195 properties connected so far

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195 properties connected so far

on June 08, 2023

Crook becomes a Voucher Priority Area

Great news: the government's DCMS GIGABIT VOUCHER SCHEME team has confirmed the Crook B4RN project is a PRIORITY AREA PROJECT and can continue to apply for voucher funding for hyperfast broadband. They have effectively, for us, scrapped the original deadline, allowing us further access to government funding as we sign up more members of the community to take B4RN’s superior community-driven service. B4RN CEO Michael Lee says “This decision marks a significant change for your project. Prior to this, we expected all voucher applications to be paused from 24th September for up to a year - a decision that brought the viability of many of our projects into doubt. This is no longer the case, thanks, in no small part, to the huge effort to drive sign-up ahead of this deadline, which was a vital part of securing voucher priority status for your project” This is great news for the future of the project and means it’s full steam ahead! We can now move on to the next stage of our project

September 8th - Digging house ducts at Box Tree

Today I joined Pete Simm and team of 6 volunteer diggers at Box Tree. In total there are ~320 properties for the volunteers and B4RN contractors to dig, fit and connect and today's house is number 9. Eric set the team up well, with tarps laid out and the garden wall and house ducts dug. Our goal was to dig a trench from the boundary wall to the house, and lay 7mm duct... and leave Chris' garden as we found it. We had the trench dug, duct laid and back-filled before the rain - perfect time to take shelter in Eric's shed and enjoy Pippa's flapjacks And after the break the team dug another trench. This was my first dig day as a volunteer and it was fun and a great way to get fitter! Pete made it easy for me to be involved, with clear joining instructions, offers of tools and organising the team so we worked well together. I enjoyed getting to know my neighbours, eating cake, discovering new parts of the Crook area and playing a small part in bringing the fibre ser

Crook B4RN Smashes Sign up Target

We're incredibly buoyed to have signed up a total of 64% of the properties in Crook to Get B4RN - smashing our 50% target - and numbers continue to rise. Huge thanks to all of you for your continued support. In what we expect to be more good news for Crook, B4RN have managed to secure a deal whereby the voucher scheme will remain open for some areas. This should mean that as more people sign up, B4RN can apply for vouchers for eligible properties, adding further to the pot for the whole community. This follows a vigorous lobbying campaign by volunteers, in Crook and elsewhere, alongside B4RN HQ and championed by Tim Farron MP. Tim managed to convene a special debate in Westminster last week at which he successfully argued the case for extension to the new minister responsible for the roll out of gigabit broadband across the UK, Julia Lopez. He received cross party support. B4RN are now working with DCMS to determine which B4RN communities can be counted as "Voucher Priority Ar

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