Futureproof Cumbria

Year: 2021

  • Energy services to expand across Cumbria

    Energy services to expand across Cumbria

    We are delighted to announce that our home energy team has secured more funding from the Energy Saving Trust as part of round 10 of the Energy Redress funding.

    What this means in practise is that two of our projects, Cold to Cosy Homes and Retrofit for Cumbria, will be expanding their scope to serve more people in the county in improving energy efficiency.

    First of all, Cold to Cosy Homes will be taking on some new staff and extending the services it offers to parts of Cumbria that the popular service has yet to extensively reach.

    This means:

    • 3400 energy advice interactions via visits or enquiries that are free, impartial and high quality across Barrow, Allerdale and Copeland. The authorities in these districts are strongly backing this application to work with us on strategy, communications and referrals.
    • 1000 visits (in-person or virtual) will be carried out with energy saving measures installed in 90% of households -leading to warmer, healthier homes and residents, reductions in excess winter deaths, helping tackle affordability and the climate emergency directly.
    • A wide network of professional installers of energy saving measures will be developed to provide appropriate households with wide range of high quality / durable measures.
    • An expanded, active network of energy champions, recruited, trained and active in their work or community, providing energy advice and referring clients directly.
    • Further education of residents on how to keep warm, save energy and deal with dampness issues, helping them to make further changes and improvements themselves. This will lead to further improved health and well-being associated with improved warmth and comfort.
    • Residents being able to access additional funding for energy improvements (especially with our strong links and cross referral mechanisms with all local authorities).
    • An improved Cumbria wide home energy advice service, with a strong and recognised brand and a solid reputation for quality advice and tackling fuel poverty for many of the most vulnerable households. In the longer term, this will significantly improve our capacity, further streamlining processes and improving client services.

    Our Energy Efficiency Project Manager Andrew Northcott said: “Its superb news to hear about this new significant funding for Cold to Cosy Homes. It means we can substantially expand our scheme and help many people with fuel costs, winter warmth, advice on grants and help reduce carbon. We can now also provide the service widely to all districts of Cumbria, now including Barrow, Allerdale and Copeland.”

    In addition, Retrofit for Cumbria has also been graced with additional funding which will allow the project to develop a service, alongside Carbon Co-Op. URBED and key local communities, that supports householder centred energy retrofit.

    This service will be built on the findings of the Manchester based People Powered Retrofit project, undertaking research and establishing the systems, training and processes necessary to have:

    • An economically sustainable one-stop shop retrofit service in Cumbria.
    • Sufficient skilled contractors to provide quality deep retrofit measures in a wide variety of building types.
    • Increased householder confidence, trust and satisfaction in the local supply chain.
    • Unlocked £1.4million of spend on retrofit in Cumbria.
  • First public chargepoints in South Copeland launched

    First public chargepoints in South Copeland launched

    Thwaites Village Hall has become the first in South Copeland to install two community funded Electric Vehicle (EV) chargepoints as they place themselves on the cutting edge of the future of transport.

    The sockets are the first publicly accessible chargepoints to be activated in South Copeland and the installation marks a huge step forward for residents who may have been considering when they will switch to an EV.

    The people from Thwaites Village Hall are eager to welcome new visitors to the area who otherwise might not have been able to drive through as well as to provide a welcome service for the drivers who live in the surrounding area. They believe that the new infrastructure will help build confidence for drivers to visit the beautiful area in the knowledge a charging point is easily accessible.

    Chair of Thwaites Village Hall David Savage said:

    “The chargepoints are installed by community benefit society Charge My Street. This is part of an ongoing project to install EV chargepoints throughout Cumbria funded through a community share offer as well as funding from Innovate UK, the UK’s innovation agency.  We have welcomed this opportunity to be part of a growing and reliable infrastructure for electric vehicles.

    “Because the chargepoints are funded through these means, the installation did not cost the village hall any money at all”.

    Director of Charge My Street Daniel Heery said:

    “It’s been fantastic to work with Thwaites Village Hall for this installation. They have shown a real desire to do something for their community and that’s been obvious throughout.

    “So many of the large charging companies have been focused on installing chargepoints at motorway service stations on in big cities. This completely neglects those of us who live in villages or in terraced housing who just want somewhere to park an EV to charge overnight.

    The more chargepoints like these we get installed in communities like this, the more people will be able to switch to an EV from their petrol/diesel car, cutting carbon emissions and saving themselves money.”

