It doesn't happen very often but occasionally we encounter a situation that causes us to think long and hard. Recently such a situation arose and that was the subject of considerable discussion at our management committee meeting.
We know, from our experience hosting many private hire functions over the years, that guests would spend in the region of £10 minimum per head at the bar. When we take just £3.00 per head over a five hour period we have little doubt that the hirer and their guests are consuming alcoholic drinks from their own stash. We make it perfectly clear in our conditions of hiring and on our website that this is not permitted when the village hall bar is open.
Unfortunately when the occasional rogue hirer decides that our hire agreement and included conditions of hiring, which they signed, do not apply to them we have to take steps to prevent a repeat occurrence. This means that all hirers, most of whom are responsible, will be subject to our revised conditions of hiring.
As a result we will be making some changes to our conditions of hiring and hire agreement to dissuade hirers or their guests from acting irresponsibly. Also we will be restricting the number of visits that a hirer may make to inspect the hall prior to the commencement of the hire period.
In a nutshell we will be endeavouring to prevent hirers from placing undue demands on the volunteers that run the hall and to ensure that they comply with our conditions, particularly in regard to consumption of their own alcohol when our bar is open.
The changes will not affect materially the majority of hirers who act responsibly. The intention is to deter the infrequent hirer who considers that our conditions do not apply to them.