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Community centres
Village social life in the country depends mainly on good, local facilities. To function as a community the inhabitants need somewhere to have their meetings, pursue leisure activities and hold cultural events. Over 235 villages have their own village hall or community centre. Most of the time the village hall is the only centre of communal activity.
Other countries
Other villages use local commercial facilities such as pubs and restaurants, parish church halls, schools or doctor's surgeries, or even a barn loaned out by a village farmer. We use the terms village hall, community centre or the Dutch word dorpshuis (dorp = village; huis = house), however, they all mean the same thing. There are similarities to the forsamlinghus in Denmark (and Greenland), the foyer rural in France, the dorfgemeinschafthauser in Germany and the Bygdegardarnas in Sweden.
The function of the dorpshuizen
The history of the Frisian dorpshuizen goes back to the beginning of this century. England and America had become industrialised. A gap between rich and poor arose and well-educated people who were concerned about poverty among the working classes started to organise activities and schools. Their aim was to integrate the middle classes (bourgeois) and the working classes. Toynbee-Hall is the famous example on which the development of the adult education centres and the community centres is based. In the Netherlands the first community centre was started in Amsterdam in 1892. The committee consisted of 18 people including 5 members of the working class and (very unusual for that time) 5 women.
Countryside
Gradually more community centres were founded in Dutch towns and in 1915 the first community centre in the countryside was started. Studies of the rural areas showed that these people lived in very poor conditions and a third of their income was used to buy alcohol. Apparently social problems were not exclusive to the big cities! The government funded and built the first community centres. Only two of this type of community centre for economically weak regions, were built in Fryslân. Later on these were used as the basis for the development of professional community and welfare work.
What happened in Fryslân?
In the small villages, groups of middle class people started to finance dorpshuizen which were only meant for activities in their own village and not for the region. The first dorpshuis started in 1926 in a little village called Arum and was financed by the local doctor. Girls learned to sew and to cook, elderly people learned to handle money and health care also became an important issue. It was all voluntary work. After world war II things changed. People came together more often for activities and clubs became popular. The traditional church buildings and pubs appeared to be insufficient for these new groups.
More dorpshuizen
The result was that more and more dorpshuizen were founded. The function of the committee at that moment was to find accommodation for these associations, organisations and committees. Once they had found somewhere, their only task was to take care of the building and the rent: a management task. In the sixties and seventies this function changed. To prevent each group building their own accommodation the dorpshuis committee had to play an active role.
Multifunctional
The buildings became multifunctional. The committee also had to look after special groups in the villages and they had to organise activities for these groups. At that time the decline in population and the decrease in public facilities stimulated local governments and inhabitants of the small villages to use the dorpshuizen for all their activities. Nowadays the dorpshuizen accommodate activities such as drama clubs, youth clubs, senior citizens activities, art and craft groups, playgroups, adult education classes, dancing classes, music classes and bands, sports, exhibitions and internet facilities.
And there is more:
Library facilities, school gymnastics, field sports, mortuary, church activities, health care clinics, a doctor, under five clinic, banking facilities, a shop, administration office and fitness centre.
About 100 dorpshuizen provide accommodation for playgroups. And when the accommodation is not used in the summer, in some cases it can be used as a holiday home or the accommodation houses a museum. Most dorpshuizen consist of a large hall with a stage where big cultural events can be organized. Some dorpshuizen are very small, some large, some are built next to or adjoined to a school and/or a sports hall, some are in old monumental buildings and some are brand new.
Basic needs
In about 100 cases the daily running of the village halls is done by volunteers. Others have professionals, mostly part-time. About 40 dorpshuizen have a full-time manager. All these activities in the dorpshuizen ensure that the countryside in Fryslân offers good facilities, good cultural and social services. Dorpshuizen are not luxuries but provide facilities for basic needs. A village can not function when there are no social facilities. More and more people are suggesting that the dorpshuizen belong to the production environment, an important factor determining the location of a new business.
Total value
The total value of over 200 dorpshuizen is about € 100 million. Sales bring in three to four million euros. The bar brings in a major part of the income. Sometimes the committee is able to subsidise the associations in the village.
Sometimes the dorpshuis uses a campsite or even a windmill in order to earn extra income. The dorpshuis takes the form of an officially set up foundation. The committee is chosen by the villagers. The local governments do not support the operating costs. Governments give financial support when the villages want to build or rebuild a dorpshuis. The province of Fryslân also helps to subsidise the building work and there are a few trust funds. The inhabitants themselves pay for a large part of the investment costs by organising fundraising activities and the major part of the work is done by the local inhabitants. This promotes a sound social base and brings the community together.
Many local governments have a policy covering the rights and duties of the committee. This includes the rules, the financial support and the expectations of the committees. This policy also covers support for the volunteers in the committees.
Please note a few recommendations:
The buildings are used for all kinds of facilities. This is important to local governments, organisations and institutes. Often, with a few adaptations, the building can be used multifunctionally. Every extra activity which can be accommodated or organised in a community centre, strengthens its position. It is important that the committees of village halls communicate with each other. They can learn from one another in many ways. It is essential that in the little villages the work is done by volunteers. It is important that the volunteers are backed up by professional support. Not only concerning knowledge or experience but also in motivating the committees.
Financial support
Without financial support it is impossible to build or rebuild a village hall. It is, therefore, important that local governments and the government of the province develop and maintain a village hall policy. It is important that there is close contact with the centre. The inhabitants know their own needs very well and a good village hall enables them to help themselves.
Using the motivation and involvement of the inhabitants, the village hall can be used for new functions with relatively little effort. It is important that the government realises that the village facilities and particularly the community centres deserve a definite place in the rural policy.
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 | | Aanpak Rotte Kiezen
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