North Warwickshire’s Maxstoke Village Hall is set to become more energy efficient and sustainable thanks to funding from Warwickshire County Council’s Green Shoots Community Climate Change Fund...
The £1m Green Shoots Community Climate Change Fund is allocated by Warwickshire County Council and supports a wide range of small, community-powered initiatives across Warwickshire in addressing the climate change emergency.
Maxstoke Village Hall, near Coleshill in North Warwickshire, has been awarded £3,435 in funding to pay for a range of infrastructure improvements, including the replacement of all old fittings and the installation of energy-efficient and environmentally-friendly hot water, lighting and space heating systems.
The village hall is the only social space in Maxstoke, sitting at the heart of a rural and highly dispersed community. It is a place used to celebrate the annual farmers harvest, share family celebrations and to welcome the local
Women’s Institute for their popular meetings. The building itself is well over 100 years old and currently tends to be under used in the colder winter months, partly because it is draughty and very expensive to heat.
The project will use a number of simple and relatively inexpensive technologies to reduce the amount of heat that is lost by the building. These measures include draft proofing around doors, windows and the floor to wall junctions, the installation of thermal window blinds to reduce heat loss, replacing the hall’s large hot water immersion system with point-of-use water heaters, replacing old wall heaters with energy-efficient controllable heaters, installing low wattage LED lighting and replacing various kitchen appliances with A rated alternatives.
To maximise the community benefits of the improvements, the Maxstoke Village Hall committee will be organising a series of community cafes where residents can take inspiration from the changes that have been made to consider installing similar energy efficient solutions in their own homes and businesses.
Cllr Heather Timms, Portfolio Holder for Environment, Climate and Culture, said: “The improvements that Maxstoke Village Hall have been able to make with a modest amount of Green Shoots funding is an important demonstration to us all that making our homes and businesses more energy efficient does not have to cost the earth (and may contribute to saving it).
“It’s great to see that the Committee are keen to go beyond improving the sustainability of the village hall by using those improvements to inspire other members of the local community to make their own changes to reduce their own carbon footprints. This is community-powered Warwickshire at its finest and important as we strive, together, for a county that is sustainable now and for future generations.”
Julie Murphy, Treasurer & Trustee from the Maxstoke Village Hall Committee, said “We are really pleased with the financial help Green Shoots has afforded us.
“The new LED lighting system is amazing. We have completed the draft proofing which will make this 120 year old wooden building a bit more cosy in the coming winter months. Installation of the new hot water system is under way with just the Toilets to complete. I’m sure it will make a positive effect on our future energy consumption and encourage more use during the winter.”
More information about Maxstoke Village Hall can be found online: https://www.facebook.com/maxstokevillagehall/?locale=en_GB
A full list of projects that will receive Green Shoots Community Climate Change funding can be found here: https://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/regeneration-projects/green-shoots-community-climate-change-fund-2022/5
For more information about the Fund, visit: www.warwickshire.gov.uk/greenshootsfund
For more information about how Warwickshire is facing the challenges of the climate change emergency, visit: https://www.warwickshireclimateemergency.org.uk/
Get the latest news about how Warwickshire County Council and partners are facing the challenge of the climate emergency and how you can get involved: http://eepurl.com/hrk-zf