15
Apr
First phase of refurbishment completed for Harrogate community centre
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The first phase of refurbishment works has been completed at a Harrogate community centre.
Harlow Community Centre, locally known as the Green Hut, received a £2,000 grant from the Banks Group to improve wall insulation at the venue.
The community centre, on Harlow Avenue, was built in the 1970s. Its exterior wooden ‘tongue and groove’ cladding had become weatherworn and the building was frequently cold.
The £2,000, plus donations and grants from other sources, enabled fibre-cement panels to be installed in place of the cladding. Outdated wall insulation has also been replaced, which will improve the building’s heat retention.
The community centre hosts a wide range of groups and activities, including dance and drama, women’s institute meetings, yoga classes, an embroidery club and a Brownie pack, and is used by over 250 local people every week.
The venue is also hired out for children’s parties and utilised by Harlow Hill Men’s Shed, the local Allotment Society and The Pinewoods Group for meetings.
Harlow Community Centre Association, which looks after the building, began to look at ways the centre could increase its heat insulation while reducing its carbon footprint and energy usage.
It is also considering the possibility of fitting modern insulation throughout the building’s interior, as a means of attracting more people to the site.
John Hart, chair of trustees at the Harlow Community Centre, says:
The community centre isn’t cold as such, but we want people who might be sitting down for a couple of hours to know that they’re always going to be comfortable while they’re here.
The original cladding had been in place for a long time and the changes we’ve made to the exterior are going to make a big difference to the building’s fabric, its interior temperature and the amount of energy we need to use to keep that temperature steady.
We already welcome hundreds of local people through the doors every week, but we’re hoping that, as word spreads about the work we’ve carried out this year and the impact it’s had on the venue, we’ll see more visitors coming along to take advantage of everything we offer.
Taking on a big capital project like this was a financial challenge for a small community organisation like us and we’re very grateful for the funding we’ve received which is going help make a big, long-term difference to local people’s experience of the time they spend in the Green Hut.
Kate Culverhouse, community relations manager at the Banks Group, adds:
A building that’s as well used as the Harlow Community Centre plays a hugely important role in the lives of the people that use it.
The trustees have taken a far-sighted approach to making sure this important place will be fit for use for a long time to come and we’re very pleased to be playing our part in making it happen.
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