Futureproof Cumbria

Month: January 2022

  • New sustainability opportunities for young people created

    New sustainability opportunities for young people created

    As we emerge into a new year, emerging alongside us are many opportunities for engagement with young people on sustainability. Through the brilliant work of our Youth projects Coordinator Ceri, CAfS is looking to place the needs of this generation at the heart of the transition to net zero. We thought we’d give a little update on what sort of things young people can expect in 2022 from us.

    Work with schools and youth groups

    The new Greener Schools project has appointed environmental auditors who will shortly begin working with students in 16 primary and secondary schools on Cumbria’s west coast to lower carbon footprints (more on this soon). Subsidised spaces are being offered to teachers, governors and support staff in schools on CAfS’ carbon literacy training courses, who are welcome to join general sessions or request specific training for staff within one or more schools. To build on the momentum created by last October’s Cumbria Green Jobs Summit, CAfS is working with Friends of the Earth, CDEC (Cumbrian Development Education Centre), schools and youth groups to hear from young people on their specific needs and perceptions on living and working in the county, especially regarding opportunities and obstacles to be overcome as we move to net zero.

    New Youth Climate Café

    The Youth Climate Café aims to create a positive, friendly space for like-minded people of secondary school age to meet, support one another and share their experiences, including the positive action that they are taking – or would like to take – within their schools or local areas. The group meetings will also aim to help overcome the isolation that young people mention that they can sometimes feel when acting individually or in a small group in their area. The Climate Café will take place online to give young people a chance to meet from across the county. Although the meetings will be facilitated by CAfS, the aim is for it to be led by young people themselves. The first meeting is on Wednesday 9th February at 4.30pm. Please spread the word with young people you know that may be interested.

    Following-up young people’s recommendations

    We are following-up the recommendations made by young people at the Cumbria Youth Climate Summit. These extended from coverage of transport and building infrastructure, growing food, community involvement, improving public understanding of climate issues, climate action including lobbying of local MPs and impact on national government, through to improving the representation of young people in decisions made at local level. We are looking to actively involve young people across different sector groups represented across the Zero Carbon Cumbria Partnership, local authorities and community groups. Please get in touch if you know of opportunities that can support this involvement.

    For more information or to share ideas that can support young people on sustainability, please contact Ceri Holman, Youth Projects Coordinator: [email protected]

  • Zero Carbon Cumbria celebrates first birthday

    Zero Carbon Cumbria celebrates first birthday

    It’s been one whole year since the Zero Carbon Cumbria project first set sail, and we thought it would be worth taking a quick look back at what’s been achieved over the past 12 months.

    Firstly, for those new to the project, the Zero Carbon Cumbria Partnership (ZCCP to their friends) is a partnership of 80 organisations from across Cumbria and different sectors of society. Their aim is to drive Cumbria to becoming the first county with net-zero carbon emissions in the UK by 2037. On behalf of ZCCP, CAfS helped to secure a generous grant of £2.5 million from the National Lottery’s Climate Action Fund to help develop the partnership and deliver a range of community-led projects.

    Development

    The first order of business was to recruit the people who would run the project.  This included community action officers for Penrith Action for Community Transition (PACT), Sustainable Carlisle and Art Gene, as well staff based at CAfS itself and some of the other partners. We welcomed Hazel, Helen, Nigel, Ceri, Angie and John to the ZCCP team alongside increased support from our growing marketing and admin teams as well as our chief executive Karen. The Lake District National Park Authority (LDNPA) host David and Cumbria County Council host Tim and Natalie.

    This veritable army of folks has been developing the partnership since its kickoff. It is now co-chaired by Karen and Angela Jones and supported by Tim.

    Next up, we had to start thinking about how to let people know about the partnership and the work being undertaken through the Lottery funded project. A communications strategy was drawn up and a number of sector groups were established to focus on specific issues such as housing and waste.

    Delivery

    Like many things, ZCCP was initially restrained by the COVID-19 pandemic limiting the activities the team could be involved in. Through the second half 2021 however, a lot of community led delivery was carried out by the group. A lot of this action was centred on Great Big Green Week in September and COP26 in November and was carried out by Sustainable Carlisle, PACT, Art Gene and a huge number of people and community groups across the county.  The CAfS based staff met up with a team of film makers in Burneside in October as part of a COP26 tour, an event that featured on BBC Radio Cumbria and ITV Border news.

    The Carbon Literacy arm of ZCCP has been an outstanding success. New courses designed to inform keen individuals of the latest science around climate change have been developed and delivered to hundreds of people around Cumbria. These people have ranged from private interested citizens to councillors in local government. Every course has received incredible feedback and we’re delighted to see the evidence of the impact in terms of improved knowledge and influence.

