Room calendar & availability
Every room, the hall, kitchen and meeting rooms on one calendar, with live availability on your website.
Neighbourhood centre software: room hire & programs
Neighbourhood centres: rooms, programs and people on one system. Less admin for small teams.
Room hire is booked by phone into a paper diary, programs live on flyers stuck to the noticeboard, volunteers get rostered by group email and the funding report means a week of tallying spreadsheets. We build room hire, program booking, volunteer and reporting systems for neighbourhood centres that all talk to each other. Then we host them and look after them.
Looking for community centre room booking software that also handles programs and volunteers?
A neighbourhood centre is a venue hire business, a program provider, a volunteer organisation and a front-line service all at once. It's usually run by a handful of part-time staff plus a crew of brilliant volunteers. The hall diary is in one place, the yoga class list in another, the volunteer roster in someone's inbox and the emergency relief records in a filing cabinet. When funding reports come due somebody spends days pulling it all together by hand.
Wollopit builds custom software for neighbourhood centres around how your centre actually runs. Hirers check availability and book online, sign the hire agreement and pay. Programs get their own pages with bookings and waitlists. Volunteers pick up shifts from their phone. Every visit, booking and session is counted along the way, so your funding numbers are ready when the report is due. We connect the tools you already use and look after the lot on our own servers.
01The problems
What we hear from neighbourhood centres
Does your neighbourhood centre have these problems? Here's how we'd fix them.
Most centres we talk to do an enormous amount with very little. The work gets done, but the admin behind it eats hours that should go to the community.
- The problemRoom hire by phone and paper diarySomeone rings about the hall, staff flip through the diary and the kitchen ends up double booked on a Saturday.How we fix itAn online room calendar showing live availability for every room, with clash checks and a booking request form that does the back and forth for you.
- The problemHire agreements on paperAgreements get printed, signed, scanned and filed. Insurance certificates expire and nobody notices.How we fix itHire agreements signed online with conditions per room, public liability certificates uploaded and expiry reminders sent automatically.
- The problemRegular hirers rebooked every termThe Tuesday tai chi group and the Thursday playgroup get re-entered by hand every term, then the public holidays catch everyone out.How we fix itRecurring bookings set up once for the year, with public holidays and closures skipped and term changes handled in a few clicks.
- The problemChasing hire feesCash in an envelope, bank transfers with no reference and invoices typed up in Xero one by one.How we fix itHire fees paid online at booking, bonds held and refunded, invoices for regulars sent automatically and everything synced to Xero or MYOB.
- The problemEvery hirer pays a different rateCommunity groups, not-for-profits, businesses and private parties all pay different prices and staff guess which one applies.How we fix itHirer types with their own rates, concessions and bond rules, so the right price comes up every time.
- The problemPrograms promoted on flyersThe Monday art class and the computer help session are on a flyer at reception and a Facebook post from three weeks ago.How we fix itA program page for every class and group, with dates, costs, places left and online bookings, shared to your website and socials.
- The problemClass lists on clipboardsBookings taken over the phone, names on a clipboard and nobody knows who's coming until they turn up.How we fix itOnline program bookings with capacity limits, waitlists, SMS reminders and a sign-in sheet on a tablet.
- The problemVolunteers rostered by group emailReply-all chains, last-minute gaps at reception and a coordinator who spends Friday afternoon ringing around.How we fix itA volunteer roster where people pick up shifts on their phone, swap with each other and get reminders the day before.
- The problemVolunteer checks in a spreadsheetPolice checks, Working with Children Checks and inductions tracked in a spreadsheet nobody trusts.How we fix itVolunteer records with check numbers, expiry dates, inductions and training, plus reminders well before anything lapses.
- The problemFront desk sign-in on paperVisitors write their name in a book, enquiries go on sticky notes and referrals get lost between shifts.How we fix itA tablet sign-in at reception and a shared enquiry log so every call, visit and referral is followed up.
- The problemEmergency relief records in a folderFood vouchers and support handed out with notes in a folder, so it's hard to see who's been helped and when.How we fix itPrivate client records with visit history, assistance given and notes, locked down so only the right staff can see them.
- The problemFunding reports take a weekDEX, council acquittals and annual reports mean counting sign-in sheets and booking lists by hand.How we fix itEvery booking, session and visit is counted as it happens, with reports ready to export when the funder asks.
02What we build
Solutions
What we build for neighbourhood centres. Usually all talking to each other.
Pick the one that's hurting most or join the whole lot up. Everything is built around how your team works, not the other way round.
