The halls and meeting room are available to hire 7 days a week, 52 weeks of the year, from early morning to late at night. 

All hirers must be 18 or over and able to ensure that the Terms and Conditions of Hire are adhered to. All hirers also need to have Public Liability Insurance, with the exception of any one off/single booking when it isn't needed. If insurance is needed, it may be that the hirer is covered for their activity by their ordinary household insurance and many companies now offer good value insurance for community groups. Specific insurance cover is needed if you wish to use a bouncy castle or similar that isn’t supervised by the hire company. We have a Premises Licence to cover activites such as music and dancing, with a finish time of 11pm (10.30pm Sundays). It is possible to extend these times, by application to the council. We don't have a bar and aren't licenced for the supply of alcohol but you can apply to the council for a licence (a TEN, Temporary Event Notice) to supply / sell this. In some circumstances a licence isn't needed to supply it. 

We reserve the right to not accept any booking without giving a reason or any booking which may conflict with our charitable objectives and/or ethos. We may seek further information from a hirer working with children or any other vulnerable group and or anyone providing any kind of therapy. All hirings are subject to our Terms of Conditions of Hire, which we will give you if you wish to hire, and are displayed in the halls.

Accessibility

We operate as a community centre on a self-service basis and issue all hirers with their own keys. All hirers need to lock up after they have finished (unless there is another group using the building)- we don’t normally ‘open up’ in the mornings nor ‘lock up’ at night, although this may be possible on occasion. This helps us keep our costs low.

We are keen that The Centre is accessible to all. It has been designed to be wheelchair friendly with flat access to all areas, wide doors and a level access WC.

We provide tables and chairs but don’t normally set them up or clear them away. We can usually offer a set up and clear away service that is booked in advance, although we do make a charge for this - please ask at the time of booking. Please note all tables and chairs must normally be cleaned and cleared away after use (not in the Hengrave Room) and rooms must be left in their ‘default’ set up.

Charges

We charge two different rates for each hire space according to the kind of activity. The first is a small charity/community group rate, and the second rate is for medium / large charities, corporate hires, or party & celebration events. Our rates sheet is displayed by the office and also on the rates page on this website. We are not registered for VAT. Please note our prices are per session - e.g. morning, afternoon, evening; not per hour. For party and celebration event bookings we also charge a returnable 'damage' deposit, payable at the time of booking. We usually ask for a separate cheque or cash for this deposit.

Payments and Invoicing  

For one off bookings including parties we require payment in advance with the Hire Agreement form. For ongoing bookings we usually require payment in advance for the first session only. We then invoice at the end of each month unless already paid. Payments can be made in cash, by cheque, BACS or by standing order. We are also able to accept card payments in person in the office or over the phone, although a card payment is our least favoured payment method due to the income we lose through charges.

Please see our Terms and Conditions of Hire for cancellation charges. We are a small (and friendly) organisation and ask that all hirers to pay in good time. 

How to book

Contact :- Sue Szymanski (Community Development Manager) or her assistant Jeff in the office on 01284 767380 or e mail  hello@stjohnscentrebury.co.uk. Please note we staff the office on a part time basis. 

It's best to make an appt to view before booking, and we can talk you through the practicalities. A Hire Agreement form needs to be completed for all bookings – we can e mail this or give you a paper copy for completion. This forms the contract of hire, in accordance with our Terms and Conditions of Hire. All bookings remain provisional until the signed Hire Agreement form is returned. Provisional bookings can only be held for up to 14 days from the date of reservation, after which they can be released without referral. Before your booking commences we will issue key(s) and ensure you are familiar with our fire procedure.