Craghead Community Association Powers Up Community Resilience with Support from Northern Powergrid Foundation
The Northern Powergrid Foundation is proud to award £8,931.25 to Craghead Community Association to help transform Craghead Village Hall into an energy resilience hub, designed to support the community during power outages, when an outage prevents individuals from accessing basic utilities, including lighting and the ability to boil water. The funding will enable the installation of a 10kWh energy storage battery, allowing the hall to store excess solar energy and remain operational during disruptions. The project is a bold step toward building a trusted, solar-powered community hub that offers warmth, electricity, and care when it’s needed most.
During outages, Craghead Village Hall will provide a safe, warm space for residents to gather, charge mobile phones, and receive support.
This initiative is especially vital for Craghead’s 950 residents, where:
- 20% are aged 65+
- 24% live with disabilities
- 60% of households face deprivation in at least one domain (ONS, 2021)
“Craghead is a proud community, but we’ve faced real challenges, from economic hardship to repeated power outages.’’
‘’This support from the Northern Powergrid Foundation means we can offer a lifeline to our neighbours when they need it most,” said Mark Davinson, Trustee of Craghead Community Association. “The hub will be a place of warmth, connection, and care, and we’re incredibly grateful.”
Through collaboration with Durham Energy Friends and trained Community Energy Champions, the hub will offer both digital and in-person support, bridging the gap for digitally excluded residents and continuing to provide energy advice and access to grants via the Fairer Warmth platform.
“Communities like Craghead are on the frontline of the energy transition, facing rising costs, digital barriers, and infrastructure challenges,” said Adrian Cantle-Jones, Director of Zero Carbon Communities. “This hub is just one layer of support in a wider network of resilience we’re building across the region. It’s a model for how local action, backed by strategic support, can make a real difference.”
This is far more than a battery installation funded by the Northern Powergrid Foundation, it’s a community-powered blueprint for resilience, demonstrating how local organisations can work hand-in-hand to protect and empower residents during times of crisis. Craghead Community Association are also partnering with the Foundation’s parent company; Northern Powergrid to develop an innovative and forward-thinking initiative which will provide a further lifeline of support to the local community.
Craghead Village Hall has already proven its value as a refuge during emergencies, including a local incident which saw nearly 400 homes in Craghead and the wider area left without gas for over 24 hours due to water leaking into the gas supply and in recent years with Storm Arwen, when it provided warmth and shelter alongside further direct support from Northern Powergrid. With the new battery backup system in place, the hall will be even better equipped to serve the community in future disruptions, ensuring no one is left without power, connection, or care when it matters most.
The Northern Powergrid Foundation is proud to support this innovative project and looks forward to seeing the positive impact it will have on Craghead and its neighbouring communities.