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Retrofit Balsall Heath Newsletter February 2026

Welcome to our first newsletter of 2026! 💚It’s been a very full start to 2026 at Retrofit Balsall Heath. Between becoming a Community Benefit Society, recruiting our brilliant new Senior Administrator Emily, and responding to major new opportunities like the Warm Homes Plan, we’ve barely had a moment to pause - but we are so excited to finally share this update with you.

In this edition, you’ll find news about our CBS launch, a warm welcome to Emily, details of Balsall Heath being prioritised under the Government’s Warm Homes Plan, reflections from our Health & Housing research project, an invitation to our Interfaith Retrofit Iftar, celebration of our Social Economy Award win, and more.

There is so much happening - and it’s all rooted in the same belief: that climate action works best when it’s community-led, practical, and grounded in care.

Thank you for being part of this journey with us. Let’s make it a powerful year ahead.

Sara - Joint Coordinator

We Launched as a Community Benefit Society 🎉

In December, Retrofit Balsall Heath launched as a Community Benefit Society (CBS) — an important step that helps us make a bigger difference.

We have always been a volunteer-led, not-for-profit project. Becoming a CBS didn’t change our values - it strengthened them. This new structure gives us a more secure footing, helps us attract funding, and allows our work to continue and grow over time.

As a CBS, local people can become members for a one-off £1 and help guide our work to make homes in Balsall Heath warmer, healthier and more affordable to heat. Membership is open to anyone who supports our aims, especially local residents.

Members receive updates, can take part in decisions, and join events and activities in ways that suit them. No special skills or big time commitment are needed — every member helps strengthen our community voice. We're inviting people to join in person for now, so come and talk to us at events and gatherings in the neighbourhood.

We celebrated the launch at The Old Printworks during Balsall Heath’s 750-year celebrations, with our retrofit house on display, and at Festive Futures at St Paul’s Trust. The vintage Copenhagen COP “Protest Pedal Bike” linked the events, connecting Balsall Heath’s past, present and future.

Thank you to everyone who joined and supported us. Becoming a CBS helps ensure Retrofit Balsall Heath can keep supporting our community - now and into the future 💚

New Senior Administrator! Welcome Emily!

We are thrilled to welcome Emily Churchill Zaraa to the Retrofit Balsall Heath family as Senior Administrator! Emily is an organiser, facilitator and researcher from Balsall Heath, interested in how we can centre care and inclusion in our everyday work and lives. She gets excited about good admin systems, and is looking forward to helping Retrofit Balsall Heath to develop the processes we need as we continue to grow!

Emily joins Retrofit Balsall Heath from CIVIC SQUARE, where she coordinated neighbourhood spaces for the exchange of everyday skills for climate transition. Her previous roles include Community Engagement Producer at MAC, and UK Coordinator of Refugee Week at Counterpoints Arts. Image: Angela Grabowska

Big news! Warm Homes Plan launched – Balsall Heath prioritised 🔥🏡

In January, Retrofit Balsall Heath was featured in The Big Issue as the Government launched its £15bn Warm Homes Plan.

We’re proud to share that Balsall Heath was one of just three areas in Birmingham prioritised for these upgrades. This happened because local people spoke up and showed that our community is ready for:

Warmer homes

Lower energy bills

A real seat at the table

Working with MECC, we are aiming to support 525 local homes by 2028! We will be helping residents live in healthier, more affordable homes. Our role is to stand with residents throughout the process - from early conversations to completed work. Together with MECC and local partners, we will help make sure improvements are well-managed, carried out to a good standard, and delivered fairly.

We know that some retrofit schemes in the past have not always been managed as well as they should have been. Too often, residents have felt left out of decisions, unclear about what was happening, or unhappy with the quality of work. That’s exactly why we do things differently. Retrofit Balsall Heath is community-led, focused on transparency, clear communication, proper oversight, and putting residents’ needs first every step of the way.

If you’re interested in the new Warm Homes Plan, please reply to sara@retrofitbalsallheath.org with WARM HOMES PLAN in the subject heading, and we will update you as more detail emerges. Or contact our partners MECC Telephone: 0121 4403500 or email: info@mecctrust.com.

You can read more about the plan in The Big Issue (January edition) here.

Save the Date: Interfaith Retrofit Iftar 🌙💚

Thursday 5 March
5–8pm, arrive from 4.45pm
Balsall Heath Church Centre

In collaboration with the United Church of St Paul’s, we’re delighted to invite you to our Interfaith Retrofit Iftar this Ramadan. Everyone is welcome - whether you’re fasting or not, of faith or no faith.

