Redcar Baptist Church received £20,000 from the Northern Powergrid Foundation to make their vision of installing solar panels and battery storage a reality. With over 1,000 visitors to their building each week, it is believed that the organisation supports over 10% of the population of Redcar.

Having worked with colleagues at Northern Powergrid to create a centre of warmth within their facility, Redcar Baptist Church wanted to take the next step to ensure they could be a place of refuge during power cuts and other emergencies.

As a registered charity, Redcar Baptist Church offers a wide range of community-based services including a community grocery shop, a warm hub that is open 5 days a week providing practical support to tackle fuel poverty and offer advice on energy efficiency, they also support people to join Northern Powergrid’s Priority Services Register. Alongside this, they have provision specifically for young people and work closely with asylum seekers and refugees including English language lessons.

As an area that has experienced power cuts, having a solar and battery system installed has given the organisation the confidence and security that they can remain open to the community as a place of refuge, continuing to provide their services whilst offering people acess to safety, warmth and cohesion.

Minister and Strategic Lead for Redcar Baptist Church; Mark Hubbard commented that the church building provides such a range of community services to those living in the local area ‘We offer so much to the community and often see people coming in through the doors just to see how we can help them, or what we offer. We often see that people attend more than one thing within the centre each week’. He further commented; ‘the process of installing the solar panels and batteries was simple and did not disrupt our daily services. We now have the confidence that we can continue to support people when they need it most’.

Renewable energy systems allow a facility to make effective cost savings on their utility bills. With estimated savings from their system, Redcar Baptist Church anticipate these savings to be the equivalent of a part time member of staff within the facility who could continue the positive community engagement work already on offer. The solar and battery system isn’t just for energy resilience, it is aiming to increase community engagement, bring people together and continue to provide opportunities.

The solar panel and battery storage supported by the Northern Powergrid Foundation will continue to provide longevity to the facility, ensuring continued support to the people of Redcar at times when they may need it most.