Sherburn Community Centre receives £20,000 to support its residents of Sherburn, Durham, with solar panels and batteries.
The addition of solar panels and battery storage, funded by the Northern Powergrid Foundation, to the centre means that the centre can keep their heating on for longer periods of time and more often with lower costs and supporting the community. The centre in Durham is able to provide a warm space with the help of Believe Housing and Durham County Council which will reduce residents cost of living as well as rebuilding communities and providing protection during power interruptions.
The village and civil parish of Sherburn, County Durham, a former coal mining village, where Sherburn Village Community Centre is located received financial support from Northern Powergrid Foundation to improve the community’s energy resilience with £20,000 for solar panels and energy battery storage. 
The lively Sherburn Village Community Centre is very much community orientated and predominantly ran by a team of supportive and hard working volunteers who live in the community. The centre provides its predominantly elderly and vulnerable community with a welcoming place to feel safe, secure and warm. Support from Northern Powergrid Foundation has enabled the centre to remain open to deliver vital services to the local community during times of power interruptions and will keep the centres costs low and therefore giving back to the community.
Jimmy Leadbitter, Vice Chair of Sherburn Parish Council and Chairman of Sherburn Village Community Centre said "Our centre wouldn’t be open today if it wasn’t for the support from the Northern Powergrid Foundation and to that, on the centre’s behalf, I am truly thankful for. Recently the village was impacted by a power cut, and thankfully due to the centre’s batteries and solar panels we remained open and able to serve our community like it was any other day. Not only is the centre resilient to power interruptions, it is also now energy efficient. Our large centre costs a lot of money to heat, thanks to the project focussing on renewable energy sources the centre now benefits on the daily and to some extent we can go months without receiving an energy bill which is vital in todays economy and can help the centre give back to the community even further.”
The challenges for Sherburn Community Centre, Durham, residents
Due to the possibility of power interruptions at Sherburn and the impact they would have on the essential services offered to the local vulnerable community the trustees identified a need to increase their resilience and efficiency.
The solution for Sherburn Community Centre, Durham, residents
The trustees of Sherburn Community Centre identified a need for solar panels and batteries to allow the centre to continue to deliver its essential services during times of power interruptions as well as benefitting from reduced bills.
Support from the Northern Powergrid Foundation
The Northern Powergrid Foundation supported the community project with a £20,000 donation to go towards solar panels and batteries.
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.