Sutton Centre receives £9,601.32 for solar panels and battery storage for the centre to become a crisis hub to provide resilience and support to its residents of Bradford, West Yorkshire during times of power interruptions.

Sutton Centre receives £9,601.32 for solar panels and battery storage to enable the centre to be able to provide resilience and support to its residents of Bradford, West Yorkshire during times of power interruptions.

The Sutton Centre works to three aims improve health, increase wealth and build community. It was evident to the Foundation that the community is at the heart of this charity. The centre is based on the edge of the Holmewood estate and is open seven days per week providing a wide range of activities for all ages, including services to improve mental health, welfare advice, fitness sessions and domestic abuse support. 

The support from Northern Powergrid Foundation has enabled the centre to remain open to deliver these vital services to its local community during times of power interruptions. The centre will be working with the local resilience forum to communicate to the community that no disruption to services will occur during power interruptions. By opting for low carbon technologies, the centre will benefit with lower energy bills and thus enabling the centre to further give back to its community in the form of offering LED lights and being able to support more referrals from social services and food groups, as well as being a example of a future focused building.

Sam Kirkby, Centre Manager said "Thanks to the grant funding from Northern Powergrid Foundation the Sutton Centre is able to continue to serve our community during times of power interruptions as well as being able to do more with the energy savings made. We want the services at our centre to be accessible to all of our community so this funding is greatly helping us achieve that.”

The challenges for Sutton Centre, West Yorkshire, residents

Due to the requirement to keeping energy costs low and continuing to provide services during power interruptions  the centre identified a need to increase their resilience. 

The solution for Sutton Centre, West Yorkshire, residents

The centre identified that solar panels and batteries were the best solution to allow there to be no disruptions to the centre and the services offered within and to be a vital hub to vulnerable customers during times of need. 

Support from the Northern Powergrid Foundation

The Northern Powergrid Foundation supported the community project with a £9,601.32 donation to go towards solar panels and energy storage 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.

Interested parties should visit our 'who and what we fund' page to understand what support may be given to other community projects.