Our Community - Power Station, film event
Save the Date: December 7, 2025
Power Station Event at Your Hub
Your community hub is excited to host a screening of the inspirational, happy community-building film "Power Station." Join us to explore what a power transition looks like at our community energy engagement event. We will provide an evening theatre experience where attendees can relax at tables in our spacious community hall while enjoying the film.
The event will feature an introductory talk with free hot drinks on the similarities between the two communities' journeys. complimentary (free)food, and a Q&A session after the screening. where either Hilary or Dan the main film characters. are going to join the online Q&A for the Polmont screening on the 7th.
This screening is made possible by Friends of the Earth Scotland. The journey depicted in this inspirational film shares remarkable similarities with PCH own path toward community ownership, and the management team felt it was a great opportunity to showcase both the artists and our journey, along with what lies ahead for us all.
Visit the Power Station website at [https://power.film/] to check the map of screenings (we are on it) watch the trailer, and join us. This is going to be an amazing event!
Two artists in Walthamstow set out to take their street off the grid,
kickstarting a solar-powered energy revolution.
Inspired by lockdown mutual aid initiatives, artist-activists Hilary Powell and Dan
Edelstyn decided to turn their street into an energy-generating powerhouse – a
prototype for a new way of living, with the hope of galvanising a wider push
towards sustainable alternatives.
Directed by the duo, POWER STATION charts their turbulent journey, from pitching
the idea to their neighbours and sleeping on the roof of their home, to raising
finance and launching a bid for a Christmas number one single.
By turns funny and heart-warming, Powell and Edelstyn’s film is a vibrant portrait of
their local neighbourhood, and a charming testament to the power of art in
changing minds about what could be possible.
The similarities between the journeys of the two heroes in this film, Hillary and Dan, and the hub's management team, Kenny and Claire, are considerable. While Dan and Hillary are more popular and inspirational figures, Kenny and Claire have journeyed through experiences that make it feel as though we have shared their path.
The film begins at the end of the lockdown. At this time, Kenny was still working at the gas plant in Shetland. He felt disillusioned by the way multinational energy companies abused their power over communities, causing unnecessary waste and pollution. Although Kenny and Claire knew each other from a music festival and kept in touch, they were not a couple at that time. However, they shared countless values regarding the challenges facing communities at the end of the lockdown, and had lost friends and family due to it, SO it could be said that they have the lockdown to thank for the beginning of their relationship.
Initially, Kenny decided to leave the gas industry to cycle around the world on his own. He made it as far as COP26 in Glasgow, where he became a spokesperson for the Just Transition movement, initially on behalf of Friends of the Earth. He vividly remembers urging people to look up the "Every Street a Power Station" campaign online. This coincided with the announcement of the closure of the Greenpark Community Centre, which Kenny became actively involved in saving it, informing everyone who would listen that only retrofitting and energy transition could save the centre from closing.
As a spokesperson for the transition movement and trying to save the hub, Kenny would often tell people, "Have you heard of the couple who are turning their street into a power station? Go online and check them out; what they are doing is inspiring!" He would go on to say, "This could be achieved right here in Polmont."
Now, as we host a screening of this amazing film, it feels a bit surreal to be nearing a moment where solar panels will be coming to the hub, with just niggling commissioning problems similar to what Dan and Hillary experienced— But both are examples of what can be achieved when people come together. After the film, we’d love to hear your thoughts on whether you believe Kenny and Claire are Polmont’s version of Dan and Hillary, and also, obviously, how YOU can get involved
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