How a £15,000 grant helped Ashwick and Oakhill Village Hall to maintain a much-loved community space

Oakleaf Community Café

Ashwick and Oakhill Village Hall has been at the heart of its community since the 1980s. With a recreation ground, a community café and a hall used for everything from birthday parties to local events, it’s the kind of place a village builds its life around.

But running a well-loved community space comes at a cost. Rising energy bills and growing demand were putting pressure on the hall’s finances – and the committee wanted to make sure it could keep serving the village for years to come.

A £15,000 grant from our community building energy efficiency Fund helped make that possible. In July 2025, solar panels were installed at the hall – cutting energy costs and freeing up funds to reinvest back into the community.

RISING COSTS BEFORE INSTALLATION

We spoke to Caroline Ambrose, Treasurer of the Committee and Café Manager at Ashwick and Oakhill Village Hall. She explains how the funding has helped alleviate financial pressure.

“Since the pandemic, our electricity and gas bills doubled. Opening the community café also meant we were using more power during daylight hours,” she says. “Now that we’ve had the solar panels for a year, not only have we saved just under £1,000 in bills – they’ve also supplied around 80% of the hall’s electricity during the warmer months.”

ECO-FRIENDLY FUTURE-PROOFING

We asked how the solar panels are helping the hall today and how they will support its future.

“The hall and recreation ground serve as a genuine community hub for people of all ages. Opening the café in 2023 has improved community spirit enormously – the hall has really come alive since then,” says Caroline.

“Being as rural as we are means we are the only space the community can depend on. We want to sustain what we have built, while being able to grow and reinvest in the space we have created.

“The solar panels have allowed us to do that. They’ve taken the pressure off rising costs and given us the freedom to think about how we reinvest – giving us security and hope for the future.”

To support more programmes like this and help fund future environmental projects across Somerset, learn more about our Somerset Environment Fund.