THE FINAL PIECE OF THE JIGSAW
For the past year a team of 3 Club members – John Roberts, Alan Hogg and Christine Freshwater – have been involved in a project to install solar panels on the Club roof. To achieve this they have been sourcing grant funding from a number of organisations and are pleased to report that the following awards have been made:
Sevenoaks District Council (SDC) £75,000; Sevenoaks Town Council £25,000; West Kent Rural Grants £20,000; Tarmac £20,000
The total amount required to complete the project is £180,000. The Club will be putting in £25,000 of its own money leaving £15,000 to find. Sport England have offered £7,500 but on condition that the Club Crowdfunds to raise an equivalent amount so that is where members, their families, friends and relatives come in. The Crowdfund campaign was launched on 27 November and by 5 December we had raised £2,360 from 53 supporters – a great outcome but with a way to go – many thanks to members who have already donated.
So why are we doing this and what will the benefits be for members, the Club and the wider Sevenoaks Community? The Club currently spends at least £24k on electricity and that is on a very good deal that Richard negotiated pre Covid. Putting solar panels on the roof will pretty much eradicate this bill and if all goes well we will be able to sell back some power to the grid. This saving in costs will immediately put the Club on a stronger financial footing and will allow us to be open for longer.
Many of you may not be aware that the Club is a valuable Community Asset as it is home to 15 other community organisations who use the Centre. These include mothers’ and toddlers’ music groups, pilates and slimming classes, three bridge clubs and the hockey club. The meeting rooms are used by Sevenoaks Lions, the Literary Festival, Sevenoaks Supper Club and the Seniors District Action Forum and many other organisations and individuals make use of the facilities for their personal events and functions.
Currently, because of financial constraints the Club is only open on average for 50 hours a week. How much more valuable would it be to bowlers, the wider community and working people, if it was open longer? An added bonus of this initiative is the impact on our carbon footprint – we will save 33,000 tons/ 1.26% of SDC’s carbon reduction target.
Work will be starting during December. There should be little disruption to the bowling schedule but there will be workmen around and we will lose a few parking spaces for a couple of months.
So, the final piece of the jigsaw is raising that final £7,500. Please help by circulating the link and encouraging anyone you know to help out. The details are being widely circulated to community groups so hopefully you will see it on Facebook, Instagram etc.
There are some great rewards on offer – if you donate a certain amount you can claim a reward – from coffee and cake through to a voucher from the jewellers at the top of the town – Christmas is coming!
That campaign is underway – if you can offer your support please do so at
https://crowdfunder.co.uk/p/sibc
Thank you.
