FOWNHOPE New Memorial Hall has been given a boost by an award of nearly £20,00 from the National Lottery.

The new grant will cover the costs of major improvements to the Hall’s energy efficiency.

Nearly half of the award will finance the installation of a battery system, manufactured by Tesla, that will store energy from the hall’s solar photovoltaic panels. This stored energy will then be used at other times, for example in the evening, when there is a high demand.

Fownhope Hall’s chairman, Ian Quayle said: “We are very grateful to everyone who plays the National Lottery and to the Lottery’s Community Grants team, as their contribution to funding the many improvements we have made to our hall, over the past 15 years, has been huge.

“We chose Solar Kinetics to do the installation, not just because they were a well-established local firm, but because they impressed us with their in-depth knowledge and understanding of this new technology.”

The other part of the project has been to replace the central heating fan convectors in the main hall. These were originally installed when Fownhope New Memorial Hall was built, in 1987.

The replacements, which are the modern equivalents of the original heaters, are more efficient with much improved temperature control.

The installation work was carried out by C J Bayliss (Hereford) Ltd and Mr Quayle said how impressed he and his colleagues were with the Bayliss team’s professionalism and the high quality of their workmanship. The installation work was completed over three days and structured to minimise disruption to the Hall’s many users.