Sherburn Village Community Centre has received funding to help provide energy resilience in times of need and energy efficiency on everyday occurrences.   

The Northern Powergrid Foundation, the charitable arm of Northern Powergrid, the company responsible for the electricity distribution network that powers the lives of 8 million people in the North East, Yorkshire and northern Lincolnshire, is passionate about being able to support innovative organisations and community projects addressing energy-related challenges including fuel poverty, energy resilience and the net zero transition.   

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.” 

Over the course of its first year, the Northern Powergrid Foundation has supported 60 organisations and community projects working to overcome these energy-related challenges – helping communities take action. These include a wide range of initiatives, from funding programmes producing free energy efficiency measures to fuel poor households, to installing solar panels and battery storage at community hubs to improve resilience. With severe weather, the cost-of-living crisis increasing the number of households in fuel poverty, and the net zero transition transforming the energy system, communities are adapting to a changing energy landscape. The Foundation has worked with community innovators to empower local action, scaling up existing schemes to expand their impact, and providing financial support and energy expertise in the face of a changing climate. 

Joe Docherty, Chair of Northern Powergrid Foundation Trustees said: “It’s great to see the Foundation support projects such as Sherburn Village’s that have a lasting benefit to community resilience and efficiency in geographical areas that need our support the most. The Foundation is looking forward to supporting more community projects in the geographical areas served by Northern Powergrid in the coming months”.  

More about Northern Powergrid Foundation  

Northern Powergrid Foundation has awarded funds to communities across the North East, Yorkshire and northern Lincolnshire served by Northern Powergrid. The 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 and empowering communities focused on helping to tackle energy resilience during emergency events, vulnerability, fuel poverty, levelling the rural divide, innovation, social support, and community collaboration. The Foundation will work with community partners to identify the best ways to create a positive and enduring impact for communities located within Northern Powergrid’s region.  

The Foundation is proud to have funded 60 projects totalling over £860,000 across all the charity’s priorities located within Northern Powergrid’s regions. Over 40 of which are unique and exciting energy resilience projects for communities within Northumberland and County Durham (totalling £560,000) worst affected by the winter storms of 2021/22. These projects have largely been for the creation of, or the expansion of community hubs with energy resilience pieces of kit such as: generators, solar panels and heat pumps.  

How to apply for funding 

Following the success of grant support throughout 2023, Northern Powergrid Foundation will look to support further projects across its three funding priorities - community resilience, fuel poverty innovation, and net zero networks. Projects could include funding equipment that enables a community hub to become more energy resilient, scaling the impact of community innovators tackling fuel poverty, or funding the development of networks to support local action on net zero and the transition to clean energy systems. 

 The Foundation encourages organisations who are addressing these specific issues across the North East, Yorkshire and northern Lincolnshire to visit its website to learn more about eligibility and grants, with the next funding window opening on 2 April 2024. 

The Foundation will reopen to grant applications in April 2024. Community groups interested in finding out more about the Foundation and when to apply for funding up to £20,000 should visit www.northernpowergridfoundation.com. 

Sherburn Community Centre photo caption L-R: Jimmy Leadbitter, Vice Chair of Sherburn Parish Council and Chairman of Sherburn Village Community Centre and Anne Haswell, interim Northern Powergrid Foundation Manager inside of Sherburn Community Centre, Durham.