The project has attracted quite a bit of interest, here we detail some of the press coverage we have received.
This list is now very out of date.

• Share Applications received were over £97,000 We have done it!
  What happens now? If you've applied for shares you should have been contacted to confirm receipt of the application.
• We were featured in the Big Issue in the North in the 25th Feb 2008 issue and appeared again in a follow up article.
• We are now featured by Friends of the Earth as a brainy way to beat climate change here
• Several articles have appear in the Buxton Advertiser, the Stockport Express and the Glossop Chronicle in January and February.

• On April 30th, director Till Geiger spoke with H2oPE's Steve Welsh to a public meeting in Sheffield. They are looking to start a community owned hydro electric scheme.

• In March, director Till Geiger spoke to the AGM of the One World Festival.
  Till gave an update on the scheme to an interested audience. Torrs Hydro hope to have a stall at the One World Festival, hopefully running Torrs to the site. 

• East Midlands Development Agency (EMDA) grant of £75,000 confirmed. This is excellent news; without this money the project just wouldn't have got off the ground.

• The Co-operative fund have agreed to a grant of £45,000. This is fantastic news and will help with the funding enormously.

• bbc.co.uk news item including the North West tonight report

• BBC Radio 4's You and Yours have come to see us. Download the 7 minute mp3 report here

Secretary Richard Body being interviewed
by John Thorne from BBC Radio 4
Photo: Paul Devereaux

• BBC2's Working Lunch programme have come to meet us, see the programme here
• We have had media studies students from Sheffield University visit us. We hope to have their reports here soon.
• Press Coverage Guardian Article 7 Nov 07
• In November 2007, Richard Body, the Secretary and founding director, gave a talk on the project to a keen audience at St. Andrew's Church, Hadfield.

Financing the scheme

The total cost of the project in the prospectus was £226,000. We have received £60,000 more in grant help than we hoped for when writing the prospectus. The prospectus had the share offer as £126,000. We got over £97,000 in share applications from just over 200 applications. Over 50% of the applications are from New Mills, which shows just how the town has got behind the project.
What this means is that we can build the scheme with this subscription level. There are still some of the financial details for the directors to confirm so we can't say much more. We do know that because of the Euro exchange rate the screw (which is coming from Germany) will cost around £10,000 more than expected.

New Mills School Visit

Directors of Torrs Hydro went into New Mills School Business and Enterprise College on 15th Jan to talk about the scheme to sixth form Geography students. Maggie Cole and Richard Body showed the students around the site and explained the scheme and its benefits to the environment and local community. The students then prepared a pitch for an investment from the school's Young Chamber. Thankfully the Young Chamber voted unanimously to buy shares.

Teachers and pupils from New Mills School 6th Form on a very wet tour of the site

One Year On

One year ago the hydro scheme was just an idea and the first exhibition about the scheme was held by Water Power Enterprises (h₂oPE) at the Heritage Information Centre on the 20^th and 21^st January, 2007. Since then, progress has been rapid. Planning permission has been obtained and the Environment Agency has given full approval. The scheme has all party backing and Torrs Hydro New Mills Ltd, an Industrial and Provident Society which will own the Hydro plant, has been established. The Peak District National Park has donated £15,000 to the scheme and the Co-Op Group have just announced that they are donating a grant of £45,000 to the scheme. During the summer of 2007 the details of the share offer by which local people (and beyond) could buy shares in Torrs Hydro New Mills were finalised and the share offer went public on 23^rd November, 2007.

Richard Body, one of the founding directors of Torrs Hydro New Mills said, ‘It’s hard to believe how much progress we’ve made. It’s down to local people who are committed to local action on climate change and who believe in the scheme. We’re very excited about the new year which will see the first green electricity produced in New Mills on such a scale.’

Steve Welsh of Water Power Enterprises said, ‘We’re fully behind the scheme and are impressed with the commitment shown by local people. The Town Council have been very supportive and we remain optimistic that work will start on the scheme in March of this year. This scheme will save the equivalent of 13 million car miles in its lifetime. It will be a tremendous local resource and will be one more feather in the cap for New Mills.’

The exhibition was a huge success, around 140 people came, many with their share applications. The directors collected £7,250 on the day from 20 applications. Many had travelled from far afield to visit, including a visitor from the Eden Project. The exhibition included a working model of the Archimedean screw as well as an opportunity to view the plans and talk to the directors. Tours of the site were also arranged during the day.

Richard Body said of the day, ‘That was fantastic, people were so positive about the scheme and handing me their share applications from all angles''

One Year On Group discussing the hydro electric scheme at the Heritage Centre. If you look carefully you can see Steve Welsh from Water Power Enterprises, Tom Levitt MP, the model Archimedean screw and all four of the founding directors of Torrs Hydro New Mills - Till, Maggie, Esther and Richard. Photo: Copyright Steve Essex