    In 2030, the sale of new petrol and diesel cars will be banned and people will need to use alternative transport instead. For many who live in rural communities, a car is the only viable option for commuting so a robust charging infrastructure is a vital part of Cumbria’s future.

    Anyone wishing to suggest another site that would be a good host for a chargepoint should go to www.chargemystreet.co.uk/host

    This project is possible thanks to funding from Innovate UK and the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles.

  • Job: Project manager – Cold to Cosy Homes

    Job: Project manager – Cold to Cosy Homes

    Closing date: 9am, Thu 13 May 2021

    We are recruiting an experienced manager to deliver our Cold to Cosy Homes service, helping vulnerable households across Cumbria to save energy, save money and enjoy a warmer home. Thanks to new funding, we are expanding the service, and you’ll develop it and lead on increasing demand, to meet our new goals, while improving efficiency and outcomes.  

    You’ll also lead on generating income by developing our paid energy services, which support households with improving their property’s energy efficiency – from home energy audits to thermal imaging and events. You’ll raise additional funds and future contracts for this area of work. 

    Application & Interview Process

    Please apply by completing the application form below. We do not accept CVs. Guidance for submitting your application is included in the form.

    Application Form – Project Manager Cold to Cosy Homes

    Closing date for return of applications is 9am on 13 May 2021.

    Candidates shortlisted for interview will be informed by 14 May 2021.

    Interviews will be held via Zoom on 19 May 2021.

    Job description

    If you prefer to download the job description and person specification, please use the link below:

    Job Description – Project Manager Cold to Cosy Homes

    THE EMPLOYER: Cumbria Action for Sustainability (CAfS)

    LOCATION: Principally home working, with occasional meetings required in Cumbria and at our office in Penrith when Covid-19 restrictions allow. Eden Rural Foyer, Old London Road, Penrith, CA11 8ET.

    REPORTS TO: Programme Manager

    HOURS:  30 hours a week, with flexibility to be worked across 4 or 5 days.

    SALARY RANGE: £24,000 to £30,000 per annum full-time equivalent (£19,200 to £24,000 for the 30-hour week), depending on skills and experience.

    DURATION: Fixed-term contract to 30 April 2023.

    LEGAL RIGHT TO WORK: You must have a legal right to work in the UK as CAfS is not in a position to act as a sponsor.

    APPLICATIONS BY: 9am on 13 May 2021. Please apply using the application form. CVs will not be considered.

    BENEFITS: CAfS offers an excellent working environment, with benefits ranging from flexible working to a pension contribution. Find out more about the benefits of working at CAfS >

    ABOUT CAFS:

    Our vision is a zero-carbon Cumbria and we strive to bring about a better way of life, in balance with our environment.

    Our mission is to empower and enable people, communities and businesses to live and work more sustainably by sharing our knowledge, practice, skills, networks and practical experience. We manage and deliver events, advice, training and practical projects across the county as well as providing specialist consultancy services to enable individuals, communities, businesses and local authorities to drive a shift towards a zero-carbon Cumbria.

    Now in our 23rd year, CAfS is an award-winning charity with a team of more than 20 highly skilled staff, working with a pool of specialist contractors and volunteers to deliver around 20 low-carbon projects each year.

    CAfS showcases low-carbon living, energy-efficiency improvements, renewable technology and reduced use of fossil fuels, both on a domestic scale and in the community and is the first point of reference in the county for information on sustainability. CAfS is a dynamic, pro-active and responsive organisation delivering projects that drive real change towards a low carbon future.

    BACKGROUND TO COLD TO COSY HOMES

    Our Cold to Cosy Homes is expanding due to additional funding leading to a widening of the team to deliver expanded home energy advice services across all districts of Cumbria. Service includes:

    • Telephone enquiries, scheduled telephone and in-home energy advice provided by CAfS employees and a team of contractors.
    • Events and training for householders and volunteers.
    • Installation of energy measures by professional installers.

    Our paid-for services are also expanding with increasing range of services being offered to householders for energy audits and advice.

    MAIN PURPOSE OF ROLE: 

    To coordinate the delivery of CAfS’ Cold to Cosy Homes service and other winter warmth related work. Lead on developing CAfS’ paid energy services work.

    KEY AREAS OF RESPONSIBILITY:

    Lead the delivery of CAfS Cold to Cosy Homes service along with other winter warmth services to clients across Cumbria. Develop the service to meet new project requirements, service demand and to improve efficiencies and outcomes.  Generate income through sales of energy-efficiency related services such as energy audits, thermal imaging surveys and events. Raise additional funds and future contracts for this area of work.