Last year’s Iftar brought together around 70 people of diverse faiths and non-faith backgrounds to share food, conversation and community. It was a powerful reminder of what’s possible when we come together.

One of the highlights was a thoughtful and inspiring reflection from Kamran Shezad, who spoke about Ramadan as a time to reduce our over-consumption and care for the planet - reminding us that “retrofit” isn’t just about homes, but about how we live, think and look after the world around us.

We’re really looking forward to gathering again this year to share food, ideas and spiritual connection.

Everyone welcome - Places are free but please book here (so we can cater for all):

Book your place

Research Better Together Project on Health and Housing - in association with The University of Wolverhampton & Birmingham Voluntary Council, and funded by NIHR (National Institute for Health and Care Research)

Our groundbreaking research project has brought together academics from the University of Wolverhampton and local community members who have undertaken training to become community researchers. The project has uncovered powerful evidence linking poor housing conditions to negative health outcomes.We’d like to share a few words about our wonderful project manager, Sabrina Erdogan, whose leadership has been marked by care, compassion, local insight, and genuine love for her community. We are deeply grateful for all she has contributed:

"The Research Better Together Project on Health and Housing has come to an end & at Retrofit Balsall Heath we have been really happy with what we have achieved. Following on from our data analysis session with Josh from the University of Wolverhampton, and some of our community researchers coming together to draw out the themes of our coded interview transcription’s, we went on to further develop our mindmap of findings.

We wanted the voices of the community to be at the forefront always, so it especially took time to find relevant quotes to evidence our emerging themes. Themes included housing conditions, such as cold, mould, damp, poor mental & physical health was caused by conditions at home, there was often a lack of faith in institutions claiming to help and money was often an issue with cost of living rising. People desire to make changes to their home, but affording that is difficult.

It wasn’t all doom and gloom; many interviewees talked about their love for the community and neighbourhood in Balsall Heath. Yes there can be antisocial behaviour but good neighbours and love for the area was also prominent!

We hope that this energy can be focused on working together to manifest and create a beautiful, energy efficient, comfortable, retrofitted neighbourhood! This research is just one aspect of that journey!" Sabrina Erdogan.Image: Retrofit Balsall Heath researchers (including youngest representative Essa - in pram) at Research Better Together’s Research Showcase at The Signing Tree, 29th January.

The research findings were presented on a mind map and in an animation created by 12 year old local resident Muhammad Phipps, presented at the showcase by his mother Zeynab Elmi. Here is a clip:

Watch

A day of reflection and development with great thanks to Resist + Renew

Our steering group and team spent a beautiful day with Yaz and Ali from the Resist + Renew collective on Saturday 31st January, exploring how we can strengthen our ways of working together at this moment of growth.Like many grassroots movements, Retrofit Balsall Heath has grown organically over the years, fuelled by community spirit and local people who want to make change in the neighbourhood we call home.From the personal to the universal, we shared what connects us to Retrofit Balsall Heath, and the changes we dream the movement will help bring about in the next 10 - and then 50! - years.We explored how we can surface invisible labour, and achieve greater clarity about our roles and processes, while always staying true to our values of openness, inclusion and collaboration. We came away with lots of practical next steps, and feeling grateful to be part of this unique movement and neighbourhood.

Congratulations to Retrofit Balsall Heath on winning Startup of the Year - Social Economy Award in November! 🥳 🎉

It’s all thanks to our fantastic partners and volunteers who make us who we are - this win really belongs to the whole community. This was an incredible night for Balsall Heath - a full hat trick with brilliant wins for Jericho Foundation, ChangeKitchen CIC and ourselves! Plus big wins for Coop Futures - Jo White helped so much on our learning journey to community benefit society, Acocks Greener, our amazing partner, and The Developer Society, who built our website.So much inspiring, community-led change happening locally. Proud to be part of it.Image: Sabrina - Community Research Coordinator, Louise - Treasurer, Dianne -Outreach assistant with Sara - Coordinator.

Strategic Adaptation for Emergency Resilience

Sara from Retrofit Balsall Heath spoke on a panel chaired by Caroline Lucas about the SAFER approach (Strategic Adaptation for Emergency Resilience). She used the home as an easy, everyday way for people to start understanding and engaging with climate change. She explained how retrofit - improving insulation, ventilation, and energy efficiency - makes homes warmer, healthier, and better able to cope with heatwaves, floods, and rising energy costs. Framed through Rupert Read’s idea of “safer,” Sara described the home as a practical starting point for learning about resilience and preparedness, helping people see how climate action connects directly to their own lives.