The trustees of Offord Village Hall are celebrating after achieving all three levels of the Hallmark accreditation scheme.

Hallmark is a nationally recognised quality standard scheme for village halls and community facilities.

Cambridgeshire ACRE runs the scheme throughout the county and have announced that the trustees at Offord have achieved the highest level possible to gain a Hallmark 3 accreditation.

The Trustees were praised for the excellent management of their facility.

Steve Scott, one of the visitors who carried out the accreditation inspections said: “The Trustees have worked extremely hard to provide villagers with such a superb and well laid out village hall that is a credit to them.

"I would like to congratulate them on achievement of all three levels of Hallmark, which demonstrates their high-quality approach to management of the facility”.

Offord Village Hall is the fourth village hall in Cambridgeshire to complete all three levels of Hallmark since the scheme began in the county.

At Level 1, halls must demonstrate that they meet the requirements for good charity administration and management, at Level 2, halls must demonstrate that they meet rigorous requirements for health & safety, licencing and maintenance and at Level 3, the focus is on community engagement, forward planning and development.

Kathy Millward, chairman of the Trustees said: “Hallmark is a challenging but rewarding process. It has provided us with insights into the way we can better manage our hall and a benchmark against which we can judge our progress. It has also given us a sense of achievement and confidence that we’re going in the right direction.”

Cambridgeshire ACRE is a charity dedicated to supporting and strengthening rural communities. It works alongside local residents and groups to help improve the places, services and assets that are important to them.