WACT now needs YOUR help to convert the house into two almshouses.
Currently WACT still has over £40000 of loan debt to pay off from the 2008 renovation of the existing three almshouses and unlike many almshouse charities it has no endowed capital fund – it only works because it is run entirely by volunteers from the village who manage and maintain the existing three houses. The only income is the contributions made by the residents. These contributions have always been kept well below the market rent and the Local Housing Allowance but this can only be done because WACT has no paid staff. WACT is applying for grants but we do not expect these to cover all the costs to complete this project in a timely fashion – so we are now seeking help from the village in the form of donations and volunteers who can provide expertise and labour to see this project through.
The works needed include:
- Internally insulating all the external walls, floor and roof to ensure the house will meet the future Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards for Social Housing
- modifying the layout of the existing 3 bedroomed house to form 2 almshouses by:
- creating a bedroom and a shower room from an existing bathroom, larder and attached outhouse
- creating a new kitchen
- renovating an existing wet room
- re-wiring to separate the internal electrics
- installing new central heating in both parts
The aim is to get one half ready for occupation within a couple of months using volunteer labour but this will exhaust all the funds that WACT can spare.
We do not expect professionals to provide expertise and labour entirely for free but we’d appreciate any help given at favourable terms so we can provide this housing for local people of all ages who are in need. Whenever we pay for work we want that money to benefit people from this community and not to go to outside contractors if at all possible.
If you think you can help us then please please fill in this brief form by clicking on the link below
