Rennington Village Hall Trust receives £19,573.87 to support residents of Rennington, Northumberland, with solar panels and battery storage.
Rennington Village Hall is located in Rennington, a village located four miles north of Alnwick with predominately elderly community. Its community resilience project has been supported by the Northern Powergrid Foundation. The community project for solar panels, invertor and batteries have enabled the hall to be used as a safe centre and warm hub in emergency situations, including in the event of a power interruption, for the rural community. The project will not only increase the hall's resilience but also improve the hall's energy efficiency and thus benefitting from reduced energy bills and further savings to be passed onto the community in terms of service offering.
The Chair of the Village Hall Committee said "We are most grateful to the Northern Powergrid Foundation for funding the Solar PV and Back-up Storage Battery installation in our Village Hall. Without that support such a project would have been beyond our reach. However, thanks to the Foundation residents in this small rural community now have the welcome security of safe centre access in emergency situations and the added benefit of a more energy efficient and cost effective building which we will shortly further enhance with replacement LED lighting and upgraded loft insulation.”
The challenges for Rennington, Northumberland, residents
Due to the possibility of future power interruptions in the rural community of Rennington the trustees of the village hall identified a need to increase their resilience to be able to better support their local vulnerable community at times of power interruptions by being a safe centre and warm hub.
The solution for Rennington, Northumberland, residents
The trustees identified a need for solar panels and batteries to allow the village hall to remain open for the local community of Rennington, Rock, Stamford and Broxfield to safely reside during times of power interruptions.
Support from the Northern Powergrid Foundation
The Northern Powergrid Foundation supported the community project with a £19,573.87 donation to go towards solar panels 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.