FAQs/Help

Registration and Account Management

By registering and listing your space or group you are adding your space(s) for hire or your group to our growing, online community hub (Wimblecomm) which has been developed specifically to promote community space, groups, and events/activities that take place in the London Borough of Merton.  Once you have selected a membership plan and registered on the Wimblecomm website you will become a member of the Wimbledon Community Association, the Charity behind Wimblecomm, and be able to list your community space or group.

Please refer to our Membership Policy and Membership Plan options for Merton based community venues and groups/organisations for details on our standard (free) and paid for plus /premium plans as applicable to non-profit organisations. Commercial organisations should contact us directly about our competitive commercial listing rates. We define non-profit broadly as any organisation that operates on a not-for-profit basis, including incorporated and un-incorporated charities and parts of the statutory sector. Please refer to our T&Cs for further details and contact us if you are in any doubt as to your organisation’s status.

Click on the ‘My Account’ link at the top of the Wimblecomm Homepage to access your organisation’s membership account page where you can change your password any time. Please note: The Email/Username associated with your account serves as an identifier to your organisation/account only. When listing a space for hire or a group you will be asked to provide a space or group contact name and email address which will be used on your space or group listing, this may be different from your account username/email.

Click on the ‘My Account‘ link at the top of the page. If you have an existing subscription to one of paid plans, you will see an option to upgrade. Click on the ‘upgrade’ link and select a membership plan from available upgrades. 

After you’ve followed the steps above and upgraded your plan, please contact us via email and we can arrange a refund for the difference between your current and new plan.

Presently, we only take payments through Paypal. Please contact us directly via email if you would like to use an alternative payment method.

Listing Your Space for Hire

Once you have completed and submitted the ‘List a Space’ form online the Wimblecomm Team will review your submission before posting it on the website. We endeavour to publish new space listings within 5 working days of submission, however there may be occasions when we will need to contact the venue organisation to clarify some open questions and/or obtain further details.

New space listings must include at least 1 image of your venue and/or space for hire. You are encouraged to add more images so as to create an image gallery on your space listing, both for the benefit of our users as well as for showcasing aspects of your space for hire. Images must not exceed 1024 pixels in width or height and the size of the file must be less than 1mb.

The following is a guide to help you determine whether to list your community space as ‘small, medium or large’. If you have several spaces for hire listed at the same venue you may wish to use the size descriptors as a means of showing relative size (e.g. large and small hall). The capacity used for determining size of your community space is based on people using the space ‘seated’, not ‘standing’.

 

Small

Medium

Large

Meeting Rooms

Up to 10

Up to 15

15+

Halls

Up to 30

Up to 60

60+

Users of Wimblecomm can use the search engine and are encouraged to ‘filter’ their searches by choosing filters from a list of facilities and a list of space uses. For example, if they are looking for a space for hire with onsite car parking and kitchen facilities, they can select the appropriate filters on the search form. It is therefore important that you include as many facilities and used for categories from the respective drop-down menus on the listing template as apply to your venue.

Tags are phrases that provide information about your venue/space for hire to the search engine and users of Wimblecomm. For example, if your venue offers sports facilities, you could add that tag ‘sports facilities’ in the listing form. At their most basis level, tags are another tool for categorising spaces. Primarily the function of these keywords is to facilitate a more accurate search using the Wimblecomm’s internal search engine, rather than external browser searches using Google, Yahoo, Bing etc.

Presently, WCA offers integration with Google Calendar. To embed your calendar, please follow the steps below.

1: In Google Calendar, click on the little arrow next to your calendar name and select the Calendar settings link.

2: Click the Share this Calendar tab and make your calendar public by checking the checkbox called Make this calendar public. Don’t forget to press the Save button when you are done.


3: Click on the Calendar Details tab and copy/paste the embed code into your blog. The embed code contains your Google account name, so be sure you’re okay with making that name public.


4: In your venue listing page, or the Add Listing form, paste the code directly into the form field. NOTE: Make sure the ‘text’ tab is selected.

5: The calendar should look like this:


6. To hide details associated with a booking and to show only that the venue is booked at a particular time, make sure to set the visibility as ‘Private.’

When you make a Google calendar public, other people can see your public calendar on a website. If this website is searchable, people can find your calendar in search results. You have the option to let other people see all event details or just when your space is available or busy. When adding a Google calendar to your space listing on Wimblecomm we ask that you hide personal details associated with a booking and show only that the space is ‘available/busy’ at a particular time. In order to ensure this please make sure that you set the visibility of all events entered on the calendar as ‘Private’.

1: To add video to your listing, first sign into your YouTube account.
2: Click on Upload at the top of the page.
3: Select the video you’d like to upload from your computer.
4: Use the youtube site to find the video you want.
5: Upload the video to YouTube.
6: Click the ‘Embed’ button next to the ‘Share’ link.
7: Copy the iframe code given and paste it into the video form field in the Add Listing/Edit venue page.

8: The code will look something like this:

Once you have successfully submitted your space listing form, and we have published your space on Wimblecomm, you can add any number of additional space listings by logging into your account and following the ‘Add listing’ link. In order to optimise the search engine function and user experience on Wimblecomm we encourage you to create separate listings for each space that can be hired individually at your venue, however you can list your venue as a whole if preferred.

Log-in to your account using your username and password and click on the link in the menu bar at the top.

Log into your account. A list of ‘My listings’ will appear if you have at least one space listed already. Select the listing you want to edit or delete. Once selected there will be options to either edit (using the edit form) or delete your listing.

