About the venue

‍Hornsey Vale Community Centre is a volunteer-run community facility on Mayfield Road in Crouch End, in the borough of Haringey. Since its establishment opening its doors in 1991, the centre has provided affordable activities to the community as well as offering spaces to hire for regular classes and community groups. 

For those looking for a multi-purpose space, HVCA is the perfect venue. Offering numerous large spaces (a main hall, a small hall, and a gym), it becomes the perfect place to host a birthday party or sports activity. If you’re looking for something smaller, HVCA also hires three small meeting rooms. With such versatility, it’s no wonder that the centre hosts more than 40 individual regular hirers and even got a starring role in a Tendai music video! 

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The challenge

HVCA has been successfully hiring out their spaces since they opened their doors in 1991 and had been generating a lettings income of £6,000 per month. This they have managed to do with limited resources, which is a testament to the dedication and passion of the centre manager and the volunteers who donate their time to HVCA. However, as a micro-charity which receives no local authority funding, HVCA relies on the revenue generated from their room hire to fund the majority of their charitable activities. 

Those who have been involved with or used Hornsey Vale know just how vital it is to the local community.  Hornsey Vale is a valued and cherished hub within the local area. Crouch End is known for its village feel and Hornsey Vale is a real ambassador for the area—A place to bring people together for life events and everyday activities. Regular booker, Grace, says,

“it's a lovely community space that goes above and beyond to support local people making connections to benefit their wellbeing.” Another booker, Percy, was delighted by Hornsey Vale’s “very pleasant and welcoming staff.”

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Emma Watson, Centre Manager at HVCA says,

“We love the human connections that are made at our regular Soup Cafes, Lunch Clubs and events, and how our spaces bring together people who want to learn, exercise and be creative. Our trustees, volunteers and staff experience this first hand and it’s what keeps us involved in HVCA.” 

Whilst HVCA was already generating a good income from their lettings, there were areas that they wanted to improve with Sharesy’s support:

Streamlining the booking administration process: Before using Sharesy, HVCA had already transitioned from using a manual booking system to a web-based system. The system was workable. However the scale of Hornsey Vale’s operation meant that the management of invoicing alone had become a considerable task. 

Time Management: HVCA has limited resources and relies on volunteers for many tasks at the centre. It was becoming clear that booking administration, promoting the centre’s spaces, centre management, managing the volunteer team, as well as organising community events, was becoming increasingly difficult to juggle.

Reaching a Wider Audience: HVCA is much-loved in the local community and weekend parties have always been consistently booked by families in the local area. The challenge for HVCA was reaching a wider audience, especially occasional bookers looking for smaller spaces. They found that getting bookings for one-off sessions in their small meeting and therapy rooms was more difficult.

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The Solution

The HVCA Trustees had heard about Sharesy through another London community centre and were already exploring opportunities to grow their bookings. A serendipitous call came through from Felix Atkin, CEO and Founder of Sharesy, which proved to be great timing. 

“We were attracted by the possibility of freeing up our limited resources for other management and outreach responsibilities. We also liked that Sharesy felt local, having been founded in North London.” Says Emma.

Following the call with Felix, HVCA could see the benefits of working with Sharesy. HVCA went on to sign up and their listing went live in mid-2023. Since then, HCVA has worked closely with Sharesy to optimise the whole lettings process, keeping the community centre’s objectives front of mind throughout.

Simplified Bookings Process: Sharesy has helped reduce the administration time for HVCA and while there were initial concerns about losing an all-important connection with their bookers, this concern was quickly put to rest. Ensuring that organisations always feel connected with their community and their bookers is at the heart of Sharesy’s service. Sharesy becomes an extension of the team, bringing expertise in marketing, finance, digital technology and customer service. 

Time Saving: HCVA now has more time to focus on other important matters, with a lot less back and forth with each booker and the booking admin being managed through the Sharesy platform.  

“There are still areas that we are working on with Sharesy with the aim of streamlining the booking process even more. We’ve been particularly grateful for the responsiveness of Technical Lead Matt Allpress, who has helped shape the system to the benefit of not just Hornsey Vale but, we hope, all Sharesy clients.”

Raising their Profile: Before Sharesy, HVCA primarily used its own website and word of mouth to market their spaces. But now thanks to Sharesy’s website, it’s easier than ever for bookers to find HVCA. With frequent social media and blog posts highlighting different venues and organisations, bookers are never lacking inspiration.  

“We love that our facilities are being presented professionally to an audience well beyond those already familiar with the Centre.”

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A Venue at the Heart of the Community 

Emma and the HVCA team now have more time to focus on what really matters: giving back to the community. Their aspirations for 2025 are to expand the range of HVCA’s own charitable activities within the centre, and to work with other not-for-profits and local organisations to provide greater support for the local community.

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