One of our most successful recent projects was raising the funds to purchase a defibrillator for the community, which is now in place on the external wall of the Village Hall ready to use (picture above). Funding for this was provided by the Heart of England Community Fund. Another ongoing project has been organising the planting of a new tree on the Village Green now that the Horse Chestnuts have been removed. They were in a very poor condition because they had been infected with honey fungus and had become a safety hazard. A new Golden Box Elder has now been planted in their stead, and should prove to be an attractive addition to the Green. Funding for the tree was provided by the Village Fete Committee
All the street lights in the Parish have now been replaced with new LED ones, a plan that has long been in the pipeline. They are not the most exciting looking things, especially in the accompanying photograph taken on a grey January late afternoon, but there two very good reasons this upgrade was undertaken. Firstly, it was becoming increasingly difficult to source replacement parts, including bulbs, for our old suite. Secondly, LED lights use less electricity, which means that our electricity bills should be able to be reduced, which has some knock on effects for the level of Precept. Thankfully, we have received funding for the project from Warwickshire County Council's Greenshoots scheme, so we will not have to pass on the costs of the upgrade.
The phone box on the village green has been acquired for a nominal fee. It was being decommissioned by BT due to it being little used, and would have been removed otherwise. We have converted it into a community resource centre, housing information for visitors, and a book exchange. A grant from Warwickshire County Council helped pay for its conversion.