Wow, the total is getting closer each day. You have all been amazingly generous; once again demonstrating that even the largest of tasks are possible when enough people come together. This makes the second stage of our fundraising at Fordhall Farm even more possible. If we raise the £100,000 match funding required for the grant by the end of the week, then all additional funds will help increase the amount of renewable energy we can install and the natural materials we can use. We were conservative in our initial plans, but hopefully we can expand upon this with your help.
For example, we have a lot of south facing roof space enabling us to install much more renewable energy. We could install a more sustainable system to deal with our waste, such as a reedbed. We could make better use of the heat that Ben loses from his fridges through a heat recovery system and we could recycle our grey water e.g. water from washing could be reused to flush our toilets. There is a huge array of systems, which we could incorporate into our renovation project – any additional funds we raise will help us to do this.
Gavin, our quantity surveyor from WCP, and Ian, our architect from Seven Architecture are working on the options as we speak: trying to find the most cost effective way so making our building as sustainable as possible.
We are also re-launching the share scheme in the Fordhall Community Land Initiative to contribute to this project and to help reduce the loans that we currently have agreed (£200,000 from Triodos Bank plus further loans from individuals) – why not buy a share in the Fordhall tearoom for friends and family?
Watch this space – our campaign has only just begun… Please do pass the word around and keep supporting us with your donations – however large or small, they all make a big difference to us.
Thank you,
Charlotte