    MAIN TASKS

    Service Delivery

    • Deliver Cold to Cosy Homes and other services by managing a team of employees and contractors.
    • Coordinate team activity and schedule work to deliver the services using available systems including CRM, telephony system, forecasts and management information.
    • Raise the profile of services and CAfS more widely through delivery of webinars, events and training for community groups and members of the public.
    • Provide high quality customer service on winter warmth by responding to enquiries and providing energy advice by telephone and online formats and in-home visits.

    Service Development

    • Develop team members’ skills, though guidance, coaching and training to improve service delivery and efficiency.
    • Lead the improvement of business processes and systems, such as CRM and Telephony to meet targets and expand service.
    • Scanning for new innovations in the area of home energy and winter warmth advice services.
    • Use project planning effectively to develop services and new project.
    • Lead on the development of resources for marketing winter warmth services and liaise with Marketing Team to develop clear and accurate information resources to support related projects, courses and events.

    Finance and Budgets

    • Manage budgets on a regular basis, submit reports to funders and update budgets appropriately.
    • Impact budget changes by revising team resourcing projections on colleagues’ contracts and/or recruitment.

    Forecasting, reporting and performance management

    • Ensuring weekly and monthly performance reports on service delivery are produced that inform day to day operations and inform CAfS management team and funders.
    • Write regular reports and evaluation to project funders, CAfS management team and CAfS Trustees.
    • Maintain high quality assurance through effective performance management, feedback and coaching of the team following in-house procedures.

    Partnership Working

    • Work with existing project partners and develop new partnerships to expand energy services across the area.
    • Lead regular partnership meetings chaired by CAfS as well as participate in meetings of stakeholders and funders.
    • Lead on developing the CAfS Energy Champion network.
    • Line manage team providing regular one to ones, coaching and support.
    • Work with Programme Manager to develop services.

    Others

    • To work with the rest of the staff team to carry out any other task or project required from time to time, as directed by the Manager or Trustees.
    • To contribute to the on-going work of CAfS generally, including attending appropriate networking meetings, team meetings and training sessions.
    • Raise additional funds alongside Programme Manager, other CAfS Project Managers and the Development Manager to expand services provided.
    • Deputise for Programme Manager occasionally.

    PERSON SPECIFICATION

    Essential skills and attributes: 

    • Proven experience in a leadership role providing customer service delivery.
    • Proven budgetary experience in a service delivery setting, including writing budgets.
    • Proven experience in project planning, organising, financial analysis, risk management, and management information.
    • Report writing and monitoring and evaluation of multiple projects.
    • Experience complying with GDPR and ensuring systems and team activities are compliant.
    • Research skills and capturing and sharing learning.
    • Ability to deliver workshops and speak confidently to a wide range of audiences.
    • Experience of tendering, letting and managing contracts and writing funding and partnership agreements.
    • Experience providing quality assurance and complaint handling in a service delivery environment.
    • Experience providing performance management and delivering high quality customer service.
    • Empathy with clients and building empathetic approach within team.
    • Excellent communication and IT skills.
    • Ability and willingness to prioritise, work to deadlines and juggle multiple priorities.
    • Ability to work flexibly including evening and weekend working by agreement.
    • Demonstrable knowledge and understanding of sustainability issues and an interest in the objectives that CAfS seeks to deliver.
    • Ability to travel independently throughout rural Cumbria.

    Desirable criteria

    The following attributes are desirable but not essential:

    • Experience of securing grant funding and tenders.
    • Experience of contact centre coordination roles, including scheduling, call monitoring or similar in a customer service delivery roles.
    • Remote working and networking.
    • Organising events and workshops including online events.
    • Providing home energy advice and appropriate qualification.
    • An existing network of contacts in Cumbria or demonstrable ability to build networks rapidly.

    If you would like more information about the role, please email: [email protected].

  • Job: Project officer – Cold to Cosy Homes

    Job: Project officer – Cold to Cosy Homes

    Closing date: 9am, Thu 13 May 2021

    Join our busy team delivering Cold to Cosy Homes Cumbria and other energy-advice projects to vulnerable households across Cumbria. Our Cold to Cosy Homes service provides energy-saving advice to households along with installing energy-saving measures to save on costs, cut carbon and enjoy a cosier home. The role includes promoting the service to our network of volunteers and organisations across Cumbria and providing advice by telephone and at home visits. The role also includes analysing demand for advice, visits and installations and coordinating with our team of advisors and installers.

