Highland toilets charity faces 433% rise in energy costs

Community Out West runs public toilets in Kinlochewe in Wester Ross

A charity that runs public toilets in a Highland village says its annual electricity bill has gone up by more than 430%.

Community Out West took over the running of Kinlochewe's loos after they were closed by Highland Council as part of wider cuts five years ago.

The charity found out on Monday its energy costs would go up from £1,500 to £8,000 per year.

It relies on donations to keep the toilets open.

Community Out West's supplier, EDF, said the market was "unfortunately volatile" but that the charity had signed up to a a two-year fixed "peace of mind contract".

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Karen Twist, a director at the charity, said an email was received from EDF at 13:28 on Monday about the increased costs as part of a 24-month contract.

She said: "We were expecting our energy prices to rise, but we found out it was going to rise from about £1,500 a year to £7,753 a year. That was a big shock."

Mrs Twist said the charity was told it needed to make a decision on the quote by 16:00, or incur an additional £250.

Being a charity, all members of its trust needed to be involved in the decision making and the deadline was missed.

Mrs Twist said the current levels of donations would not cover the costs of running the toilets, including lighting and hand driers. She said other sources of additional funding would have to be sought.

She added: "We're deeply worried about it, we don't know if we can continue to keep the facility open."

The toilets are used by tourists and include facilities for disposing of chemical toilet waste from motorhomes.

People living around Kinlochewe also use the toilets when visiting the village to attend appointments.

Mrs Twist, who runs the Kinlochewe Hotel with her husband David, said: "We had thought everything was going well. We had got through Covid and we've got lots of visitors to our area, which is great."

She also said Community Out West's situation had left the trust wondering what increased energy costs other charities were now faced with.

EDF said: "All of our business contracts are bespoke and raised based on the individual company's circumstances.

"Unfortunately, due to current unprecedented market volatility, our contract quotes can only be valid for a short period of time.

"We're pleased to confirm the customer, Community Out West, has now signed up to a two-year fixed 'peace of mind' contract with EDF."