Warriors of Warmth (WOW) is a charitable initiative founded by Nottingham-based heating engineer Jonathon Hallam, who is dedicating his expertise to delivering heating and hot water systems to charities that work to improve their local community. We talked to Jonathon about how this operates and how the industry can contribute to its charitable aims.
What is Warriors of Warmth?
JH It’s an installer-led effort to give free heating and plumbing goods and services to charities who are making massive differences in their communities. I’ve always been involved in charitable activities through my church but realised that donating my professional skills could make the biggest impact.
How did it come about?
JH It follows on from the Heroes of Heat charity install initiative I was involved in, and from there I founded WOW with the aim of fighting fuel poverty and promoting community spirit. WOW’s work has done that, and so much more. These charities get nervous about overheads and running costs, so as a heating engineer I can give them reassurance, saying, “I’m here now, I’m going to back you up, it’s going to be fine”.
What kind of charities has WOW helped so far?
JH Since 2019 we’ve done work for about five charities – new boilers and system upgrades – plus the 10 or so a month who are getting free consultancy services on energy efficiency. It’s helping homeless shelters, food banks, and community centres, many of which have no heating or hot water facilities at all.
The main issue with charities is that they have to fight for every penny of funding they get, and now with the cost of living crisis, people don’t have any spare income to donate.
How does a project come together?
JH It begins with identifying a charity in need, and from there it’s a lot like any normal project – surveying, specifying, and carrying out the work. The biggest difference is securing the resources. I rely on other installers to donate their trade for a day and, importantly, manufacturers and merchants to donate the products we need to make it all happen.
So how do you find willing installers?
JH Partly personal connections, partly appeals on social media. There are several engineers I can always count on, like Andy Cam and Lee Brown, whose expertise and industry connections make them invaluable. I also ask installers on Twitter and Facebook to sign up for a fantastic day of giving back with their trade.
How hard is it getting donations from manufacturers?
JH WOW has been up and running in some difficult times, first with the pandemic and now the cost of living crisis, so you can imagine it hasn’t always been easy! But manufacturers are absolutely essential to the success of the projects – it couldn’t happen without their generosity.
I advise the charities we are helping on the funding they can apply for to pay for some portion of the project, but equipment donations are indispensable. We need thousands of pounds worth of materials on each project, and every penny the charity saves on materials will go back into the community instead.
How do you convince manufacturers to donate?
JH For me, personally, the payoff is the feel-good factor – that sense of knowing it’s making the lives of others better. I accept that may not be a top priority for manufacturers, so to them I say it’s a great way to reach a variety of potential customers with their brand, and not just experienced installers. We also get lots of apprentices who come along on the day, who may not have any brand loyalty yet. They will remember that, for example, Fernox donated product and sent reps to site to provide training and support. It could make them a customer for the rest of their working life!
So companies who donate can potentially get their brand message out?
JH Absolutely! We get press coverage, both local and trade, so it’s a great marketing opportunity. Plus, members of the community come along, and they take note of companies that give. So do the trustees and governors of the charity we are helping. By supporting the ‘WOW Factor’, a manufacturer’s products will be seen by lots of people, and I’ll promote their brands on the Warriors of Warmth website.
Tell us about a recent project.
JH The last one was in Barnsley at a community hall. We installed six toilets, two boilers, and 11 radiators. It was such a hectic day, starting at 8am with engineers grafting in the boiler room. They took out three old boilers and put in two new ones – a combi for the caretaker’s house and a system boiler for heating and hot water to the hall.
We also put insulation in to improve the U-values. It’s a hundred-year-old building, so all this work will save them a fortune in gas and heating bills.
What kind of response did you get from the industry?
JH We had fantastic support from manufacturers. ATAG donated the boilers and sent one of their reps along on the day. The expansion vessel came from IMI Hydronic Engineering, controls from EPH, and the radiators from Stelrad.
As for the installers, we had some absolute legends, like Andy Cam, Damon Blakemore, and Allen Hart, who donated their trade for the day.
All of this sounds like a lot of hard work. How do you manage?
JH I am a single parent and I work full-time, so for me running Warriors of Warmth on top of all that can be incredibly stressful. It’s like having another full time job. It takes months to organise a project, but it all has to be completed in a single day, so everything has to be incredibly organised.
It’s got to the stage where I need more than labour and materials donations, though. I want to take WOW to the next level, and for that I need different kinds of expertise. So far it has operated as an informal giving scheme, and we’re working on formalising it. Still, there’s a mountain of paperwork behind each project – everything is well documented – and I could really use some volunteers to help with admin.
There are other areas where people could give their valuable experience, like bookkeeping, marketing and even legal support. There are so many ways to give to WOW, and I invite everyone to consider what they might have to offer.
What’s your next project?
JH It’s a big one in Windsor, our biggest project to date. It operates as a homeless shelter and food bank and does amazing things for the community. People can go there for showers, have a meal, a place to sleep, even get mentoring on things like how to manage finances and how to cook.
The Windsor site doesn’t have a heating system at all now. The previous one didn’t meet regulations, and there was also an asbestos problem that had to be addressed. I’ve got to supply the heating system and get the installers on board.
On the day, I’ll take a minibus from my local college full of students who will have a learning opportunity. They will spend a day working with experienced installers and get training from manufacturer reps. At the end of it they’ll get a certificate and some free tools as an award for attending.
What do you need for the Windsor project?
JH The big thing is equipment donations, so anyone, whether it’s a manufacturer or merchant or anyone with the ability to give, please get in touch.
Alpha has been brilliant and donated a boiler, Triton has pitched in two showers, and a couple of long-time friends of WOW – EPH Controls and Fernox – have also given generously.
Now what we need is an expansion vessel for the heating system, 12 radiators for the hall, sanitaryware, washbasins, taps, and WCs. So if you have any of these items to donate, or if you can sell it to us at cost, please get in touch. Anything you can do to help keep the cost down. The money this charity saves on these upgrades will instead go to their core mission of supplying vital services to the community.