    The Copeland People’s Panel was established of citizens of the region to learn about climate change and recommend policy to the district council and other key stakeholders. Recommendations so far have been very well received and include the prioritisation of green jobs and training, an overhaul of the public transport system and a net-zero carbon buildings policy.

    The Youth Climate Summit was attended by around 500 pupils from 15 schools. Youth representatives of the summit subsequently took the conclusions reached by the pupils and presented them to Karen and Councillor Tibble, Cumbria County Council’s policy holder for Climate Change as well as to the wider partnership.

    The Vista Veg project has been unstoppable as the grower’s cooperative becomes more and more popular. The team at Vista Veg grow seasonal food and deliver to their subscribers in a responsible and sustainable manner while also delivering healthy eating courses and growing clubs with local schools.

    Elsewhere in the county, Simply Repair have been undertaking research into Repair Cafés and encouraging those with broken and damaged goods to bring them to be fixed free of charge.

    Alongside all of this stuff going on in the real world, the team are also hard at work developing the framework needed to monitor and evaluate the project going forward, ensuring that we’re always keeping our eyes on the target of 2037.

    In short, the ZCCP team has been busy over the past 12 months. And with these early successes under their belt, it’s extremely exciting for all of us at CAfS to watch as bigger and bigger plans are made for the next few years of striving for a better, greener Cumbria.

  • Big Energy Saving Week celebrates our partnership

    Big Energy Saving Week celebrates our partnership

    This week (17 – 23 Jan) is Big Energy Saving Week and  one of our key partnerships is being celebrated for all it does to help residents keep hold of their cash during Winter.

    Cold to Cosy Homes is our large scale project that offers free independent energy advice and energy saving measures to vulnerable households.

    It has now offered advice and measures like draughtproofing to hundreds of households throughout the region, saving locals huge amounts of energy and money.

    Working in partnership with local authorities, this year the project has extended its reach to the entire county. Homelife Carlisle is one of these partners who similarly offer home improvement grants of up to £7,500 for households in need.

    Representatives from CAfS and Homelife Carlisle, a Home Improvement Agency, provided by Carlisle City Council, met with MP John Stevenson in Carlisle this week to discuss the work.

    January is usually the most difficult of months with homeowners experiencing a long wait until payday along with a higher demand on their home energy requirements due to the colder temperature.

    This year, families are experiencing even tougher conditions with energy prices skyrocketing leading them to have to make tough choices when it comes to the affordability of heating their homes.

    The best way to discover ways of how to reduce energy costs is to get independent, specialist advice and Cold to Cosy homes Cumbria offers that free to eligible households. They can also offer so much more in terms of support with switching suppliers or tariffs, installing smart meters or smaller measures like LED bulbs and radiator reflectors, draught proofing and sign posting on to larger measures which can lead to a reduction in bills of hundreds of pounds per year.

    Of course, it’s not just about saving money but reducing our carbon emissions and reducing energy use can go a long way in supporting the Cumbria target of becoming carbon neutral by 2037.

    Residents wishing to access energy saving support should contact Cold to Cosy Homes or Homelife Carlisle and they will be cross referred to receive the maximum support and guidance for their situation with just one phone call.

    Carlisle MP John Stevenson said: “This partnership is one of a number across Cumbria made by Cold to Cosy Homes which enables every household to get free independent advice, an example of how they are committed to reaching as many vulnerable and low-income households as possible during these difficult times.”

    CAfS representative Kieran Macfadzean said: “By working in close partnership with Homelife Carlisle we can offer a broad range of households sound, independent advice on all aspects of staying warm and reducing their energy bills. We often advise about support that may be available from Homelife Carlisle to achieve larger works such as insulation and installation of renewable heating systems.

    “In a time of escalating energy bills, we can all benefit from finding out how we can change our energy use and save ourselves some money.”

    In December 2021 a Cumbrian Sustainable Warmth consortium of district councils – that aims to address fuel poverty, improve energy efficiency and carbon savings – was told that they had received £19,955,000 funding from the UK Government.

    The application for the Sustainable Warmth Competition, was submitted on the consortium’s behalf by Carlisle City Council.

    The funding aims to boost the local economy to retrofit a target of 1,310, mainly private sector homes, with energy efficiency measures, including low-carbon heating across Cumbria.

    Carlisle City Cllr Paul Nedved, Portfolio holder for Economy, Enterprise and Housing, added “We would encourage any residents who would like energy advice or find out what grants are available for energy saving measures to get in contact with CAFS or Homelife Carlisle to see how we can assist you save energy and keep warm.

    “We will soon be launching a new grants scheme after we successful bid for government funding on behalf of the district councils in Cumbria. Keep an eye on www.carlisle.gov.uk/homelife for updates.”

    Households can find out more and apply at www.cosyhomes.org.uk or call 01768 216500 to talk to one of the team.