Repower Supports The Victory Hall

In Repower’s early years, there were a number of discussions with the Victory Hall’s management committee about potential energy saving projects as a means of reducing running costs. About 2 years ago we were asked about LED lighting in the hall and whether this would be a project we would be able to support. Previously we had provided grants for The Forest Room at the club, Bramble Hall, the Parish Rooms, St. Mary’s Church, Balcombe school and the Parish Council (street lighting) to help them convert their lighting to LEDs, so this was clearly a project we would like to support.

We received an application in early 2024, but before we had reviewed it, the Hall’s plans changed based on expert advice that a higher level of lighting was needed. I suspect many of you have now seen the new lighting and perhaps agree that it’s a vast improvement on the old lights and provides better illumination for our treasured murals. The lights can now be controlled remotely via WiFi and can be dimmed and changed to provide a multitude of colours. Each light can be controlled independently or synchronised.

At our first management committee meeting of 2025, we unanimously agreed to provide a grant of £5,000 towards the project. The total value of Community Fund grants has now exceeded £85,000, just 10 years after our first solar installation was commissioned at Grange Farm in Crawley Down. This is a wonderful achievement that everyone involved with the Co-operative should be proud of, especially our shareholders who provided the funds that made this possible.