BACKGROUND

The Eaton Hall campus is made up of the historic white house and the educational developments that were built in the mid-50s, making the building over sixty years old and parts of it over 200 years old. The fixtures, plumbing and heating systems are too of the same age and requiring continuous costly maintenance. The pipework throughout the building is old and corroding with ancient shut off valves no longer working. A simple task of changing the washer in a leaking tap can take considerable time as the water cannot be shut off by the valves and therefore requiring main water to be turned off or hot water system drained out each time. Central heating valves and thermostats are all now pretty much useless. Patch up work over the past twenty or thirty years has too not helped as the system required experts to maintain it and all such records were lost during the five years that this site was closed from 1991 to 1995 when Jamia Al-Karam acquired the site with your generous donations.

The entire water and heating system was run on old coal boilers which Jamia Al-Karam used for some years and then were forced to move to oil fired boilers. These boilers are now over ten years old too and due to their huge cost, they have been welded and repaired with new burners etc over the years. However, their efficiency is terribly poor at present. Jamia Al-Karam is spending nearly £8,000 every three weeks on oil, despite which our building still does not heat up correctly and the water temperatures are not meeting correct levels in all areas of the building. Separate boilers were added to the system for the prayer hall, however, over the years this has not helped efficiency as it was hoped.

Electrical supply in the boiler room requires major attention to the supply for the boilers and individual pumps and the timing control is historic to say the least. Since the boiler room is in the cellar where the old coal boilers were situated, the room is not pleasing to walk into, let alone work in. Jamia Al-Karam is struggling to get good engineers to work in the boiler room at a reasonable price for the room gives the immediate impression of being a problematic room!

As a result of the brief summary above, Jamia Al-Karam faces profound difficulty especially in the winter season when demand is high for this aging system and many students and their parents are aware of this reality and appreciative of the struggle, which is why many contributed to the double glazing of their child’s bedroom window.

POSSIBLITIES SO FAR

In February 2006, Jamia Al-Karam carried out an Asbestos survey and some of the lagging on the extensive pipework in the boiler was felt that it may have contained asbestos-like material inside the lagging. Removal of this was estimated at £20,000 and to seal the pipework lagging was £5,000; hence, Jamia Al-Karam had the suspected pipes sealed. To do any major work now to these pipes requires the correct removal of this lagging followed by testing of the room which has been quoted at £31,000 last month. Therefore, Jamia Al-Karam has thought of finding a way to fix the system without meddling with the pipework if at all possible.

In November 2012, the Vice-Principal visited the Royal National College for the Blind in Hereford, whose building was built at the same time as Eaton Hall and though larger, is very similar in design and system, and they had recently upgraded their boiler room and heating and water system. The Vice-Principal spent the day with their chief site engineer and thoroughly examined their work. It was indeed impressive to see what can be achieved even with this old building if the investment is made available. Thereafter, Jamia Al-Karam instructed a well-established firm who did their work to carry out a full analysis and survey of the Eaton Hall site which lasted for one full week and cost over £5,000. The report was detailed and very helpful. It identified many areas requiring attention and was clear that a major overhaul is imminent for this building. However, it made it also clear that the problem begins with the boiler room and the remedy has to begin from there too. Therefore, phase one must be a major upgrade and refurbishment of the boiler room. When done, Jamia Al-Karam can then move on to phase two which is to investigate the actual heating system and pipework, zone layouts and controls in the building as well as the actual boilers themselves. The estimate for this work from this established firm to upgrade the boiler room was quoted at £227,933. This was impossible for the institution to do.

Worried about the coming winter, Jamia Al-Karam contacted A Shade Greener Biomass and had extensive site surveys done during August and September 2013 to determine whether the building could be eligible for a completely free biomass system and benefit from the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) of the government which it has begun to offer commercial business in order to meet the national government emissions targets. After extensive surveys from the teams, Jamia Al-Karam was told that its demand is too high for this scheme, so it is not eligible.

As you can see, these options are not viable and too costly for the already financially struggling institution. You will also see that the future of this site is at stake, for if gradually these major refurbishments do not take place, the institution will be forced to close its operations at this site. The staff and leadership of Jamia Al-Karam are determined nevertheless. So, working closely with the experienced maintenance friends and with the continual guidance of the Founder and Principal, there are some cheaper options which Jamia Al-Karam can make use of and slowly remedy these difficulties.

THE NEXT STEP

Benefiting from all the surveys and reports thus far, Jamia Al-Karam has decided to carry out some basic work itself to save the cost and it is the belief that with these subtle changes, Jamia Al-Karam can make greater improvements for the benefit of the students who use this site. As mentioned in all reports that phase one must begin with a refurbishment plan of the boiler room and then move on to problems in the heating system later, phase one has been put together which will include the following among other things:

1. Complete new electrical installation throughout the boiler room and removing all electrical wiring and existing controls.

2. Complete new lighting system in the boiler room to illuminate this cellar room upon entry with every corner clearly visible and easy to work in.

3. New emergency lighting system in the boiler room to provide light in the event of a blackout.

4. New fire and smoke detection system in the boiler room.

5. New thermostat and water temperature controls connecting the water tanks and the boilers.

6. Welding and addition of heaters to the water tanks for rapid heat up and steady top ups.

7. Filling all old coal passages and adding new concrete flooring with rain water drainage systems.

8. Lagging on all pipes.

9. Removal of old prayer hall boilers and connecting system to main boilers.

10. Clearance of all non-related and aging matter and removal of all debris.

11. New smarter control panel to make controlling the system more efficient.

12. Installation of three commercial water/fan heaters in the prayer hall.

It is envisaged that the above work will vastly improve the boiler room condition allowing for engineers to work effectively in the future. It will also improve control of the system and will aid in meeting correct water temperatures throughout the water outlets. It will also ensure the boiler room is meeting the necessary regulations in terms of health and safety. To note that this work does not include replacing old pumps and valves and any boiler components or pipework. That shall all be in phase two and three.

For the above work for phase one, an immediate investment of £25,000 is now urgently required so that Jamia Al-Karam is more prepared for the coming winter season. The school can have the work done before the students return after the half term holidays at the end of October, in sha’ Allah, if your generous support is accompanying the project and the money is raised within days.

PLEASE HELP

We look to your support and generosity as sadaqah jariyah for a prophetic institution and in service of the students of knowledge beneath whose feet, the angels lay their wings. There is no doubt in our minds that the reward for such donations towards Jamia Al-Karam will be the cause of blessings to rain in this world and will count towards salvation in the hereafter. Thank you for your time in reading this appeal and may Allah accept your efforts.

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