People living in Tideswell are excited to see work start on a new Community Hall, after fire destroyed the old wooden building in 2015. After much hard fundraising and planning work by the Tideswell and District Voluntary Youth Club Committee, construction work started in September 2020.
The new building will offer a versatile space, not only for use by groups who previously occupied the hall like the scouts and band, but by all sorts of other members of the community of all ages.
It has been designed to be versatile enough for groups from youth clubs to the elderly and professionals looking for meeting space to hire. And thanks to a grant from Tarmac’s Landfill Communities Fund*, the building will be heated by a system which offers environmental efficiencies now and into the future.
Tarmac, who operate the nearby Tunstead site, gave a donation of more than £24,000 which is covering the costs of an Air Source Heat Pump, Underfloor Heating installation and a hot water system.
Air source heat pumps (ASHPs) absorb heat from the outside air to heat buildings and provide hot water. They can still extract heat when air temperatures are as low as -15°C. Air source heat pumps need electricity to run, but because they are extracting renewable heat from the environment, the heat output is greater than the electricity input. This makes them an energy efficient method of providing heating. (Source: The Energy Saving Trust)
Kath Longden from the Youth Club Committee says: “We are really excited to be able to equip the building with a low carbon heating and hot water system which, together with a high insulation specification, will allow us to heat the building efficiently with a low carbon footprint. Including the air source heat pump technology at the earliest stage in the building’s construction is the most efficient way of incorporating it and we are delighted about being awarded the grant to enable this to happen.”
Chris Bradbury, Tarmac’s Tunstead Cement Plant manager adds: “It is great to hear that this village is finally to get a community hall after the tragic fire which destroyed its predecessor. As a company which is continually developing its own sustainability, Tarmac is really pleased to have been able to fund such a forward-thinking element of the building. We look forward to celebrating its opening and to hearing about the value the hall brings to a wide variety of different groups.”
*The Tarmac Landfill Communities Fund (or Landfill Tax Credit Scheme as it was formerly known) enables landfill operators like Tarmac, to donate part of their annual tax liability to enrolled Environmental Bodies for a variety of approved community and environmental projects. Landfill operators can reclaim 90% of their contribution as a tax credit which means the remaining 10% must be provided either by them or an independent third party. Through the fund Tarmac donates around £1 million each year to community projects throughout the UK. The fund is open to applicants who meet the strict criteria for projects delivering community benefit. For more information, please go to www.entrust.org.uk