    Application & Interview Process

    Please apply by completing the application form below. We do not accept CVs. Guidance for submitting your application is included in the form.

    Application Form – Project Officer Cold to Cosy Homes

    Closing date for return of applications is 9am on 13 May 2021.

    Candidates shortlisted for interview will be informed by 17 May 2021.

    Interviews will be held via Zoom on 25 May 2021.

    Job description

    If you prefer to download the job description and person specification, please use the link below:

    Job description – Project Officer Cold to Cosy Homes

    EMPLOYER:  Cumbria Action for Sustainability (CAfS)

    LOCATION:  Principally home working, with meetings required in Cumbria and at our office in Penrith when Covid-19 restrictions allow. Eden Rural Foyer, Old London Road, Penrith, CA11 8ET.

    REPORTS TO:  Project Manager Cold to Cosy Homes

    HOURS:  22.5 hours a week, with flexibility to be worked across 3 to 5 days.

    SALARY RANGE:  £21,000 to £25,000 per annum full-time equivalent, (£12,600 to £15,000 for the 22.5-hour week) depending on skills and experience.

    DURATION:  Fixed-term contract to 30 April 2022 (with potential for extension subject to funding).

    LEGAL RIGHT TO WORK: You must have a legal right to work in the UK as CAfS is not in a position to act as a sponsor.

    APPLICATIONS BY: 9am on 13 May 2021. Please apply using the application form. CVs will not be considered.

    BENEFITS: CAfS offers an excellent working environment, with benefits ranging from flexible working to a pension contribution. Find out more about the benefits of working at CAfS >

    ABOUT CAFS:

    Our vision is a zero-carbon Cumbria and we strive to bring about a better way of life, in balance with our environment.

    Our mission is to empower and enable people, communities and businesses to live and work more sustainably by sharing our knowledge, practice, skills, networks and practical experience. We manage and deliver events, advice, training and practical projects across the county as well as providing specialist consultancy services to enable individuals, communities, businesses and local authorities to drive a shift towards a zero-carbon Cumbria.

    Now in our 23rd year, CAfS is an award-winning charity with a team of more than 20 highly skilled staff, working with a pool of specialist contractors and volunteers to deliver around 20 low-carbon projects each year.

    CAfS showcases low-carbon living, energy-efficiency improvements, renewable technology and reduced use of fossil fuels, both on a domestic scale and in the community and is the first point of reference in the county for information on sustainability. CAfS is a dynamic, pro-active and responsive organisation delivering projects that drive real change towards a low carbon future.

    BACKGROUND TO COLD TO COSY HOMES

    Our Cold to Cosy Homes is expanding due to additional funding leading to a widening of the team to deliver expanded home energy advice services across all districts of Cumbria. Service includes:

    • Telephone enquiries, scheduled telephone and in-home energy advice provided by CAfS employees and a team of contractors.
    • Events and training for householders and volunteers.
    • Installation of energy measures by professional installers.

    Our paid-for services are also expanding with increasing range of services being offered to householders for energy audits and advice.

    MAIN PURPOSE OF ROLE:

    To work with other team members to deliver the Cold to Cosy Homes Cumbria service and other winter warmth related work, to vulnerable households across Cumbria. Assist in the delivery of other CAfS energy services.

    KEY AREAS OF RESPONSIBILITY:

    • Expand and implement the Cold to Cosy Homes Cumbria project across all districts in Cumbria – expanding to all areas with a specific focus on Allerdale, Barrow and Copeland districts.
    • Promote Cold to Cosy Homes and other household energy related services widely to residents and partner organisations across Cumbria.
    • Provide a programme of energy advice by phone, online and through visits to vulnerable households throughout Cumbria.
    • Provide a high quality of customer service, building a friendly rapport with clients and a strong and credible reputation for the advice service and CAfS.
    • Coordinate and support our team of professional energy advisors to provide telephone based advice and visits.
    • Coordinate installation of energy measures in homes through our trusted contractors.
    • Deliver energy advice events for people at risk of fuel poverty.
    • Provide clear and accurate home-energy-related information and advice to clients by phone, video, at events and in their homes.
    • Build partnerships across community groups and beyond to engage with and promote services.
    • Support a range of CAfS’ energy services including energy audits and household energy retrofit services.

