulling pay and display machines out of the ground with tractors ffs

I work with groups who run halls (partly) and Im afraid that there very often isnt any rhyme or reason to the way they work the key thing. I did wonder insurance, your insurance company gets uneasy if you have too many keyholders, but you say its not that.

I would ask again whether you, as a trustee, could have the key, rather than your friend. In many cases with groups I know, that would be more palatable to them.

FWIW, if I went in to do work with them I would have a hissy fit at them having one set of keys which were passed round, its incredibly bad practice, and as a trustee you now share responsibility for that bad practice, so good luck with it. Inevitably when something isnt run well with one thing, like this, once you start digging there is a whole lot of other things going on that arent great too.

previously we had a lock with a set number of keys, which were issued to each person, and the caretaker held a spare. These were certain keys that you couldnt get copied in normal keycutters.

And you had to pay a deposit for the key, enough to cover changing the lock or spare key.