Work to make a Preston community centre more energy efficient is going to be used to spearhead a project that aims to do the same thing for the homes of the residents that the facility serves.
However, Soundskills’ project co-ordinator Chris Davis says that the time is approaching when “somebody is going to have to push the button” on a wholesale retrofit programme nationwide – and he hopes that the initiative planned for the Brookfield will ensure that the estate is perfectly placed to capitalise on that moment. He is, though, under no illusions about the likely place of environmentally-friendly energy on the list of locals’ priorities.
Brookfield Spaceplace, the local charity which operates the community centre on the estate, has been handed the £35,000 as part of the Advancing a Shared Economy in Preston programme. That initiative, which is jointly funded by Preston City Council and national charitable trust Power to Change, stumped up the cash to match fund money already raised for the project by Soundskills.
“Also, if you look at local colleges, there’s not a start-to-end ‘become a retrofitter’ course – it’s generally construction courses that people go through [to enter the building trade]. So we’re looking at the potential for being able to identify some local tradespeople, particularly carpenters and roofers, who we might be able to upskill to become retrofitters. We’re confident that we have skills locally and the in-house capacity on the estate to be able to achieve this,” Chris said.
“The energy crisis has brought the issue into focus. You think about who the big drivers are, the people in control of these things and who they are benefitting – and it’s very clear they’re benefiting themselves. It seems to me that if you’re going to turn some of that stuff around, you need to start grabbing the steering wheel and taking it towards the place that you want to be”.