Alton Social Bowling Club's panels should make 8,700kWh a year. Seven clubs in the district have taken £61,099 from the fund, which reopened until 5 October.
A bowls club in Alton, about ten miles north of Petersfield, has put solar panels and battery storage on its clubhouse with the help of a £4,500 grant from East Hampshire District Council. The panels went up in March 2026 and the council expects them to generate around 8,700kWh and save up to 1,145kg of CO2 a year, according to its announcement.
Alton Social Bowling Club plays at Chawton Park Road, GU34 1RF. It is a different club from the one in Alton Public Gardens on Westbrooke Road: the two appear as separate entries on Alton Social’s own list of club addresses.
The grant came from the district’s Community Climate Action Fund, and the club did not rely on it alone. The clubhouse was paid for from four sources:
- £4,500 from the district council’s Community Climate Action Fund
- £750 from an East Hampshire Councillor Grant, from Cllr Ginny Boxall
- money from Alton Town Council’s Community Infrastructure Levy fund
- money from Alton Town Council’s Climate Change Fund
Councillor Robert Mocatta, the district council’s portfolio holder for regeneration and prosperity, which covers climate and environment, said the club had “had the commitment to pull that funding together and make it a success”. He added that the clubhouse is now used for art classes when bowls is not being played.
Seven local clubs, £61,099
The bowls club is not an outlier. Petersfield Online has gone through the council’s published record of every grant it has made from the fund since 2023. Sports and recreation clubs in this district have taken £61,099.33 across eight grants to seven clubs, roughly one pound in every six the fund has handed out.
| Club | Total | Awarded for |
|---|---|---|
| Medstead Lawn Tennis Club | £15,099.33 | LED court lighting, and clubhouse LEDs |
| Petersfield Bowling & Snooker Club | £10,000 | Solar panels |
| Alton Rugby Club | £8,000 | Solar panels for the club house |
| Petersfield Town Football Club | £8,000 | Upgrading floodlights to LED |
| Petersfield Rugby Club | £8,000 | Solar panel installation |
| Grayshott Cricket Club | £7,500 | Borehole and irrigation at the sports field |
| Alton Social Bowling Club | £4,500 | Solar panels |
Medstead is the only club to have won twice, taking £2,099.33 in round two and £13,000 in round four. The whole fund has paid out £376,826.80 in 43 grants over four rounds, on the council’s own list of funded projects.
What clubs ask for barely varies. Seven of the eight grants paid for solar panels or for LED lighting. The only exception is Grayshott’s borehole.
Round five is open, and it closes on 5 October
The fifth round opened at 9am on Friday 4 September with £129,000 to give away, in grants of up to £10,000, the council said this week. It is for not-for-profit organisations, and projects funded in this round should be completed by November 2027.
One detail worth checking before you plan your week. The council has written the deadline as “11.59am on Monday 5 October” on both of its pages, not 11.59pm. Treat it as a morning deadline unless the council says otherwise.
The council publishes what it scores applications on. Two of those points cannot be sorted out in the last week, so read them now:
- Evidence that the project cuts carbon emissions and fits the council’s Climate and Environment Strategy 2024-29
- A letter of support from a district councillor
- How many residents benefit: the wider the reach, the better
- Landowner or leaseholder permission, in writing
- Planning permission already in place where it is needed. The council names solar panels, battery installations outside a building and replacement windows as the projects that often need it
What it means for you
If you run a club, a hall, a scout group or a charity in Petersfield, Alton or one of the villages, this is the month to apply. The fund has paid out in every round since March 2023, and it has been growing: round four was the biggest so far at £128,624 across fourteen grants, against £126,857.39 in round one, £52,006.41 in round two and £69,339 in round three.
Three things to do before 5 October:
- Read the guidance notes and the scoring matrix on the council’s fund page first. They are published as Word documents alongside a sample application form.
- Ask your district councillor for a letter of support early. It is a scored criterion, not a formality.
- If your project needs planning permission, the council expects it to be granted before you apply, not afterwards.
Local groups have also used the fund for things that are not solar panels: Petersfield Town Council took £1,166 for rainwater harvesting, Fullers Vale Wildlife Pond Association £5,000 for pond preservation, and Clanfield Junior School £8,735 for a nature recovery area.
Where new homes are proposed in Petersfield, and the Community Infrastructure Levy money that comes with them, is on our Petersfield planning page.
Sources
- East Hampshire District Council, Bowls club goes green with help from CCAF grant, 27 August 2026
- East Hampshire District Council, £129,000 available for climate projects big and small, 4 September 2026
- East Hampshire District Council, Community Climate Action Fund, results of rounds one to four
- Alton Social Bowls Club, contact page, for the club’s address
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