Capheaton Parish Council funded with £2,686 by Northern Powergrid Foundation for a generator to support the residents of Capheaton, Northumberland.
Capheaton Parish Council has implemented their local resilience plan after their residents in the rural community had power interruptions as a result of 2021 storm Arwen. The aim of Capheaton's resilience plan is to provide the community with warm and safe sanctuary in the event of losing power for extended periods. Funded by the Northern Powergrid Foundation the Capheaton Village Hall Committee were able to purchase a generator and adapt their electricity connection to allow, in times of power emergencies, quick switch overs of power supply.
Willy Browne-Swinburne, Chairman of Capheaton Parish Council said "The loss of power during Storm Arwen and the difficulties faced by the community, many of whom had no electricity for more than a week, was hard. We are very grateful to the Northern Powergrid Foundation for their financial support and encouragement. Hopefully we will not suffer this again but should it happen, the Village Hall will be able to provide a warm place to get a cup of tea, meet some friendly faces and even recharge a mobile phone to connect to loved ones."
In the picture L-R: Willy Brown-Swinburne, Chairman of Capheaton Parish Council with Chris Mitchell, Northern Powergrid’s Regional Customer Service Manager and David Patterson, Chairman of the Village Hall Committee – pictured outside of the Village Hall in Capheaton.
Media coverage:
Generators help Northumberland parishes become storm resilient - BBC News
The challenges for Capheaton, Northumberland, residents
Due to the remote rural location and the possibility of power interruptions at Capheaton the parish council of the Capheaton Village Hall identified a need to increase their resilience.
The solution for Capheaton, Northumberland, residents
The parish council of the Capheaton Village Hall identified that a generator was their best solution to allow the village hall to remain open for the local community to safely reside during times of power interruptions, hardship and infrastructure breakdown.
Support from the Northern Powergrid Foundation
The Northern Powergrid Foundation supported the community project with a £2,686 donation to go towards a generator.
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.
Interested parties should visit our 'who and what we fund' page to understand what support may be given to other community projects.