Ingram Village Hall Refurbishment 

British Gas "Green Streets" Project 

     The Ingram Village Hall and Community bid was chosen as the winner for the North East in the British Gas Green Streets project following a presentation by the village hall committee at Gosforth Park Hotel as part of the selection process on 27 October 09!

 We shall be working with a project manager from British Gas, Jack Welch. Some funding will go towards the Village Hall refurbishment, particularly towards the installation of photovoltaic cells on the roof.

       However, a larger amount will be available to support renewable energy improvements for 20 buildings in our community. Some of the community have already expressed an interest in taking part in the project but the village hall committee want to ensure that every household is aware of the opportunity – and its implications.

       This is what the process will entail:-

• Each of the 20 households will be assessed as to their current energy efficiency and potential for improvement by a British Gas representative     
• Recommendations will be made and decisions reached about what will be done in agreement with each householder     
• Each householder will be expected to sign up to British Gas as their energy supplier for the duration of the project. This is because all improvements will be monitored and data fed back on how much energy is saved in the following year     
• The cost of the improvements negotiated with you will be funded by British Gas     
• The UK project that saves the most energy in the following year will then receive an additional £100,000!    

Journal article

British Gas Green Streets information

 FOR MORE INFORMATION AND UPDATES - WATCH THIS SPACE!

July 2010

We now have an operational "Green" village hall. While the final touches are added to the internal refurbishment (see more pictures here), the PV cells are now generating electricity both for the hall and for feeding into the National Grid. The Air to water heating system is also in place, we look forward to really testing it out in the cooler months. (Although I think we would prefer not to test it on a winter like this year's!).  We are very proud of the efforts of our steering group who have pushed through this amazing result in a relatively short time.

The next phase is to look at energy generation and saving in the domestic properties that are part of the project. Look out for more updates in the future.

May 2010

The Photovoltaic cells are now in place (all 33 of them) and will be operational very soon. The hall was sufficiently complete to allow it to be used as a polling station!

The Green Streets project now has a web site and blogs. You can read updates from our own project and other Green Streets communities here:- Green Streets Project. If you'd like to sign up as a member of the project, you can do so through this link. You can then set up your own blog and let others know your thoughts and "green" activities. There are more pictures on both the Green Streets web site and our own web pages (see link below).  

March 2010

Most households have now had their Energy assessments carried out by Dean Laverick from British Gas. The assessments will be passed to the project co-ordinators who will review them and agree which of the recommended actions can be funded by the project.

The Green Streets project has received a video camera tfrom British Gas to record project activities and life in the community. It is hoped that lots of people will "have a go" at recording events and project milestones.

Meanwhile, work on the Village Hall has progressed to the point where the old roof has been stripped off and the insulation layer installed. The installation of the PV panels will follow in only a few weeks - weather permitting! You can see pictures of work in progress here -  Village Hall Refurbishment Pictures.

January 2010

Read British Gas's press release here.

Following our successful bid for British Gas Green Streets the work starts in earnest. The 22 households that have asked to be included in the project should have already sent the requested information to Kate Whitehead. Over the next few weeks appointments will be made with British Gas energy assessors to agree what energy improvements are most suitable for each household. Work has already begun on all the village hall improvements, including preparatory work for the photovoltaic cells on the roof (see Village Hall Refurbishment Pictures).

As part of the Green Streets project we have developed an engagement plan that describes how the community will be involved in, and benefit from the programme:

·           To stimulate interest in the concepts and principles of energy saving not just for immediate personal gain but for longer term impact on attitudes and behaviours

·           To engage all residents irrespective of whether they are active participants in the Green Streets project by offering opportunities to find out more information about the benefits of energy saving and possible supportive funding routes

·           To offer the chance of trialling various affordable home energy monitoring/saving devices on a loan/buy scheme to enable low income families in particular to access & benefit from the information gained

·           To focus particularly on younger age group activities as we firmly believe that the longer term impact of the Green Streets project is as much about the impact on awareness raising with future generations and changing attitudes as it is with the residents currently within the locality

·           To take up all possible opportunities to share our experiences and commitment with other rural communities through as wide a variety of routes as possible by utilising links through local activities and information streams

·           To ensure that the location of the Village Hall, adjacent to a National Park Visitors Centre, optimises all opportunities to convey and promote information about renewable energy systems and principles to a wider audience – up to ¼ million people per annum visit the National Park

·          To utilise all the partnership working opportunities that exist to jointly fund and promote a variety of community engagement activities over the period of time of the project and beyond so that what actually happens within the community is perceived as a starting point for a sustainable future rather than a finite engagement