Shining a light on Boddam: transforming a fisherman’s shelter into a low carbon community hub

The Boddam Hub was set up as a charity in 2022 to develop a new community space in a former fisherman's shelter, to bring people together to share information about local heritage and marine life and act as a refuge and emergency facility in the event of a power cut or similar. As a new group they began with organising litter picks, community events and planting, and then began work to renovate the building.

The old shelter was a fairly basic breeze block, flat roof structure with a large area of glazing looking out to sea, and an outdoor area between the building and the shore. The windows were single glazed in rotting wooden frames and the first job was to replace these with double glazed windows in pvc frames.

The group was awarded £9,460 from the Fund in 2023 to insulate the building (walls and roof) and install solar panels with a storage battery and an electric heater. This was part of a larger project to improve the whole building that included rewiring, redecorating and installing a new bathroom and kitchen facility.

The building is near the shore with a fabulous outlook but is extremely exposed, so the group had to install a frame to attach the solar panels. When doing this work, they discovered the original roof was badly rotted, and so had to replace the beams, which caused some delay to the original schedule.

Works were finally completed in March 2023 and as a result the hub is now almost fully powered through the solar panel system and backup battery. Running costs are met through donations and hire of the building to small groups for clubs and activities. The Hub is open two mornings a week for a community drop-in and access to a foodbank which the group also operate.

Local volunteer Fiona said:

 We found that by engaging with the village in getting members to help with painting and arranging events, we had a great sense of community spirit, and the community feel that the project belongs to them. We are often trying to encourage visitors to make use of our litter picking equipment and showing them the benefits of the carbon neutral energy we use. We have been involved in planting round the area and look forward to hosting more events to educate about the importance of acting against climate change.

The Hub project has completely transformed a much-neglected building to create “a safe and welcoming space that can be used by everyone and give them a sense of pride in our lovely village. We could not have achieved this without the funding.” 

Read more about the Vattenfall Unlock Our Future Fund here