Kettering community centre given new lease of life

20 October 2024

New solar panels have now been installed on the roof of Ise Lodge Community Centre - thanks to a partnership between Hanwood Park, The Schools' Energy Co-Operative, Energy4All and local councillors.

The installation - designed to reduce the soaring energy bills and give this much-loved community centre a new life – is expected to save the centre around £2,000 in its first year.

Chris Langdon, Project Director, Hanwood Park, said: “The high energy prices had been threatening the future of this community centre, something we all wanted to protect.”

“We were approached by local councillors last year and asked if we could help the community centre, which had been struggling to recover from the pandemic as well as with the cost-of-living crisis. Since then, we have been working with Energy4All to develop and fund a solar programme and are now looking to undertake further work with the council and other stakeholders to save energy, reduce costs and generate new revenues.”

This project was initially the brainchild of Cllr Lloyd Bunday, leader of Kettering Town Council and Executive Member for Finance and Transformation at North Northamptonshire Council.

Cllr Bunday explained: “As we all know the two things hitting the centre particularly hard have been inflation and energy prices. This building has only electricity as its main energy source, so the energy costs were crippling, and the centre was in real danger of closing.

“We put our heads together to protect this centre, which is at the heart of our community, and I am delighted with the outcome. There is more to do and we have other plans, so watch this space.”

This project, in addition to the funding from Hanwood Park, has been part financed through The Schools’ Energy Co-operative, which is supported and managed by Energy4All.

Jessica Dunning, Community Solar Project Manager at Energy4All, explained: “As the movement towards an energy transition grows, we have been receiving an increasing number of enquiries from community buildings.

“Without energy co-ops such as The Schools’ Energy Co-operative, a lot of community buildings would be left behind, so we have been thrilled to provide solar to such an important community building. We believe everyone can play a part in creating change and we are here to support people and organisations such as Ise Lodge who may have struggled to do it all on their own.”

Local charity Groundwork Northamptonshire – whose community green space The Green Patch is on the edge of Hanwood Park – have supported the project and will soon be helping to curate a welcoming green space at the front of the centre.

Kate Williams, the charity’s said: “Ise Lodge Community Centre plays a key role in the local community, and we want to work together to protect and enrich the space. The garden is looking a little tired, so we are looking forward to injecting some new life into it.”

With 48 solar panels now installed, the partnership team are now working on a host of other green initiatives including scoping out opportunities for an outdoor bar and charging points for electric vehicles.