By Andrew Jarret

A £25,000 AWARD from Scottish Power’s Green Energy Trust has been put to good use at a residential centre in Arbroath.

The Windmill Christian Centre in Millgate Loan has used the money granted last October to install new solar-powered water heating, a wood-fuelled boiler and improved insulation.

The centre has provided accommodation and conference facilities for the last 11 years.

Manager Murray Lawrie said the improvements are set to cut the charity’s energy bills by half, and will be crucial to the 19th-century building’s future.

He said, “As a large residential facility we see around 2000 visitors each year and we are aware of the impact this will have on the environment.

“We have 15 en-suite bedrooms which are now supplied by the solar hot water system.

“The biomass boiler replaces old, inefficient gas boilers, and with the lofts now fully insulated there has been a significant reduction in our energy use.

“We should also benefit from a 50% saving on our heating and hot water bill, which currently stands at more than £10,000 per year.”

The centre will now also educate its visitors about the benefits of using renewable energy.

Scottish Power’s senior environmental and social policy manager Alison McKean said, “The trustees look for projects that actively try to be as energy efficient as possible and encourage others to do the same.

“The centre is a prominent landmark in Arbroath, attracting thousands of visitors every year, and it’s great that they’re making an effort to reduce their carbon footprint.”

Built in 1824, Windmill House was a private home until the second world war when it was then used as a barracks for Polish airmen.

After the war it was converted into a hotel but it eventually closed and lay vacant and deteriorating for three years before being acquired by the Berea Trust.

The trust oversaw its transformation into the Windmill Christian Centre and, for the last decade it has been used to provide low-cost accommodation for many camps, youth groups, church groups and Christian organisations from all over Britain and abroad.