    MAIN TASKS

    Service Delivery

    • Coordinate advisor schedules for availability for telephone and visit slots.
    • Monitor enquiry and referral volumes, response times and performance and take appropriate action to resolve issues.
    • Support virtual team of advisors with skills training and coaching in call handling and client visits.
    • Handle inbound and outbound client calls and online enquiries, bookings and energy advice.
    • Visit clients in their homes to conduct energy assessments.
    • Deliver a series of energy-saving advice sessions online and at venues throughout Cumbria that help promote services, and actively take referrals.
    • Coordinate marketing through a wide range of channels and contacts, with the support of the CAfS marketing manager.
    • Deliver promotional webinar talks and short training sessions to small groups of people (householders and referral partners) with practical advice on CAfS’ schemes and how customers can benefit and be referred.
    • Assist in training a network of volunteer energy champions to promote energy-efficiency advice in their locality.
    • Support delivery of energy measures and draughtproofing services to homes, by promoting to clients, handling referrals, and liaising with other partners and organisations that provide client visits and fitting service.
    • Provide monitoring and evaluation of activities to meet reporting processes, measure success and inform future funding bids.

    Service Development

    • Collaborate with the energy efficiency manager to strategically develop the project to ensure maximum reach.
    • Assist with the development of Customer Relationship Management system to handle contacts with clients, team members and contractors.
    • Develop other information resources to support the project.

    Partnership Working

    • Build networks with partner organisations across Cumbria and beyond to widen the uptake of CAfS’ services by vulnerable groups.
    • Coordinate regular partnership meetings chaired by CAfS by organising, inviting delegates, preparing agendas and distributing and following up on delegates actions.
    • Participate in meetings of stakeholders and funders.

    Others

    • Research energy-efficiency-related issues and latest schemes to help homeowners with energy saving and fuel costs.
    • Act as a conduit for information to individuals on other CAfS projects.
    • Collaborate at times with the wider CAfS team to carry out other relevant tasks or projects required from time to time.
    • Contribute to the ongoing work of CAfS generally, including attending appropriate networking meetings, team meetings and training sessions.

     

    PERSON SPECIFICATION

    Essential skills and attributes:

    • Demonstrable skills and experience of providing high-quality customer service in a service-delivery environment.
    • Empathy and discretion in providing services to vulnerable clients.
    • Strong team player and capability to work cooperatively as part of a small team as well as on own initiative without day-to-day supervision.
    • Excellent communication skills, to network and reach out to communities and organisations supporting vulnerable customers and to provide clear energy-efficiency advice.
    • Good knowledge of energy saving in homes, and the issues that vulnerable people can have in heating their homes.
    • Good knowledge of energy retrofit options, the domestic energy market, tariff comparisons and switching and other schemes.
    • Demonstrable knowledge and understanding of sustainability issues and an interest in the objectives that CAfS seeks to deliver.
    • Ability to deliver workshops (online and face to face) and speak confidently to small groups.
    • Experience of planning, organising and scheduling events.
    • Excellent written communication and IT skills.
    • Ability to work to tight deadlines and juggle multiple priorities.
    • Ability to work flexibly including evening and weekend working by agreement.
    • Ability to travel independently throughout rural Cumbria.

    Desirable criteria

    The following attributes are desirable but not essential:

    • Experience providing energy saving advice.
    • Experience of working in or with local authorities, housing association tenants or organisation supporting households and knowledge of social housing.
    • Experience providing services to vulnerable households.
    • Qualification in providing energy advice – City & Guilds Level 3 Energy Awareness.
    • Experience of contact centre coordination roles, including scheduling, call monitoring or similar in a customer service delivery role.
    • Experience working with people from a wide variety of backgrounds, including vulnerable individuals and community groups.
    • Practical experience of improving energy efficiency in domestic settings.
    • An existing network of contacts in Cumbria or demonstrable ability to build networks rapidly.
    • Additional experience / qualification in energy auditing/thermography.
    • Budgeting and project management experience.
    • Experience of securing grant funding and tenders.

    If you would like more information about the role, please email: [email protected].

  • Donate today and your money will be doubled!

    Donate today and your money will be doubled!

    We’re very excited here at CAfS to announce that we have been lucky enough to be chosen as one of 100 environmental charities that will take part in The Big Give’s Green Match Fund!

    This means that for every donation that we receive this week  (22-29 April), the money will be doubled by our benefactor The Oglesby Charitable Trust.

    Our donations page is now live and our generous supporters can make one donation with twice the impact!

    This is our Race To Zero campaign as the money will go towards boosting our ability to reach more people across Cumbria as we work towards our net-zero carbon goal in the lead-up to Cop26 in November.