Online hire bookings
Hirers request or book a room, choose times and setup, then get confirmation without a single phone call.
Hire agreements & insurance
Agreements signed online, conditions per room, insurance certificates uploaded and expiry reminders.
Recurring hire
Weekly and fortnightly groups booked for the year, with public holidays and closures skipped automatically.
Rates, bonds & payments
Hirer types with their own rates, bonds held and refunded and fees paid online through Stripe or Square.
Program pages & bookings
Classes, groups and workshops with dates, costs, places left, waitlists and online bookings.
Session sign-in
Tablet or QR sign-in for programs and visitors, so attendance counts itself.
Volunteer roster
Shifts picked up and swapped on phones, reminders by SMS and gaps flagged to the coordinator.
Volunteer records & checks
Police checks, WWCC, inductions and training with expiry dates and automatic reminders.
Front desk & enquiries
Visitor sign-in, an enquiry log and referrals passed between staff without sticky notes.
Client support records
Private records for emergency relief and casework, with visit history and tight access controls.
Funding & activity reports
Attendance, bookings, visits and hours counted as you go and exported for funders and the AGM.
Newsletters & what's on
A what's on calendar for your website and a monthly email to members built from your program list.
Memberships & donations
Member sign-ups and renewals, online donations and receipts sent automatically.
A website that welcomes people
Hand-built, quick on mobile, easy to read and built to rank for 'community centre near me' and your suburb.
03The systems
The big ones
Your whole centre, on one system.
These are the systems neighbourhood centres ask us about most. Each one works on its own and they get properly useful once they're joined up.
Room hire
Rooms booked online. No more diary clashes.
Every room in the centre on one live calendar that hirers can check from home. They book, sign the agreement, upload insurance and pay in one go. Regular groups get booked for the whole year at once.
- Live availability for every room
- Booking requests or instant bookings
- Clash checks across shared spaces
- Recurring bookings for regular groups
- Public holidays and closures skipped
- Rates by hirer type
- Bonds held and refunded
- Hire agreements signed online
- Insurance certificates with expiry alerts
- Invoices synced to Xero or MYOB
Programs & bookings
Classes and groups that people can actually find.
Every program gets its own page with dates, costs and places left. People book online or at reception and get reminders before each session. Sign-in on a tablet means attendance counts itself for your reports.
- A page for every program
- Online bookings and phone bookings
- Capacity limits and waitlists
- Free, paid and concession pricing
- Term-long or single-session bookings
- SMS and email reminders
- Tablet or QR session sign-in
- Facilitator logins
- What's on calendar for your website
- Attendance per program and term
Volunteer management
Volunteers who pick up their own shifts.
Volunteers see the roster on their phone, claim open shifts and swap with each other. The coordinator sees gaps early instead of on the morning. Checks and inductions are tracked with reminders before anything expires.
- Online volunteer sign-up
- Shifts claimed and swapped on phones
- SMS reminders the day before
- Gaps flagged to the coordinator
- Police checks and WWCC tracking
- Inductions and training records
- Expiry reminders well ahead
- Hours logged for reports
- Availability and preferred roles
- Thank you messages and milestones
Front desk & client support
Every visit, call and referral followed up.
A tablet sign-in at reception, a shared enquiry log and private client records for emergency relief and support. Staff on different days finally see the same picture. Access is locked down so sensitive notes stay with the right people.
- Tablet visitor sign-in
- Shared enquiry and call log
- Referrals passed between staff
- Client records with visit history
- Emergency relief and vouchers logged
- Private notes with access controls
- Consent recorded at intake
- Follow-up reminders
- Service directory for referrals
- Activity counted for reporting
Funding reports
Funding reports that count themselves.
Every booking, session, visit and volunteer hour is recorded as it happens. When the funder, council or committee asks for numbers you pick a date range and export. No more week spent counting sign-in sheets.
- Attendance by program and term
- Visits and assistance totals
- Volunteer hours logged
- Room usage and hire income
- Demographics recorded with consent
- Exports ready for DEX reporting
- Council acquittal summaries
- Committee and AGM reports
- Date ranges in a couple of clicks
- Spreadsheet and PDF exports
04How it changes
Before and after
A busy week of hirers, wolloped.
Here's how a new hall booking could change. Every centre is different, so we map yours first.
Before
- Phone rings about the hall for a Saturday party
- Flip through the paper diary and hope it's right
- Print the hire agreement and post or email it
- Chase the signed copy and the insurance certificate
- Wait for a bank transfer with no reference
- Find out on the day the kitchen was double booked
After
- Hirer checks the hall calendar on your website
- Picks a time and the clash check does its job
- Signs the hire agreement online
- Pays the fee and bond by card
- Confirmation and reminders go out on their own
- Invoice lands in Xero and the bond refund is queued
05Services
Everything under one roof
Software, websites and systems for neighbourhood centres.
Whether you're starting fresh or upgrading what you've got, it's one team from the first sketch to the support call.
Custom software for neighbourhood centres
Built around how your neighbourhood centre actually runs: room calendar & availability, online hire bookings and the admin in between, in one system you own.
Websites for neighbourhood centres
Fast, hand-built websites that rank for the searches your customers make and turn visits into enquiries, bookings or orders.
Neighbourhood centre system upgrades
Running on spreadsheets, old software or a platform you've outgrown? We move your data across and upgrade in stages so the business never stops.
Apps and portals for neighbourhood centres
Hire agreements & insurance and recurring hire: customer and staff portals that work on any phone without an app store.
Integrations and automation
We connect Google Workspace, Microsoft 365 and Xero so information moves on its own and nobody retypes it.
Hosting, support and care
Managed hosting, updates, backups and security for your neighbourhood centre, looked after by the people who built it.
06Integrations
Connections
Plays nicely with what you already use.
We connect to the tools your centre already relies on, work alongside platforms you're happy with or replace the ones holding you back.
- Google Workspace
- Microsoft 365
- Xero
- MYOB
- Stripe
- Square
- Mailchimp
- Eventbrite
- Humanitix
- Google Maps
- Twilio SMS
- Zoom
- Google Business Profile
- Better Impact
- DSS Data Exchange (DEX)
- Canva
07How we work
The process
Some people dip their toe in. We turn up in a rebreather.
We get properly below the surface of your neighbourhood centre: the systems, the busy days and the jobs everyone hates. Then we fix the bits that matter most first.
- 01
Think
We spend time at reception, sit in on a busy morning and talk to staff and volunteers to find what's actually eating your hours.
- 02
Archi-tech
We plan it before writing code: your rooms, hirers, programs, volunteers, client privacy, reporting, hosting and cost.
- 03
Build
Real engineering, shown to you early and often. Usually the most painful bit first, like room hire, so you get a win before next term.
- 04
Look after
We host it, maintain it and keep improving it. When something breaks you call the people who built it.
08Questions
FAQ
Things neighbourhood centres ask us.
Something else on your mind? Ring 0423 011 252 and ask the people who'd build it.
Can community groups get discounted rates?
Yes. Rates can vary by hirer type, so community groups, not-for-profits, businesses and private hirers each get the right price. Bonds and concessions can follow the same rules.
Can regular hirers book for the whole year?
Yes. Weekly and fortnightly groups can be booked once for the year. Public holidays and centre closures are skipped automatically and changes for one week don't touch the rest.
Can it help with our funding reports?
Yes. Bookings, program attendance, visits and volunteer hours are recorded as they happen. Reports and exports for DEX, council and your committee are ready when you need them.
Is client information kept private?
Yes. Sensitive records like emergency relief and casework notes sit behind access controls so only the right staff can see them. Consent is recorded and everything is hosted securely in Australia.
Will our older volunteers be able to use it?
That's how we design it. Big buttons, plain words and shifts that can be picked up from a text message. Anyone who'd rather ring the office can still do that.
We already use a volunteer platform. Do we have to switch?
No. If Better Impact or another tool is doing its job, we build around it and connect what we can. If something's holding you back, we'll show you what replacing it would involve before anything changes.
How much does a neighbourhood centre system cost?
It depends on what you need, so we quote up front once we understand it. No surprise invoices, no lock-in and you own what we build. We can stage it to suit grant rounds and budgets.
How long does it take?
Smaller jobs like a room calendar or program bookings can be quick. Bigger systems are planned in stages so you get the first win early instead of waiting for everything at once.
Who looks after it once it's built?
We do. We host it on our own managed servers and keep it updated and secure. When you need something you ring the people who built it.
We already have systems. Can you upgrade them instead of starting again?
Usually, yes. Most neighbourhood centres we work with keep what's working and upgrade the rest in stages. We move your data across, connect the old and new while we switch and retire the old system only when the new one is proven.
Contact
Got a neighbourhood centre problem? Consider it wolloped.
Tell us what's slow, broken, manual or missing. You don't need a spec, just describe what's going on.