Update November 2025

Thames Head Community Energy, our village-based community energy not-for-profit, has recently completed a project to make Somerford Keynes Village Hall warmer, cheaper to run and better suited to the events it hosts.

We secured a £10,000 grant from Cotswold District Council to improve the hall’s energy efficiency. The upgrades include new infrared heating panels that provide a much more comfortable heat than the old ceramic units, new LED lighting that is brighter and far more efficient, and a modern fuse board and meters to bring the electrics up to current safety standards. Together, these improvements should cut the hall’s running costs and significantly reduce its CO2 footprint. All the work was carried out by local builders and electricians.

We also received a £3,500 grant from Gloucestershire County Council to help fund the installation of two 7kW EV chargers in the village hall car park. The chargers were supplied by Simpson and Partners, a British manufacturer based in Kemble, keeping the money circulating in the local economy as well as supporting the wider climate effort. They’re good-looking units too, with a simple industrial design that fits the setting.

The idea for the chargers came from a resident who described a friend visiting the village in an EV and not being able to get enough charge from a 13A socket to get home. They ended up cutting the visit short to detour to Waitrose for a top-up. The new chargers solve that problem and also make it easier for residents without off-street parking to switch to an EV. That helps reduce local air pollution and cuts lifetime CO2 by roughly 70 per cent.

We’ve introduced a lower tariff for Somerford Keynes residents. There’s no subscription or membership; anyone in the village can contact Mike McKeown at mmckeown@gmail.com to be added.

Using the chargers is straightforward. Point your phone’s camera at the QR code next to the charge port and follow the link into the Tap Electric app (available on the Apple and Google app stores). They also work with common EV charging apps including Octopus Electroverse and ZapMap.

Thames Head Community Energy exists because of early support from residents who helped fund its start-up via Crowdfund Cotswolds, and we’re genuinely grateful for that backing. Since then, we’ve run a group solar-purchase scheme for local households and we’re now exploring the creation of a community solar farm to produce local clean power at scale.

This village hall project was delivered by the Thames Head Community Energy founders: Jon Cantouris, Nick Cartwright, Mark Hastie-Oldland, Nick Hunt, Mike McKeown, Ranjit Prasad and David Willis. We’re grateful to the Village Hall Committee and the Parish Council for their help, and particular thanks go to Nick Cartwright, who project-managed the whole programme.

It’s another step towards a cleaner, lower-cost, community-powered energy future for Somerford Keynes.