Warriors of Warmth is taking up its tools in a battle to support cash-strapped charities. Professional Builder’s Lee Jones talks to the organisation’s founder, Jonathon Hallam.
The cost-of-living crisis has placed unprecedented pressures on households but what is often overlooked is the effect on charities. Whilst their services are in greater demand than ever, their income has been squeezed, and overheads have increased dramatically. One installer is determined to use his skills and connections in the heating and plumbing industry to help and the result is Warriors of Warmth.
“I’ve been working with charities through my church for many years,” explains the organisation’s founder, Jonathon Hallam. “It made sense to me to utilise my trade skills to support organisations that are helping others and, because the need is so great, we’ve grown very quickly.”
The Nottingham-based tradesman’s first foray into charitable heating and plumbing installations was in 2016 for the Monkey Park Community Hub. “We installed a full heating and hot water system at their Chesterfield site. Supported by leading industry suppliers, such as Alpha Boilers, Stelrad Radiators, Lawton Tubes, and John Guest, we were able to procure all the materials we needed. I then put a call out on social media and the response was overwhelming. It was clear from that one job that this was something we could replicate again and again.”
From that point on the WoW model was set. Utilising his 25 years of experience in the industry, Jonathon has been able to bring together his contacts in the trade – as well as at leading manufacturers – to assist charities in need. Today, he is helping organisations across the UK, but none of it would be possible without the tradespeople who give up their own time to work on projects, many of whom travel considerable distances to take part. “We undertook a project in Berkshire recently, and somebody came down from Scotland,” Jonathon reveals. “They’ll also often stay in hotel rooms at their own expense the night before. If you’re a self-employed tradie when you take a day out from the job you’re not earning, so their generosity is really incredible. We now have regulars that came back to us, and there’s a really good bond between everyone on site.”
Committed to the cause
As an indication of how committed he is to the cause himself, Jonathan combines his work on Warriors of Warmth, with running his own plumbing business, and lecturing at a local college, whilst he’s also a single parent. All that effort has, however, produced heartwarming results, with 22 installations already completed and many more still to come. “Over the years I’ve done quite a few on my own, and the largest to date was a derelict church conversion for a homeless shelter and food bank where, at its peak, we had 40 volunteers on site. The whole experience can be very emotional. My son and I fitted a boiler for a man who had set up a dog sanctuary and, when we were done, he broke down in tears in the street.”
The Warriors of Warmth team work on each project for a single day, ensuring that heating and hot water is installed in that timeframe. Any further work, such as insulation, is then the responsibility of the charity itself. “We’ve helped organisations that run food banks, work with the homeless and support the unemployed, but we’ve also greatly expanded the services we provide. We’re now offering free training materials on our website, for instance, as well as advice to charities on how to save energy, reduce their utility bills, and secure grants for additional renovations. We’re also planning on expanding our work in the mental health sector.”
So what’s the future for Warriors of Warmth? “If we’re going to help more then we need installers to know about what we’re doing” Jonathon concludes. “There’s a lot of generous people out there who are willing volunteers and if you get in touch then you can use your trade skills as a force for good.”
Do you know a charity that needs a new heating and hot water system? Or would you like to get involved in an installation yourself? Visit the Warriors of Warmth website for more information: Warriors of Warmth – Plumbing Heating, Charity, Revision Studies
Stelrad supports warriors of heat in Sheffield charity installation
The Warriors of Warmth group – led by installers Andy Cam and Jonathan Hallam – recently set about completing a charity project for Kreate, a centre for people with special needs to make items and sell them.
With the heating system in the large shop unit needing to be stripped out and replaced, Andy and Jonathan set about asking manufacturers for all the components required – and Stelrad was happy to contribute the radiators.
In addition to its volunteer installers, Warriors of Warmth bring a minibus full of plumbing and heating apprentices with them on every project. Each participant gets some free tools and a certificate to show they are committed to the cause. “The big thing for these projects is equipment donation,” declares Andy Cam, “and that is where the kindness and generosity of people like the team at Stelrad is vital to allow us to do this work,” he says.
For this project, the apprentices mainly came from locally based West Nottinghamshire College, near Mansfield and more than a dozen turned out to help complete the project.
“Whilst the provision of radiators for the project is our main involvement, we support Warriors of Warmth for the wider benefits of what they do,” says Stelrad’s Marketing Communications Manager, Sarah Baker. “We applaud the involvement of apprentices on the projects, giving them hands on opportunities to get really involved in an installation.”
For more information on Stelrad visit https://www.stelrad.com/.