Searching for a Space for Hire

At the heart of Wimblecomm is a database which holds information on 120+ community spaces for hire and a powerful search engine to help you find the space(s) that suit(s) your needs. The key to matching your requirements to one (or several) of the many spaces listed on Wimblecomm is to use the search for space function and associated filters so as to customise your search. To deliver the most accurate search results, users are encouraged to ‘filter’ their search for a space by choosing from a list of ‘facilities’ and a list of ‘space uses’. These can be accessed by clicking on the ‘gear’ icon next to the search bar at the top menu and on the ‘find a space’ page. For example, if you are looking for a space for hire with kitchen facilities and on-site parking, that can be used for birthday parties, you could tick the appropriate boxes in the search form. In addition, you can search by location, distance and size. Finally, you can type any relevant keywords/tags on the search bar to search for categories that are not included in above mentioned filter lists. If your search results show that no space(s) for hire meet(s) your specific requirements you are encouraged to widen your search by taking off and/or changing some filters. This is particularly true if you have chosen a large number of filters and/or highly specialised filters. It should be noted that not all spaces for hire listed on Wimblecomm have a comprehensive list of facilities entered in the database as yet. If no space(s) appear(s) on your search result it does not mean that we do not have a suitable space listed on the site. By adjusting your search criteria (e.g. by reducing and/or changing your filter selections) you will maximise the chance that your search will deliver results with a or several space(s) that meet(s) your needs.

Wimblecomm is a growing online community hub for Merton that helps connecting people with places and their passions. As such, we are committed to helping users find the right space for hire that meets their needs. The service does not currently include an online space booking option. Instead, we endeavour to provide detailed information about the spaces listed to help users make a preliminary decision on whether a space may be suitable or not. Once users have selected one or several spaces that may be of interest, they can contact the venue organisation directly by using the contact details and/or enquiry form on the space listing page. The venue organisation will be able to provide any further information including availability for hire and take/manage any bookings.

All space descriptions include information about disabled access and facilities. The side bar on each space listing page provides a contact and booking details summary including information on whether or not the venue/space is accessible for wheelchairs. Users are also encouraged to select the relevant filter(s) on the search engine to only show spaces in the results that meet their needs.

Users of spaces for hire that are listed on Wimblecomm can review the space by going to the space listing page and clicking on the tab ‘reviews’. There you will see other reviews and at the bottom of the page you will be able to submit your own review. All reviews received will be moderated by the Wimblecomm team prior to publication.

Submitting Events, Blog and Newsletter Articles

Venue organisations, when listing a space for hire on Wimblecomm, will be issued with a new members pack which contains information on how to submit information on an event/regular activity that takes place at their listed space to the events calendar. Entries can be uploaded directly to the website by members who have been issued with a website account and login. Other organisations, community groups, and members of the public can submit information on an event/regular activity by using the ‘Submit Event’ button on the ‘What’s on’ page. As per the guidelines published on the ‘What’s on’ page on the website, we promote events/regular activities that take place at community spaces that are registered/listed on Wimblecomm. Other community events/regular activities may be considered for publication on the events calendar, too. All entries to the events calendar must include an image in PNG or Jpeg format that relates to the event/activity (e.g. a flyer or poster image) and include basic information such as date, time, venue, admission details, relevant website or other contact information for ticket office purposes, and a short description of the event/activity. If available, please do send in your video content as well. Please note that all submissions are subject to our terms and conditions and will be moderated by the Wimblecomm team prior to publication.

Wimblecomm, as your community hub for Merton, welcomes contributions from anyone who has an interest in and passion for our local communities across the borough. We publish a quarterly newsletter Community Bytes and a Blog on the website, covering a variety of topics of interest to people of all ages and backgrounds. Specifically, we include spotlight articles where we showcase a listed venue/community space, a particular event or a local personality with strong ties to our Merton community. Our Blog includes reviews of community events that take place in Merton and further afield. Anyone with an interest in Merton communities who would like to contribute an article or ideas for content for our newsletter and/or blog is invited to get in touch directly with our team or via email.

We publish our quarterly newsletter on Wimblecomm (news section) as well as via our social media accounts. To receive your copy directly into your mail inbox as soon as it comes out please go to the ‘News section’ on Wimblecomm or the Wimblecomm home page and follow the instructions on how to subscribe.

About the WCA

The WCA is a Wimbledon based charity, currently focused on connecting people who use community space with providers of community space. The charity used to run a busy community centre in the heart of Wimbledon which sadly had to be closed in 2012 due to the building falling into disrepair. The new trustees set out to re-invigorate the charity and its services to local communities across Merton, and after consulting local users and providers of community space decided to develop, launch and market an online community hub website, Wimblecomm. Click here for more details on the WCA and its history, and here for an overview of our people.

Our unpaid Trustee Board consists of: David Hall (Chair of Trustees), Bill Lake (Trustee), Jenny Burrett (Trustee), and Jackie Chapman (Board Secretary); and two part-time staff members: Susanne Ollig (Community Development Executive) and Genevieve Farrell (Community Development Officer). Click here to find out more and to email trustees and team members directly.

Our postal address, contact phone number and company/registered charity numbers are shown below:

Wimbledon Community Association Limited
c/o 66 Kings Road
Wimbledon
London SW19 8QW
Tel: 07534 518 473
Registered Charity No 1097305
Company Number 03825493

You can also contact us by email or on the contact form.

We welcome feedback from users of our charitable services to the Merton communities. You can get in touch with us directly as per above, or complete a short customer satisfaction survey which is accessible directly on the website. Completion takes less than 5 minutes and will provide us with valuable feedback to inform decisions on further improvements to the site and the future direction of our charity.

Wimbledon Community Association Limited
c/o 66 Kings Road
Wimbledon
London SW19 8QW

Registered Charity No 1097305
Company Number 03825493

Copyright © 2023 Wimbledon Community Association