An observatory is relying on the power of fundraisers to help raise money to purchase and install a new turbine.

In the heart of Northumberland's Kielder Forest is Kielder Observatory, which is currently ran by a singular turbine.

The turbine was installed in 2008 when the site first opened and the observatory team say they need a new one - and soon.

Hannah Matterson, the operations and marketing director who is leading the project, said:"As we have grown as a charity, we now deliver over 700 events a year at the observatory," 

"The power supply from the current wind turbine just isn’t enough for us to keep doing this long term, so that’s why we need a new one."

"We use a turbine, as we are acutely aware of our environmental responsibility.

"It is a huge global issue, but we can make some small differences just from how we run our observatory.

"We don’t want to disturb any wildlife or any of the landscape around us, which would happen if we needed to install a direct power supply.

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Hexham Courant: KielderKielder (Image: Kielder)

"We are completely off-grid at Kielder Observatory - so using renewable energy resources is vital to being able to keep our telescopes working and our hot chocolates flowing."

"We always knew that we would need a new wind turbine at some point, but in the last 18 months we have faced some extreme weather conditions, especially the likes of Storm Arwen.

"We work hard to maintain and look after our infrastructure, but it’s escalated to the point where it no longer works as efficiently as we need it to, putting our events at risk. We are hoping to install a new one in 2023."

"We need to raise just over £32,000 too pay for a new wind turbine and its installation. It is not a small amount of money, especially for a charity of our size.

"Once we are able to purchase it, it should be installed fairly quicky."

If you would like to donate visit www.spacehive.com/kielder-observatory-wind-turbine