A sports and social club at the heart of a former mining village has invested in renewable energy to power up its community activities.
Dodworth Miners Welfare, a charity which provides recreational facilities alongside a social club venue, has fitted 50 solar panels to the roof of its 600-capacity spectator stand.
It is estimated that this huge PV system will generate around 18,920kWh of electricity a year, reducing CO2 carbon emissions by 3,917 kg annually.
The £25,0000 investment has been backed by funding from CISWO – The Coal Mining Charity – and the Net Zero Barnsley programme, delivered by The Business Village in partnership with Barnsley Council.
Dodworth Miners Welfare uses power to run its busy Tappers Bar and function room, plus a range of facilities used by dozens of grassroots football, rugby league, and bowling clubs, a boxing club, and a brass band.
Its new PV system with four batteries can capture the energy it generates in daylight hours to use when needed – for example, to power its playing field floodlights. On top of that, the system is primed to sell the excess power it generates back to the National Grid, earning the club feed-in payments.
Dodworth Miners Welfare chairman Eric Richardson said: “We’re a very busy club and our electricity bills have been a big part of our outgoings – and a major headache – for many years.
It’s been fantastic to get on board with modern renewables and independently generate our own power on our own premises. The roof of our stand has proved to be an excellent spot for solar panels, and they’ve had an unbelievable impact already.
I’ve loved monitoring the app for our daily readings. The panels are set to almost halve our annual bills and make us money through feed-in payments as well. We hope to be about £3,500 a year up, which will make a huge difference to our bottom-line.”
The welfare’s annual electricity consumption is 4,600kWh a year, and the solar panels are expected to directly supply about 2,010kWh of that – slashing their electricity bills by nearly half. The surplus energy they generate on long sunny days – which they’re not able to capture and use themselves – will be sold to the National Grid and earn them a further estimated £2,500 a year in Smart Export Guarantee payments.
Net Zero Barnsley business development manager Kevin Steel said:
“Dodworth village is built on a proud mining heritage, but its residents don’t live in the past. A very strong, vibrant community spirit is alive and kicking today, and we’ve been very pleased to help the miners’ welfare trustees investigate and invest in a PV system to generate their own renewable energy on site. It has huge potential to save them money, make them money and dramatically reduce carbon emissions now and in the future.”
This is the first solar energy project CISWO, the Coal Mining Charity, has part-funded through its programme of grant funding support to improve the lives of people in former mining communities.
CISWO North England Development Manager Rick O’Toole said:
“We are pleased to provide funding towards the solar panels. With charities facing rising energy bills, these energy efficiency improvements are a sustainable way to reduce costs, allowing surplus funds to be reinvested into improving other amenities on site.”
Eric, who worked as a miner for 50 years, 26 of them at the Dodworth colliery, said:
“We really appreciate the financial backing we’ve received from CISWO and the funding and specialist support we’ve had from Net Zero Barnsley to get this up and running. There was a lot to do before we could flick the switch.”
Dodworth Miners Welfare was founded in 1925 and, when the pit was open, miners paid 50 pence a week direct from their pay packets towards its upkeep. Since the
pit’s closure in 1987, the club has been through some tough financial times but has pulled through and its trustees, volunteers and staff continue to run a wide range of social and sporting facilities for its 1,000-strong membership and wider community.
Located on High Street, behind the Thornely Arms pub, the welfare has four pitches, a MUGA, boxing gym and bowling green. It will host its annual music festival, Dod’erth Minefest, on July 5th and the All England Bowling Championships on July 26th. The club’s next developments will focus on its beer garden, changing rooms and access.
The Business Village has delivered the Net Zero Barnsley programme, in partnership with Barnsley Council, as part of the Low Carbon Project, part-funded by the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. Sheffield City Council was the accountable body for the South Yorkshire region.
Dive into the Dodworth Miners Welfare video case study on the link below!
The Low Carbon projecthas received £1,592,783.70 from the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.
The UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) is a three-year UK Government funding stream that replaces European Structural and Investment Funds. The South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA) will administer UKSPF for South Yorkshire’s four local authority areas.
The Fund aims to improve pride in place and increase life chances across the UK, investing in communities and place, supporting local business, and people and skills. For more information, visit https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ukshared-prosperity-fund-prospectus
Net Zero Barnsley is delivered by The Business Village and the Enterprising Barnsley team at Barnsley Council. Businesses can receive specialist sustainability coaching to help them work through carbon calculators to define and measure their existing CO2 outputs and identify priorities for action. They are then helped to draw up detailed decarbonisation plans to reduce emissions; with workshops and peer-to-peer support. Companies could be eligible for capital grants, to be match funded, which they can invest in new green technology or practices which will lead to saving energy, as well as money on bills.
All UK businesses must reduce carbon emissions to net zero by 2050, and Barnsley Council has set an earlier target of 2045.
Actions to reduce carbon include switching to sustainable forms of energy, investing in new equipment to improve efficiency, adopting smart technology, making behavioural changes in the workplace, reducing waste, considering supply chains and supporting sustainable transport schemes for staff. To find out more see Net Zero Barnsley, contact Kevin Steel on 01226 249590 or ksteel@BarnsleyBIC.co.uk
Ciswo is a national charity which aims to improve the lives of former coal miners, their families and communities through a range of support services, grants and opportunities. It also provides guidance and support to more than 200 local independent mining charities.
For media enquiries, contact steph@whippetpr.co.uk or call 07761964492.