St Albans Community Association has been a cornerstone of its local area in Smethwick for over four decades, evolving from a youth led charity into a multifaceted hub supporting vulnerable groups, families, and the wider community.
We spoke with Tonia Flannagan, Chief Executive Officer, about the centre’s history, its approach to energy management and the lessons learned from their recent energy audit.
TEAM: Could you start by telling us a bit about your role and what St Albans Community Association does?
Tonia Flannagan: Absolutely. St Albans has been around since 1984, originally set up in a church building that was underutilised at the time. Over the years, it’s evolved from a youth led, sports and social charity into a centre offering preschool, daycare, dementia support, a community café, welfare advice, food bank, clothing and furniture recycling, and digital support for older people. I’ve been here for 21 years, and everything we do now is built on what we have done really well in the past.
TEAM: You’ve clearly seen a lot of change. What have been some of the biggest challenges?
Tonia: There have been many! When I joined, the centre was in a difficult financial position, and we had to make tough decisions to get back on track. One major challenge was negotiating with the church over rent. They wanted £35,000, but we agreed on £20,000. However, very quickly this was being increased by approximately £5,000 every two years. Eventually, we managed to buy the building in 2020, just before COVID hit.
During the pandemic, we were able to stay open and support vulnerable people, providing a place for them to get support during a difficult time. We went from providing 15 meals a day to 98. We also used that time as an opportunity to make strategic improvements to the centre.
TEAM: What prompted you to get a commercial energy audit for the centre?
Tonia: It was a twofold approach: we wanted to ensure we were operating as efficiently as possible, and we hoped to use the audit to support us in funding opportunities. We’d had a previous energy audit funded by the council, but we recently had an extension done on the building and so with the new building layout, it made sense to get another to enable us to have a starting point in our energy efficiency journey.
TEAM: Has the energy audit helped you understand your energy management better?
Tonia: Definitely. The audit, and especially the time spent with your Energy Consultant, Sam Arje, helped us finally understand our heating system after years of confusion. We have implemented simple changes, like opening blinds and sharing recommendations with staff, and we are tracking our bills to measure progress and improvements made from the audit’s advice.
TEAM: What recommendations were made in your audit to improve your energy efficiency?
Tonia: Some of the recommendations made in the commercial energy audit were little to no cost to us whilst making a real impact on our energy efficiency measures. This included not overstocking our freezers and ensuring we regularly defrost them, opening our blinds in our offices to let all the sunlight in and adding draft excluders to doors to reduce wasting heat.
Other recommendations are larger projects for us to do over time like increasing the Solar PV on our building and installing Small Thermostatic Radiator Valves (TVRs). These will give us more precise room by room temperature control throughout the building making it easier for us to manage our radiators, reducing the need for staff to turn them down manually. Although there is an upfront cost to installing these, we could save a significant amount on our energy bills.
It was also suggested we invest in a new Building Management System (BMS), our current BMS is a bit basic, and the audit suggested that a commercial BMS would better manage the heating and hot water in our building. Getting a new BMS system would be a significant investment for our centre, however we are keen to better manage our energy and have decided to bid for funding to support this investment.
TEAM: Have you seen any improvements in your energy bills yet from implementing those initiatives?
Tonia: We are still waiting for the next quarterly report to compare bills, but we’re hopeful. We have included the recommendations from the audit in our funding bids, and we are prioritising actions based on what is affordable and impactful.
TEAM: What challenges have you faced in reducing energy use?
Tonia: The biggest challenge is getting external groups who use the building to respect our energy-saving measures. Our staff are generally great, but weekend groups sometimes leave radiators on and windows open. We’ve put up reminders and are installing sub-meters to help monitor usage in the hope that this will help reduce unnecessary energy wastage in our building.
TEAM: How do you balance the financial costs of energy efficiency with long-term benefits?
Tonia: It’s tough because as a community service our budgets are limited, and we have to rely on financial support. Our quarterly reports help us spot trends and spikes, like when building work was happening. We’ve banned electric heaters and encouraged staff to use the already heated ovens instead of microwaves. It’s all about changing mindsets and habits.
TEAM: What role do your employees play in achieving your energy goals?
Tonia: Staff are crucial. We have full team meetings twice a year, and each service manager shares relevant parts of the energy report with their teams. Everyone is encouraged to take responsibility, and our recycling efforts have really taken off.
TEAM: What advice would you give to other organisations starting their energy efficiency journey?
Tonia: Don’t focus on the negatives or worry about what an audit might uncover. See it as support and advice, not criticism. The reports break down what’s easily achievable, what needs more time or money, and what’s ideal. Having a clear action plan makes everything less overwhelming and is a vital starting point for organisations looking to get the most out of their energy.