A community pub has just completed a £50,000 project to recycle its old Westmorland Green Slate roof and install new solar panels and batteries.
From the earliest days of planning to buy the Mardale Inn in 2021, the Bampton Valley Community Pub team knew that one day they would have to renew the roof.
They also had ambitions to improve the pub’s carbon footprint through the use of renewable energy sources.
Earlier this year, with no money forthcoming from multiple national grant applications and the roof becoming more of a risk to the community business, the management committee decided they had to kick off a project.
The pub’s first install of solar panels in spring, funded as a COP26 initiative, reduced its energy costs and compelled the team to think about using more solar panels on the rear of the roof. It would both reduce the need for new slate and would increase the power generated.
At the annual members meeting in July, it was decided to start fundraising and within 45 days nearly £25,000 had been raised from members and other donors.
Hyperfast GB, delivered by Fibrus, is working to connect communities across Cumbria through Project Gigabit, the Government’s initiative to deliver full fibre broadband to areas that would otherwise miss out.
Recognising the importance of supporting community-led projects, it contributed £5,000 in August through the Hyperfast Cumbria Connections Fund to help the Mardale Inn team complete their roof and solar improvements.
In early September, Westmorland and Furness Council and Cumbria Social Enterprise Partnership, decided to contribute nearly £20,000 from the Government’s Rural England Prosperity Fund.
Finally, local contractors on the scheme, Nathan Gill Roofing from Kendal, RJ Solar from Kirby Lonsdale and Westmorland Scaffolding from Kirby Stephen, also agreed to financially support the project.
The work began in October and last week, a small end of project celebration was held at The Mardale Inn to unveil a commemorative plaque.
Phil Sweetland, chair of Bampton Valley Community Pub, said: “This has been an amazing project pulled together in a very short space of time to assure the long term future of our community pub.
“We are extremely grateful to all of our private, corporate and personal donors, who rapidly came together to reduce our operating costs and carbon footprint through the use of solar and battery technology, and to make our roof secure”.
Jonathan Brook, leader of Westmorland and Furness Council, said: “By providing a wraparound package of support — with both financial support towards the solar roof project and business advice through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund — we have been able to help the Mardale Inn become more viable by reducing the running costs – so it can continue to be a vital hub at the heart of its rural community.
“The solar panels also cut its carbon footprint, helping in our ambition for a greener future at the same time.”
Ross Jackson, of Hyperfast GB’s Stakeholder Engagement Team, said: “We’re proud to support a project that strengthens an important community hub and helps future-proof it for years to come.
“The Mardale Inn is a great example of what local people can achieve when they work together, and we’re delighted that the Hyperfast Cumbria Connections Fund could play a part in helping the team boost sustainability and reduce running costs.”
