The centre, on New Forest Rd, will be retrofit to make it as close to carbon neutral as possible so that it can become an exemplar building to educate domestic and commercial users on the benefits of renewable energy.
The centre will offer support to businesses and residents to explore funding available, such as carbon credits that can be obtained to retrofit homes to save people money.
The centre has received £325,995 funding from Walsall Council’s Community Capital programme, which is funded by the Government’s Town Deal.
“ As a council we are keen to support projects like this that benefit local communities and help the borough to meet its ambitious carbon reduction targets. The exemplar building will provide opportunities for local people to learn about the benefits of renewable energy and access funding to help them improve the energy efficiency of their homes. “
Councillor Adrian Andrew, Deputy Leader
Walsall Council
“ We would very much like to promote training and raise awareness of the need for people to be able to produce their own power, rather than relying solely upon the energy companies. We will soon be in a position to demonstrate first-hand how savings can be made and CO2 emissions can be lowered by adopting a fabric first approach and subsequently installing renewables to allow the centre to become resilient to financial shocks. “
Paul Staples, CEO
Ryecroft Community Hub
Ryecroft NRC community hub currently leads on a multi-community environmental and energy project having many years’ experience in environmental and energy awareness. Ryecroft Community Hub will set up a training academy to overcome the current lack of qualifications within the area. (31.5% of adults have no qualifications in the Blakenall ward and 26.3% across Walsall) with plans to offer an additional 450 training opportunities over the next 3 years in order to greatly enhance participants’ opportunity to move closer to the jobs market.
The retrofit will go a long way to ensure the legacy & sustainability of the hub, which has become a vital building in helping the community become more resilient.
Ryecroft Community Centre aims to provide support that can reduce fuel poverty and associated health risks, create jobs and training, provide maintenance and improvement of public amenities and provide recreational facilities.
The project will include external wall insulation, window upgrades, LED lighting, solar panels, suspended ceiling and electric vehicle charging points.