Frequently asked questions

The Virtual Village Hall is an online activity hub and community designed by Royal Voluntary Service, with support from players of People’s Postcode Lottery. It helps people stay physically and mentally active, connected and having fun. From crafts to Zumba, singing to meditation, there are thousands of sessions available to view on-demand, with new content added regularly.

Sessions are live-streamed daily on YouTube and Facebook and are led by expert tutors. Followers take part in real time or view on-demand via the Virtual Village Hall website or YouTube library. Where activities require equipment, ingredients or materials, these are low-cost and easy to source.

The Virtual Village Hall was launched by Royal Voluntary Service when COVID-19 lockdowns closed community centres and village halls. The charity knew that people’s physical and mental wellbeing would suffer, particularly for those at risk of loneliness, social isolation or with long-term health conditions.

Without stimulation, connection, purpose and enjoyment, people shielding and self-isolating were extremely vulnerable. Work started immediately to transform our community programmes into a digital platform, and, within a matter of weeks, the Virtual Village Hall opened its doors.

More than five years later, the Virtual Village Hall supports people with long-term health conditions and that may not be able to get out and about. Activities offered on the Virtual Village Hall aim to help and support people’s physical and mental wellbeing, nutrition, community connection, and enjoyment of life.

No, all sessions are FREE to watch and you won't be asked to pay to view or join in with our Virtual Village Hall sessions. Donations to Royal Voluntary Service are appreciated.

Text VVH to 70570 to donate £1 today or VVH5 to donate £5 or VVH10 to donate £10. Or donate online. Royal Voluntary Service receives 100% of your donation.

Texts cost your donation amount + 1 standard message at your standard network rate. Always get the bill payer’s permission. UK networks only.

Categories are:

• Cooking & baking
• Crafts & making
• Skills & learning
• Entertainment
• Exercise & dance
• Gardening & outdoors
• Health & wellbeing
• Music & singing
• Books & writing

Sessions are available to access 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and feature both live and pre-recorded activities.

We announce the weekly timetable of upcoming sessions every Monday on our social media pages and website. You can set reminders for any sessions you would like to attend live on YouTube or Facebook.

You can catch up with all sessions on the Virtual Village Hall YouTube channel or website.

Head to the Virtual Village Hall Facebook page, there is a list of upcoming live videos on the top left handside, click on the button under the video you want that says ‘Get Reminder’.

For tutor enquiries, please visit our Tutors page, then email your enquiry using the contact us form.

Search ‘Virtual Village Hall’ or follow this Facebook link. By liking and following the page, you will see regular updates in your news feed (*if you have a personal Facebook profile). Alternatively, you can access the page via the Virtual Village Hall website.

No you don’t need a Facebook account to watch our sessions. You can simply visit Facebook.com and type in ‘Virtual Village Hall’ in the search bar. However, to interact on the page with comments you will need to set up a personal Facebook account.

Yes, the Virtual Village Hall is a very sociable place! You can post comments, questions and feedback for our tutors and other Virtual Villagers in Facebook comments and YouTube live chat during sessions.

All our classes are FREE to watch and we will never ask for you to pay to view or interact with our Virtual Village Hall sessions, but donations to Royal Voluntary Service are appreciated.

Text VVH to 70570 to donate £1 today or VVH5 to donate £5 or VVH10 to donate £10.

Or donate online. Royal Voluntary Service receives 100% of your donation. Texts cost your donation amount + 1 standard message at your standard network rate. Always get the bill payer’s permission. UK networks only.

Yes, sessions are live-streamed on YouTube and Facebook on weekdays. There is also a library of 3,000+ previous sessions to watch on-demand on YouTube and the Virtual Village Hall website.

Yes, for people that like a regular commitment, we have a number of popular weekly sessions, including Yoga with Dave Rennie, Pilates with April Moon, Positive Posture with Jo Andrews and weekly arts & craft classes.

There are also fortnightly classes including Zumba with Helen McGreary, Laughter Yoga with Tess Sanderson, Exercise with Sam Godfrey, British Sign Language with Anthony Sinclair and Beginners Spanish with Megan Haycock.