Victoria Hall future-proofing with major new grant aid

Major new grant aid is helping Sheffield’s Victoria Hall to aim for a greener and more environmentally-friendly future.

A grant of ￡71,313 from VCSE Energy Efficiency Scheme, Groundwork UK will see the installation of solar panels and secondary glazing on the roof of the iconic Grade II listed Norfolk Street building.

And funding to the value of ￡20,000 from UKSPF Low Carbon Community and Culture Fund?will see further solar panels installed throughout the site, while the project has also received an additional ￡5,000 from the Methodist Church towards the cost of completing the project.

“This is a major step forward in the future proofing of the building,” said Rose Durant, Chief Executive of The Foundry Sheffield, the charitable organisation that has been running the Victoria Hall since 2015.

“Our energy bill is expected to quadruple next spring, when our current heating contract expires so it was vital that we take all possible steps to ensure that all our spaces are made as energy efficient as possible.

“Subject to conservation approval, solar panels are an effective way to generate our own energy and they will be positioned in an area that has absolutely no impact on the overall look of the building - if fact, they will not be visible to visitors.

“The important thing, however, is that we will save approximately ￡10,000 per year due to the solar installation.

“This is, of course, a building that is now more than a hundred years old and secondary glazing will also have a major impact on our meeting rooms and offices as well as our main hall and lower hall.

“We are so pleased that our supporters have been so generous in their support and, looking to the future, we are now exploring funding opportunities so we can store our own energy in battery form.”

Currently used by more than 1,500 people every week, organisations already working out of the Victoria Hall’s range of offices include Age Active, Assist and City of Sanctuary.

In recent months, the hall hosted 17 conferences, 123 smaller meetings, two craft fairs, 24 drop in sessions for refugee and asylum seeker support and there have been daily activity sessions for the over 50s and weekly Methodist Church services.

There has also been a series of hugely successful concert performances, attracting new audiences to the hall.

The Sunday Centre provides food and support to the city's homeless communities on a Sunday afternoon and the building is also used by many other charitable organisations offering a wide variety of activities, classes and social opportunities.

The famous main hall is already a popular venue for choral, instrumental and other events and South Yorkshire's finest amateur orchestra, The Sheffield Philharmonic, holds its weekly rehearsals and the majority of its concert season performances there.

Other sites in The Foundry Sheffield’s portfolio include Sheffield’s Quaker meeting House, Walkley Ebenezer Methodist Church and Broomhill Methodist Centre.

To find out more about The Foundry Sheffield and the facilities now being offered at the Victoria Hall and other sites visit www.victoriahallsheffield.org