The Small 
Wind Co-op share offer is underway and picking up after a slow start as people turn away from Brexit to positive things they can do. We’ve been busy working on the details of the community funds in Scotland and Wales and can announce that the Welsh fund will initially go Llangeitho Jubilee Hall and Play Park.
The turbine will generate a community fund of £9,000 in its first three years of operation which will be invested by local group Grannell Community Energy in improving the Jubilee Hall and the play park.
Llangeitho Jubilee Hall was originally built in 1897 and was last refurbished in 2000. Although new central heating has been installed thanks to a Ceredigion Community Grant, the hall needs new insulation to bring it up to 21st Century standards. A wide range of committees and clubs hire the hall, ranging from the Bowling Club, to ‘Ti a Fi’ baby and toddler group, to Young Farmers. It is also widely used by local charities and other organisations for fundraising events, public debates and as the Polling Station.
“The Jubilee Hall is the hub of the community and is used by local groups of all ages almost every day of the week. The building is in a state of disrepair and the Committee are constantly fundraising and applying for grants for its upkeep. After recently having new central heating installed, they found that it loses a lot of energy due to the lack of insulation underneath the hall floor and stage floor. Funds raised from the community wind turbine would make a big difference to helping keep the hall warmer, lowering heating bills and reducing carbon emissions so we hope that local people will support this exciting project and join the Cooperative.”]
Leila Sharland, Community Renewables Adviser, Sharenergy
The community fund will also be spent on re-surfacing the small Llangeitho play park and installing some new additional play equipment for children such as swings.
“Because the small Wind Coop is structured as a cooperative it will be completely owned and run by its members and ensuring that the whole community benefits from the project is at the heart of what we seek to do. We’ll be putting aside £3,000 a year, index-linked, for the 20-year lifetime of the Coop to invest in other community initiatives like the village hall and play park – over £60,000 for the lifetime of the wind turbine. And with investment starting at just £100, this is a project almost anyone locally can be part of.”
Elly Foster, Chair, Grannell Community Energy