VILLAGERS and students in Northumberland are to benefit after being given tens of thousands of pounds in grants from energy supplier EDF Energy.

The firm’s Green Fund has awarded £14,667 to the UK’s first planned earth-sheltered village hall in Bardon Mill to pay for an air source heat pump and solar panels, which locals hope will supply 23% of the building’s electricity and meet all of its heating and hot water needs.

Dorothy Welsh, vice chair at Bardon Mill and Henshaw Village Hall and Community Projects Group, said: “We’re delighted that the EDF Energy Green Fund is helping make this exciting project a reality. We want the village hall environmentally sustainable and cheap to run, and a place where we can engage with the community and educate the next generation about different energy efficient solutions.”

The EDF Energy Green Fund awards up to £30,000 for organisations to generate green energy in their own communities.