Name: Pilates with Rose
Start: 2026-08-17T19:30:00+01:00
End: 2026-08-17T20:30:00+01:00
Location: Casterton Village Hall

British Gas, its ‘Green Streets’ competition and a legacy for Casterton village

In July 2009, our local Member of Parliament, Tim Farron, approached the late Eve Beresford – who lived at Holly Bush, the cottage opposite Holy Trinity churchyard and adjacent to the school’s car park – with outline details of a national competition, sponsored by British Gas, called Green Streets. Any community, large or small, could enter providing they found twenty houses and one charity or community building whose energy needs and usage could be assessed by the sponsors. British Gas would judge the entries submitted according to a sense of community and kinship presented by each entrant. Eve was interested in the Green Streets concept, being partially disabled herself and knowing first hand the discrimination and lack of social care afforded to such unfortunate community members of any age throughout the United Kingdom. She approached Casterton Parish Council, and the Chair supported her initial bid. She also approached three villagers to help create a worthwhile bid – Ian Ashworth, Roger Read and Richard Murray – and Ian and Eve were invited by British Gas to present the Casterton project at a meeting held in Preston, where a number of other bids from across North West England were also judged. That October, Eve was informed that Casterton’s bid had won and the village was awarded £240,000 total spend on goods and services – supplied by British Gas – that could improve the efficient use and generation of energy for vulnerable people within Casterton, and at Casterton School as a charity.

Casterton Village Projects (CVP) was created to manage this scheme: twenty houses were identified quickly, their property surveyed energy audits were carried out, and recommendations given for improving energy creation and minimising energy losses; the same was done for Casterton School. No money ever changed hands: the project team liaised with British Gas whose engineers fitted new gas boilers, modern heating stoves and solar panels as required.

Casterton School received a bank of solar panels to the value of £140,000, fitted to the flat roof of their gym that would generate electricity and enter the national grid: in return, the school agreed with CVP that half the annual electricity ‘Feed-in Tariff’ generated would be given back to the village for the lifetime of the panels, and that this method for generating sustainable energy could be used to enhance pupils’ learning of applied scientific principles in the future.