    We have a campaign target of £5000 which means that only £2500 in donations needs to be raised.

    If you have any spare cash that you can donate to the campaign, we would be indescribably grateful if you could do so during the week in question. The money you donate will be immediately doubled and so please give what you can and let the match funding do the rest.

    The inaugural Green Match Fund campaign has been organised by the Big Give, the UK’s biggest online match funding platform in partnership with the Environmental Funders Network (EFN). All public donations made to participating charities via theBigGive.org.uk during the week of the campaign (22-29 April) will be matched up to a specific amount. Both the Big Give and EFN’s belief is that bringing charities together in a larger campaign tied into World Earth Day will help draw attention to environmental issues as well as help raise vital funds ahead of the important milestones which will occur this year e.g. COP26

  • How to improve your green spaces

    How to improve your green spaces

    We recently received an inquiry from a partner organisation about what measures they could take to improve the green spaces they manage from a carbon reduction perspective.

    The green spaces we keep can aid a helping hand in negating some of the emissions we produce by taking carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. They’re also invaluable in ensuring that local wildlife has plenty of habitation space and on top of all that, they just look nice!

    Our colleague Roe has been doing some digging and unearthed a few resources that anyone who’s looking to make a  bigger environmental impact with their green spaces could make use of and we thought they were too good not to share.

    Firstly, we’re talking hedgerows. This article in the Guardian illustrates the astounding benefits that our 500,000km of hedgerows does for the biodiversity of the UK and how this can help us reach net zero.

    Next, meadow planting is similarly rife with benefits for biodiversity (especially that of invertebrates) as well as combining the forces of not buying annual plants grown in peat-based compost (a huge market that has a detrimental impact on precious peat resources and carbon sequestration) and the lack of pesticides and fertilisers in a natural meadow.

    This concise read demonstrates the myriad of benefits the movement to restore Britain’s meadows could bring.

    This piece in Plantlife, a very useful resource in itself, goes into the reasoning behind finding alternatives to peat-based compost to limit the damage done to our carbon sequestration and also how your favourite plants are unlikely to need them anyway.

    Anyone looking for practical experience completed recently need look no farther than Newcastle City Council’s report on managing urban meadows. This doesn’t go into detail on carbon but contains a lot of useful info on specific plants and management guidance.

    Finally, there’s plenty of useful info at Magnificent Meadows which contains sets of resources for whatever your green goals are.

    We hope that this information can prove useful to anyone who is thinking about how to maximise their green spaces potential for environmental conservation and huge thanks to Roe for pulling together all these resources!

  • Calling all Fellfoot community buildings!

    Calling all Fellfoot community buildings!

    The Fellfoot Forward scheme can support community buildings to change to a low carbon, sustainable way of life and focus on opportunities to retrofit and renovate in harmony with the environment, utilising renewable energy, choosing natural materials, and nurturing an ethos of reduce, reuse, repair and recycle.

    Grant funding support is available via the Fellfoot Forward Landscape Partnership Scheme to help community buildings of heritage value in the area who want to make energy efficiency improvements to the fabric of their building and for user comfort. This could include but is not exclusive to; roof, floor or wall insulation, heat pumps, double glazing, LED replacement lighting systems, traditional lime plaster, water saving devices and solar PV installation.

    The Heritage Community Buildings Fund is administered by CAfS and grants are available for groups and organisations who are involved in community heritage buildings projects that benefit the sustainability and well-being of Fellfoot communities.

    Please get in touch if you are planning energy conservation renovation works and improvements to a community building and would like support. Email Roe Baker [email protected] by 1 July 2021 in the first instance to check eligibility and to discuss potential projects.

    Need Inspiration? Join us on 22 April at 7pm

    As part of the Fellfoot Forward Community Buildings Project, volunteers Tom Speight and Richard Johnstone will share their experience of restoring the Watson Institute in Castle Carrock.

    Book your place here

  • Ambleside to Zero – what we’ve learned so far

    Ambleside to Zero – what we’ve learned so far

    by Molly Hogg, Low carbon communities project manager

    CAfS is proud to have supported Ambleside Action for a Future (AAFAF) for the past two years. Established in late 2018, this local sustainability action group has grown to over 100 members and is committed to reducing the whole town’s carbon footprint to net zero by 2030.

    Their outstanding ambition is being backed by South Lakeland District Council (SLDC). They see this as an opportunity to develop a whole-place approach to community decarbonisation that can be expanded across the district and replicated elsewhere.

