National Lottery Community Fund approves £75,000 grant for Copythorne Parish Hall

A VILLAGE hall will receive a £75,000 boost from the National Lottery Community Fund to support a green initiative.

After discovering a leak in the building’s roof, the trustees of Copythorne Parish Hall were advised it would also be a good time to insulate the roof properly.

Chair of trustees Martin Lander told the A&T: “It all started with a drip, our roof was leaking.

“We were advised that replacing the roof was a good time to think about improving insulation. Then we started thinking, ‘well if we are going to have a new insulated roof, perhaps we should cover it in solar panels’ and all of a sudden one drip had turned into a £100,000 project.”

The trustees applied to the National Lottery Community Fund for the cash they would need to complete the project almost exactly a year ago. Mr Lander said now the funding application has been accepted, the new insulation will reduce the hall’s “largest single expense…its energy bill”.

The new solar panels will provide all the power the building needs for eight months of the year, with the surplus being sold back to the National Grid.

Mr Lander added: “The National Lottery Community Fund have been helpful and supportive throughout this process and we are looking forward to getting this project finished so the people of Copythorne can enjoy all the benefits of a community centre which so much more sustainable in both environmental and financial terms.”