Summer greetings to you and yours ☀️🌿
The past six months have been full of energy, new partnerships and inspiring community action. From the launch of the Warm Homes scheme to the Retrofit B12 House learning journey, training our first Retrofit Community Connectors to sharing our work nationally, Retrofit Balsall Heath continues to grow through the knowledge, creativity and commitment of local residents.
As we feel the heat this summer, our shared movement for a liveable planet - and a comfortable, healthy home for all - feels more important than ever.
Here's a look back at what we've been up to, and what’s coming up.
Sara and Emily, Retrofit Balsall Heath team
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Save the Date: Retrofit Balsall Heath AGM ☕
Retrofit Balsall Heath Annual General Meeting (AGM)
Saturday 12 September, 10am - 12pm
Old Print Works - ChangeKitchen Cafe, 498-506 Moseley Road, B12 9AH
Join us for our AGM as we reflect on another exciting year, celebrate what we've achieved together and look ahead to the next stage of Retrofit Balsall Heath.
As we gather over drinks and tasty refreshments from ChangeKitchen, the AGM will be a great opportunity to find out more about retrofit in our neighbourhood and meet others working for positive change in Balsall Heath.
If you’re already a member of our Community Benefit Society, you will be invited to help shape the future direction of Retrofit Balsall Heath. If you’re not a member yet, there will be the opportunity to join!
Whether you’re already part of the Retrofit Balsall Heath journey, or new to retrofit and curious to find out more, everyone is welcome.
More details coming soon!
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Retrofit Balsall Heath Helping to Deliver Warm Homes Birmingham 🏡
As one of just three community partners supporting the delivery of Warm Homes Birmingham, Retrofit Balsall Heath is working with MECC Trust to support the retrofit of over 500 local homes by 2028.
Along with MECC, Retrofit Balsall Heath has been working closely with Birmingham City Council, Next Energy, Acocks Greener and other partners to help shape how the programme is delivered in communities.
Retrofit Balsall Heath's role in Warm Homes is an important milestone, recognising the value of our neighbourhood-based approach and the trust we have built with local residents over many years. As community partners, we are helping ensure that local voices are at the heart of the programme and that retrofit is something done with communities, rather than to them.
If you live in Balsall Heath, Sparkbrook, Bromford, Castle Vale, or Tyseley & Hay Mills, your home could be eligible for free (or heavily subsidised) energy improvements.
To find out if you’re eligible and to apply, visit the Warm Homes page on the Birmingham City Council website.
Retrofitting the Avenue 🪴
A key principle of community-led retrofit is that improvements should be carried out street by street, rather than ad hoc on individual homes.
We are delighted to be working closely with residents on a ‘whole street’ retrofit of their avenue in Balsall Heath, as part of the Warm Homes scheme. Survey and design work is now complete, and work to install wall insulation, windows and ventilation will begin soon.
One recent win was preserving a resident’s historic and beautiful windows. Rather than having to replace them, the resident was able to get them repaired and low energy secondary glazing fitted, leading to a 350% increase in insulation.
And retrofit goes beyond the walls of our homes - it’s about making our whole neighbourhoods healthier, happier and more connected.
In another exciting development, Retrofit Balsall Heath steering group member Louise Scrivens has teamed up with Laura Hackett to work with residents on ‘Greening the Avenue’. In sessions throughout June and July, residents have planted favourite herbs, and (re)connected with the rest of nature together - with the Avenue’s children taking a leading role!
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Introducing Our Retrofit Community Connectors
In April we recruited our first Retrofit Community Connectors - six people living or rooted in Balsall Heath whose role will help widen and deepen our relationships in the neighbourhood.
Sabrina Erdogan, Zeynab Elmi, Manal Awadallah, Safina Aftab, Amarjeet Rebolo and Ume Salma Khan speak eight languages between them, including Arabic, Punjabi, Urdu and Somali, and bring a wealth of experience in community engagement and organising.
Following two induction and training sessions, the Community Connectors co-hosted a series of events across Balsall Heath between May and July (read on for more!) and have shared invaluable ideas and feedback to strengthen our shared work.
Looking ahead, we'd like to recruit more men and younger residents to build an even broader team.
Over the coming months, the Connectors will continue co-hosting retrofit awareness and information sessions, and support communication with residents across Balsall Heath.
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Taking Retrofit to the Streets
“Children were listening, the words got across. They understood more with the props than with the talking” - Retrofit Community Connector
This summer we've been taking retrofit directly into neighbourhood spaces.
In the run up to Balsall Heath Community Festival, we worked with our Community Connectors to host Retrofit Clubs at Old Print Works and St Paul’s Trust, inviting local families into conversations about retrofit through interactive, creative activities.
At a workshop with artist Jane Thakoordin, Connectors and other local residents created the beautiful new Retrofit Balsall Heath banner, which was proudly carried through our streets at the festival’s East/ West Retrofit Procession.
A key feature has been the Retrofit model house drama - a reimagined version of the Three Little Pigs, complete with a Big Bad Fossil Fuel Wolf!