    SLDC engaged CAfS to support AAFAF to shape their community energy project and to introduce carbon footprinting to households and businesses. (See our other article on our new carbon calculators for more information).

    But this is by no means the full extent of AAFAF’s activity, which includes community growing and lobbying for a sustainable transport system in the Lake District. Several members are also tireless activists campaigning for policy change and protesting against environmentally damaging proposals. The principles behind the group’s approach are to tackle the problem from all angles and provide opportunities for everyone to get involved and benefit.

    I’ve been working with AAFAF since August 2020 and here are three things I’ve learned so far.

    1. There’s more than one way to deliver community energy.

    Ambleside is an old town in a conservation area with an attractive roofscape and narrow streets and surrounded by the Lake District fells – beautiful, but not great for wind farms, big ground-mounted solar arrays or district heating.

    Within this context, CAfS supported AAFAF to review their options, looking at technologies, sites and delivery models. Together we engaged a Lancaster University student to map the whole town’s roof-top potential for solar photovoltaics (PV).  He found that the combined potential of all roofs could produce up to 60% of Ambleside’s electricity demand. This, alongside the limited potential for other technologies, led us to pursue solar PV.

    Initially, we imagined that we would set up a community energy company to deliver the solar PV. However, we learned from community energy veterans that, now that the Feed-in-Tariff subsidy is no longer available, financial viability requires a committed lead organisation with a big roof and high electricity consumption. As Ambleside’s PV potential mostly comes from a high number of smaller roofs, we needed a different approach.

    The Big Solar Co-op Pioneer Programme offers one solution. Working across the country to achieve economies of scale and balance risk, this programme plans to fund solar PV installations via a national share offer. Whilst a national approach, they are seeking to involve communities as much as possible, such as having local sustainability groups act as liaison officers with installation sites and community members join the energy company board. We hope to deliver installations on some non-domestic buildings via this route.

    A second solution we are pursuing is to set up a domestic solar PV bulk-buying scheme, to maximise the number of individuals investing in renewables for their own property. AAFAF is keen to explore ways of supporting those who are less able to pay as the next step.

    In parallel, we need to “power-down” while “powering-up” with renewables. AAFAF has secured funding for a thermal imaging camera and associated training and will be offering free surveys to homeowners to highlight where their homes could be leaking heat. The surveyors will then signpost homeowners to CAfS’ energy team or other professionals to explore these areas further. Finally, we’ll be working with the supply chain to make it easier for homeowners to get the work done.

    1. You need a good strategy for getting the whole town involved.

    To succeed in reaching zero carbon, the whole town needs to be involved. So how can that be achieved? We don’t have the all the answers yet, but a strategy is beginning to emerge.

    Part of it is awareness raising. We need to make sure that everyone knows what initiatives are happening, why they’re needed and how to get involved. We also need to raise awareness around residents’ and businesses’ individual environmental impacts and how to reduce them – our carbon footprint calculators and carbon reduction advice are aimed at this.

    Part is persuading people to act. We need to create a shared vision and sell the co-benefits as much as the environmental ones, as these might have an equal or even greater appeal. Businesses will be keen to hear about cost and reputational benefits that can arise from operating sustainably, and community-focused organisations will be interested in residents’ health and wellbeing.

    Part is getting across the message that “your town needs you”. A member of AAFAF very wisely cautioned that we should not come across as too professional otherwise people will be inclined to leave it in our capable hands. The trick is to be organised enough to be effective, whilst maintaining a clear grassroots approach.

    The last part is to create multiple opportunities for varying levels of involvement and action to suit different people, so that the call for shared responsibility is not off-putting. Even having people involved to a small extent can create a groundswell that influences others and leads to wider behaviour change.

    1. Be ready to seize funding opportunities.

    Delivering the Ambleside to Zero vision involves cost. We need technical support in relation to the energy projects and communication and marketing support to help get the whole town on board and improve our systems so we can sustain the engagement in the longer term.

    There are several funding sources around. We’ve applied for a few and have had some successes and some failures – some we’re still waiting to find out about. Deadlines for applications are often short, so you need to be ready to apply when you have your chance. My advice would be to identify what funding you need (or what projects you could deliver if you had funding), research and anticipate opportunities and check eligibility criteria.

    As a starting point, the funds we have explored include the Rural Community Energy Fund, the ENW Powering our Communities Fund, Cumbria Community Foundation, MCS Fund, Aviva Community Fund, Cadent Foundation Fund and the Energy Redress Fund.

