Ecology Foundation Awards £10k For Sustainable Community Buildings

Church Eaton Village Institute is used extensively by a wide range of groups from the local community for meetings and events. The £5,000 grant award will contribute towards the refurbishment of the existing kitchen roof including installing insulation to improve the energy efficiency of the building and reduce heating costs.

Halton Mill is a not-for-profit low-carbon mixed use community resource which includes individual and co-working workspaces, artists’ and yoga studios as well as a social enterprise café. The £5,000 grant award will contribute towards the refurbishment of the existing lift shaft, which forms a crucial part of the project to install a lift and widen the accessibility of the Mill to more people with disabilities.

Justin O’Doherty, a Committee Member of Church Eaton Village Institute, explained how the grant would make a difference to the local community,

“We’re delighted that the trustees of the Ecology Building Society Charitable Foundation have decided to award a grant of £5000 to Church Eaton Village Institute. The award will enable us to refurbish and insulate the Institute’s kitchen roof to help create a warmer and more welcoming environment for our users from the local community.”

Fiona Frank is a resident of Lancaster Cohousing and Director and Operations Manager of Green Elephant Cooperative (which runs Halton Mill on a not-for-profit basis). She told us,

“We’re really pleased to receive the grant award from the Ecology Building Society Charitable Foundation. The renovation of the lift shaft will be a key milestone in our continued eco-renovation of Halton Mill and enable a wider range of people to benefit from using, working and training in this low-carbon sustainable community resource.”

Alison Vipond, Chair of the Ecology Building Society Charitable Foundation explained the Trustee’s thinking in making these grants,

“We received more applications than ever before and it was no easy job for the Trustees to select the successful projects. We felt that the Foundation’s grant awards would have the greatest impact by supporting the sustainable building projects at Church Eaton Village Institute and Halton Mill and would bring lasting benefits to both the environment and the community.”

Keep an eye  on our website for news of future grant making rounds!