Advice for Community Groups
STOP PRESS!: 75% grant
funding for insulation of Village Halls & other community
buildings, up to £1000. See below for info.
We all impact climate change in our daily lives,
as we all use heating, electricity and transport fuels made from
fossil fuels. There are good cost-saving and quality of life
reasons why we would want to make the necessary changes away from
fossil fuel-dependence anyway!
As well as looking at the Advice for Individuals page,
travel planning and considering their
water footprint, people can carry out bigger actions &
projects as part of a community group - the project below is
specifically for community groups looking to take part in reducing
their carbon footprint & energy use together. There
is also a separate education page to
help teachers with resources for lessons on sustainability and
climate change, though the Green Neighbourhood Challenge
information below will also help.
The Green Neighbourhood Challenge
This project ended in January 2011, but all the
information, resources and website are still available to help
community groups to cut their carbon footprint, as is the funding
for insulating community buildings (see below for
more info).
The programme aims to raise awareness of what people
can do about climate change (and usually save money!) in their
daily lives, and has also produced materials that all
community groups can continue to use to go through a similar
process.
See the
Green
Neighbourhood Challenge website for support and information for
individuals and community groups to measure their own carbon
footprints and seek to reduce it - it has links to loads of useful
sources of information on how you and your community group can save
money and energy. Particularly useful is the
Greener Living Guide - a comprehensive
checklist covering all aspects of life highlighting what you can do
to reduce your carbon footprint, and how much carbon each change
you can make will save. Download it, or pop into the District
Council offices to pick one up.
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Through this project there is also
North Yorkshire
Village Hall Insulation Funding which is still available
(until end March!):
Does your Village Hall feel cold?
Do you feel the heat is disappearing through the walls and
ceiling?
If the answer is yes, it sounds like your hall needs insulation
and Yorkshire Energy Partnership is pleased to announce that
funding is available for insulation materials to help your Village
Hall feel warmer. Other Community buildings may also be eligible -
please call and ask.
Yorkshire Energy Partnership can offer 75% towards the
cost of the insulation - up to a maximum of £1,000,
subject to survey. If you feel your Village Hall could benefit from
this offer, please get in touch with Yorkshire Energy Partnership
to complete a quick application on 01904 554408 or
email rosie.hughes@energypartnerhsip.org.uk.
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Richmondshire's community group which took part in the
Green Neighbourhood
Challenge was a group of staff at the St John's Centre in
Catterick Garrison - they had an interest in finding out how to
live more sustainably, and were trying to cut their carbon
emissions by 11% in 2011. They competed against
groups in the other North Yorkshire districts, for a
small cash prize to go towards energy saving
improvements! Sadly they didn't win, but they're hoping to use
funding associated with the project
to get the centre's roof insulated.
The group had their carbon footprints measured by the
Stockholm Environment Institute at the University of York,
and attended a series of monthly workshops about how to
cut energy use and carbon emissions in different aspects of their
lives, such as:
- Increasing heating, energy and water efficiency.
- Reducing their amount of food and water waste.
- Changing their transport patterns.
- Incorporating renewable energy into their energy
use.
Yorkshire Dales Green Communities
The Green Communities project in the Yorkshire Dales LEADER
Area (the rural areas of Richmondshire, Craven and Harrogate
districts) aims to help specific villages and community groups work
together to reduce their carbon footprint.
Yorkshire Energy
Partnership is working with Newton le Willows and Raydale
in Richmondshire as well as villages in other part so the Dales but
can support other community groups with events/talks.
Some of the projects that communities have
carried out are:
- Village Energy Days with experts and
stallholders introducing insulation and renewable technologies to
residents who can ask questions and find out about whether they are
eligible for grants and deals.
- Energy audits of homes and community buildings
and advice given on cost effective improvements.
- An insulation project is underway to treat
homes with irregular-width stone cavities.
- Setting up oil buying co-operatives to reduce
fuel costs in off gas areas.
- Feasibility studies for community renewable
energy projects.
If your community would like some help to
tackle carbon reduction projects in the Yorkshire Dales LEADER area
then please get in touch with Project Coordinator Jill Armstrong on
01969 652391 or email Jill.Armstrong@energypartnership.org.uk.
Sources of information and
funding
Information and advice on environmental improvements and
funding sources for community organisations and buildings can be
found at:
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