Gilsland Village Hall
Refurbishment Project
• Built in 1893 as a reading room for the village
• Large function room upstairs and smaller hall,
kitchen and toilets downstairs
• Used as a venue for some village events but
not used to its full potential
• Very cold
• Very expensive to heat
• Not very welcoming
• Often people would sit through an event
without taking their hats and coats off!!
Wall mounted electric heaters
Very well used electricity coin meter!
Upstairs Hall before its refurbishment
Old style wall heaters
No insulation in the roof
• Loss of Village Post Office – outreach service
in village hall 3 times a week
• Loss of Village Shop
• Village Hall became more important for
facilities, services and social inclusion
• Some improvements had taken place,
including double glazing, improvements to
kitchen
• Becoming obvious that some major
refurbishment was needed
• Change of committee
• New committee realised importance of
developing the hall and making it more
welcoming
• Poor thermal efficiency and inadequate
heating arrangements
Working with Community Action
Northumberland
• Village Hall Health Check
• Village Hall Energy Audit
– Identified poor insulation (none)
– Identified increased cost of electricity – more than
doubled between 2008 and 2009 and likely to get
worse
Working with Northumberland
National Park Authority
• Needed to look at the feasibility of a
programme of improvements
• Funding from NNPA enabled us to commission
a renewable energy options appraisal
• Appointed architect and structural engineer
Proposed Energy Efficiency Measures
• Recommended by project architect:• Sheep’s wool insulation in the roof void
• Window reveals in large upstairs hall and smaller
downstairs hall to be lined internally with high
performance insulated plasterboard
• External walls of both halls to be lined internally
with high performance insulated plasterboard
• Sloping portion of roof to be insulated with rigid
foam and high performance insulated
plasterboard
• New entrance lobby to be formed
• Would involve other building work – electrical,
re-plastering, internal decoration, new heating
distribution system
• Calculated heat loss reduction of 70%
Options for Renewable Energies
• Solar photo voltaics – 3kw system over the
rear load bearing wall should generate around
2,344 kWh per annum with a cost benefit of
around £1,200 through Feed In Tariff
• Clean Energy Cash Back would be a significant
new income stream for the hall
• Air Source Heat Pump and Distribution System
- remove electric wall heaters (using 37Kw)
replace with single heat pump using 5.2Kw
and modern distribution system
How an Air Source Heat Pump works
• Air source heat pumps absorb heat from the outside air, in
the same way that a fridge extracts heat from its inside.
• It can get heat from the air even when the temperature is
as low as -15° C.
• Heat pumps have some impact on the environment as they
need electricity to run, but the heat they extract from the
air is constantly being renewed naturally.
• Heat from the air is absorbed at low temperature into a
fluid. This fluid then passes through a compressor where its
temperature is increased, and transfers its higher
temperature heat to the heating circuits of the hall.
FUNDING !!!
• Business Plan
– Background
– SWOT analysis
– Project Proposal
– Environmental Benefits
– Social and Economic Benefits
– Funding Strategy
– Cash Flow
– Support from the Community
• Two Phase approach – Thermal measures,
building costs etc. total £39,000
• Renewable Energies – Solar PV panels, Air
Source Heat Pump, Distribution System
total £31,000
• Project Management by Natural Regeneration
Consultancy included
• Enabled us to target different funders for
different parts of the project
• Phase One – Northumberland Uplands
LEADER Programme – funding thermal
measures - £18,500
• Phase two – Community Sustainable Energy
Programme (CSEP) – renewable energies £12,500
• Total cost of £69,000 at this stage
• Identified additional major structural work
required to roof costing £14,000
• Total funding required – approx. £83,000
• Made applications to 27 organisations
• Many different application processes
• Business plan, presentations, second
applications, additional information, visits
• Supported by 18 organisations to obtain
funding for the complete project
• Supported with money and help in kind
• Local fundraising / help in kind
The work begins!
The roof comes down
with 120 years of dirt!
New Structural Work
Kingspan to create the walls
Sheep's Wool Insulation
All electrics to be moved
Worked around the Post Office
Post Office carried on as normal
Walls take shape
Helpers from Carillion
Our new main hall
Helpers from the village
Non-slip
staircase
Team from Carillion came to tea
Solar PV Panels were installed
Air source heat pump was installed
A new sign!
Other improvements too
Official opening by
the Duchess of
Northumberland
Benefits for Gilsland
•
•
•
•
Warm, friendly venue for any village event
Economically viable
Lowered our carbon footprint
More groups using the hall, therefore more
services and activities available locally
• More income for the hall without increasing
charges
• Secured the venue as the hub of the village for
the future
Increased use of hall
• Previous groups – craft, WI, Whist Drive, Dominoes,
occasional sport activities, PO, Gardening Club
• New groups – Youth Club, church, village coffee mornings,
Rusty painters, Foot Clinic, Clog Dancers, Beauty and Nail
session, Jewellery Valuer, Girl Guide weekend, outside
organisations for meetings and training (LEADER, Wildlife
Trust, WNBC), Fibre and Spinning Group, Birthday parties, Tea
Dances, Gilsland Station, Gilsland Show, Exhibitions and
Events, Summer Teas, Craft Fairs and more enquires
• A real centre for activities in the village and surrounding area
No More Hats and Coats!!