Our Connectors and team also brought the drama to two lively Retrofit Pop-Ups at Spark Green Park and Pickwick Park on Wednesday 8th and Friday 10th July, engaging hundreds of children and families from Nelson Mandela and Clifton Schools.
At the first event alone, around 200 people watched the drama, 13 children actively took part, and the team had meaningful conversations with 33 residents about retrofit and the Warm Homes scheme. Many local people also registered their interest in learning more about the Warm Homes programme.
The Pop-Ups have shown how street (or park!) theatre, conversation and play can make retrofit engaging, welcoming and accessible to people of all ages.
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Balsall Heath Community Festival: Creativity in Action
A highlight of our summer so far has been leading the East/West Retrofit Walking Procession at Balsall Heath Community Festival on Sunday 13th July, celebrating community creativity and climate action.
Our new Retrofit Balsall Heath banner was proudly carried alongside banners produced by young people through workshops with The GAP Arts Project and Culture Collective.
Throughout the day, residents enjoyed street theatre, music, creative workshops and family-friendly activities that demonstrated how community-led action can make retrofit visible, engaging and accessible. The procession and festival created opportunities to meet new people, spark conversations about warmer, healthier homes and celebrate the creativity that exists across Balsall Heath.
The festival built on the momentum of our summer programme and showed how arts, culture and community action can inspire conversations about climate, housing and neighbourhood change.
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Retrofit House B12: Learning Together, One House at a Time
Retrofit House B12 has begun to tell its story.
Through Instagram, we have been sharing regular updates that follow the journey of transforming a typical Birmingham terrace into a warmer, healthier and lower-carbon home.
Rather than presenting retrofit as something only for experts, the project demonstrates what is possible using a combination of real-life grants, practical know-how and shared learning that is accessible to everyone.
One exciting next step at Retrofit House will see the resident builder Laz installing a new motorised rooflight, helping cool the house naturally during increasingly hot summer nights. This practical improvement demonstrates how retrofit can make homes more comfortable as our climate changes.
Follow the journey on Instagram: @retrofithouseB12
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Neighbours Sharing Retrofit Knowledge
In April, Residents came together at Retrofit House B12 to exchange practical experiences about improving older homes, discussing everything from insulation and heating to ventilation, energy bills and available funding.
A clear message emerged: insulation comes first. When heat loss is reduced, homes need smaller, lower-cost heating systems. Conversations covered roof and floor insulation, natural materials such as sheep's wool, draught-proofing with curtains behind front doors, and the importance of insulating roof spaces effectively.
Ventilation and keeping homes cool in summer generated plenty of interest too, with ideas including automated roof windows and smart ventilation systems.
Most importantly, the event demonstrated the value of neighbours learning from one another. Practical experience, local knowledge and open conversation remain some of our strongest tools for making retrofit accessible.
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Community Coordinator: Rachael Cox
We were delighted to work with Rachael Cox, coordinator of Celebrating Sanctuary Birmingham and a long-standing Balsall Heath resident, who joined Retrofit Balsall Heath in April as our freelance Community Coordinator.
Rachael led the coordination of our new Retrofit Community Connectors programme and teamed up with Jo Hindley to produce our series of events for Balsall Heath Community Festival.
It has been brilliant to have Rachael on board, and we hope this is the beginning of an ongoing collaboration!
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Rooted in Place: Sharing Our Learning Nationally
In May, Retrofit Balsall Heath travelled to Oxford to take part in Rooted in Place: Community Solutions for Housing & Climate Justice at Marmalade Festival.
Alongside organisations including Oxford Renters' Union, Rose Hill and Iffley Low Carbon Hub, Retrofit Balsall Heath co-coordinator Sara Khatun Mia shared our experience of neighbourhood-based retrofit, highlighting the importance of trust, peer-to-peer learning and resident leadership.
It was an inspiring opportunity to exchange ideas with community organisations from across the country and explore how local people can shape healthier, fairer and lower-carbon neighbourhoods.
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Learning from Other Communities
In June, Sara, John Christophers and Louise Scrivens joined colleagues from the National Retrofit Hub's Street Demonstrator cohort on a two-day learning visit to Leeds and Hull.
The trip included visits to Canopy Housing and Giroscope and learned about their inspiring work turning empty houses into affordable homes.
We also explored the Three Stages of Succession arts project and heard from Imagine Leeds about building fairer, more sustainable cities through community collaboration.
As always, some of the richest learning happened in conversations between sessions, where sharing experiences with organisations across the country sparked new ideas for Retrofit Balsall Heath.
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Thank you 💚
Everything we've achievaed over the past six months has been made possible through the generosity, curiosity and commitment of residents, volunteers, partners and supporters.
Whether you've attended a workshop, shared your retrofit experiences, supported as a Community Connector, helped make banners or stopped to chat at one of our Pop-Ups—thank you.
Together we're showing that retrofit isn't just about buildings. It's about people, relationships and creating healthier, more resilient communities for the future.
We look forward to seeing you at our AGM, online, or bumping into you in Balsall Heath soon! 🌼
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