    This new financial year brings very welcome new funding from SLDC which will allow us to start some of this technical and community engagement work. We’ll keep you posted.

  • Good take up of the new CAfS carbon footprint calculators!

    Good take up of the new CAfS carbon footprint calculators!

    We‘re delighted to see good, early enthusiasm for our new carbon footprint calculators that were launched in early March 2021. Since then, they’ve already been used by 50 households and 10 businesses. You can find the calculators on our website here. They are available to use, for free, across Cumbria and Lancashire. One is for households and one is for businesses, both based on the same model.

    Measuring your carbon footprint is a great way of understanding the size of your environmental impact, specifically, how much greenhouse gas you are emitting from your daily activities or from your business. What’s even more useful is to understand the relative impacts of different activities, for example, do most of your emissions come from the food you eat, the car you drive or the way you power your house?

    Our calculators allow you to enter data against each of these areas, and many more, so you can find the answers to these questions. All you need to do before starting is gather some information, such as how much electricity you have used and how many miles you have travelled in different modes of transport. The calculator is then easy to follow and ends with a results page that gives you the information you need to prioritise where to start cutting emissions.

    The beauty of the calculator is that it also allows you to experiment. If you are considering reducing the amount of meat on your menus, for example, you can change your inputs and see how much carbon you save. You might also want to look at the impact of taking less flights or switching to electric cars.

    Your data is saved. This means that you can revisit it the following year and remeasure your emissions to see if you have managed to reduce your footprint. This is particularly useful if you have a specific target for the reduction that you have committed to achieve.

    Our dedicated webpage gives instructions and video tutorials on how to use the calculators. But calculating is just the first step – on our other pages you will find advice on how to reduce your carbon emissions, and our events page is constantly updated with new support sessions.

    The carbon footprint calculators have been funded by South Lakeland District Council and developed by Carbon Footprint Ltd. CAfS was supported in the development phase by Ambleside Action for a Future, who are promoting the use of the calculators in their community.

  • Cumbria bicycle mayor launches Penrith chargepoint

    Cumbria bicycle mayor launches Penrith chargepoint

    Two electric vehicle chargepoints and two charging sockets for e-bikes have been installed at Blain House in Penrith.

    The electric vehicle chargepoints are the latest in a series of similar installations by Lancaster based community benefit society Charge My Street who, over the past year, have launched chargepoints in Carlisle, Kendal, Barrow and Aspatria among others.

    This is the first of the installations to have integrated charging facilities for e-bikes, a prospect that Richard Ingham, Cumbria’s bicycle mayor saw as an important step forward.

    He said: “It makes a statement that cyclists, whether they be on e-bikes or non-assisted bikes are welcome here which is important for Penrith because it lies on the coast-to-coast, the UK’s most popular cycle route.

    “It’s becoming increasingly apparent that transport has a very large contribution to our carbon footprint and poor air quality in town centers. Cycling and walking for our daily short journeys is a really good way to reduce our car use and tackle those issues. Cycling and walking to school, work and local shops is also a great opportunity to be more active and healthy.”

    The chargepoints are located at Blain House, headquarters of Eden Housing Association on Bridge Lane. Using share offer funds as well as government contributions, Charge My Street installed the chargepoints at no cost to EHA who is delighted to have the chargepoint live and in-use.

    John Clasper the Chief Executive of EHA said: “We’re really excited to see the chargepoint up and running. The idea was introduced to us that we could do something for our staff and visitors as well as members of the public who either already drive an EV or want to switch to one.

    “Eden Housing Association is a community organisation, and it was a no-brainer for us to make use of the space we have in order to better serve the community at large.”

    Charge My Street is currently leading a campaign to have 100 chargepoints installed throughout Cumbria and Lancashire at willing host sites. Anyone who owns a car parking space that they are willing to open to the public to charge in is encouraged to apply on their website and volunteer as the next chargepoint host.

    Director of Charge My Street Daniel Heery said: “We work with lots of different site hosts and we really look for organisations whose values align with ours and Eden Housing Association have a real commitment to reducing their emissions and helping to build a more sustainable economy for Cumbria.

    “It’s great that we’ve got this spot so close to the main road. It provides all the people who live around here or work in the nearby hospital a place to charge their cars that they may not otherwise have had, especially if they live in terraced housing without a driveway.”

    Anyone wishing to become a host site for a new chargepoint should go to www.chargemystreet.co.uk/host

    This project is possible thanks to grant funding from Innovate UK and the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles.