Cambo Village Hall receives £19,034.04 for it to become a crisis hub to support its residents of Cambo, Northumberland.
Cambo, a village in the parish of Wallington Demesne, Northumberland. Cambo Village Hall received £19,034.04 from The Northern Powergrid Foundation in support of solar panels and energy storage batteries to become a crisis hub for the residents of Birtley, Northumberland.
The installation of solar panels and the battery means that Cambo Village Hall is now able to offer help to the community in times of emergency or disaster, such as power interruptions. The village hall can remain open keeping local residents warm, a place hot food and drink and to charge emergency essentials such as torch batteries and phones for communication.
When the winter storm Arwen heavily hit Northumberland and County Durham the village hall in Cambo suffered to support the local community due to the reliance on electricity. The area lost power for days, many households lost water, regular communication was impossible and even roads we blocked.
The village hall committee was determined that any future disaster they identified a need to be a better position to help our community. The community of Cambo are now energy resilient to power cuts and are feeling less vulnerable than before and more connecting to each other thanks to the support from the Foundation. Not only is the village hall able to protect the community during times of power interruptions and will also save funds on utility bills by providing electricity to the grid.
Beck Orton, Cambo Village Hall Committee Secretary said "Thanks to the grant funding from Northern Powergrid Foundation our hall can continue to be a hub of activity even during times of power interruptions. Due to the rural an isolated location of Cambo we are prone to power cuts, by having a central place for our community to congregate we can collectively stay warm and connected during these times. Our funded project results in reduced energy bills, with being a hall that runs to a tight and limited budget every saving opportunity is worthwhile pursuing and with the help of the Foundation we saved from the initial outlay for the kit and then benefit on a daily basis with the technology.”
The challenges for Cambo, Northumberland, residents
Due to the possibility of power interruptions at Cambo the trustees of the Cambo Village Hall identified a need to increase their resilience.
The solution for Cambo, Northumberland, residents
The trustees of the Cambo Village Hall identified that a solar panels and battery was their best solution to allow the village hall to remain open for the local community to safely reside during times of power interruptions.
Support from the Northern Powergrid Foundation
The Northern Powergrid Foundation supported the community project with a £19,034.04 donation to go towards solar panel and battery.
More about the Northern Powergrid Foundation
The Northern Powergrid Foundation’s mission, complementing Northern Powergrid’s ambition to be a force for good in the communities it serves, is to support communities most affected by changes in the economy, environment, and society because of the shifting energy landscape. This will be achieved by supporting projects focused on helping to tackle energy resilience during emergency events, vulnerability, fuel poverty, levelling the rural divide, innovation, social support, and community collaboration. Funds are available to support the communities across the North East, Yorkshire and northern Lincolnshire served by Northern Powergrid.
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