VILLAGE hall committees have been given a new warning that they face a bleak outlook in their bid to win funding for improvement work.

Earlier this summer, North Yorkshire County Council revealed that it had only £70,000 available for projects amounting to £320,000.

Humber and Wolds Rural Community Council says: "The funding situation is bad and seems to be getting worse."

Spokesman Graham Betts said one of the main reasons was the decreasing sale of National Lottery tickets and the resultant drop in money for community projects.

Research has shown that village halls have only a one in 30 chance of securing a grant.

In the Wolds area, he said, the landfill tax credit scheme was the best option.

The community fund could still be considered but buildings themselves were not funded.

"The target area is the community benefit, clearly meeting an identified need that overcomes disadvantage."

Charitable trusts were also an option, said Mr Betts, but the Government's Countryside Agency no longer has a village hall scheme.

The Carnegie Trust has long been a supporter of halls in small communities but it has changed from traditional grant-making, and local authorities have largely abandoned grant schemes.

Parish councils can give grants, however, and the Heritage Lottery fund can aid some schemes.

Ian Strong, director of the York-based Yorkshire Rural Community Council, said many villages had benefited in the past from grants.

"In our experience, once a hall is renovated and brought up to modern standards, its usage increases substantially. People don't want to use a run-down hall."

A good hall enhances the quality of village life, said Mr Strong.

"We cannot afford to let up the successful programme of upgrading our village halls because they are so crucial to our communities. It is a big worry that funding is drying up."

Updated: 09:45 Wednesday, September 04, 2002