Futureproof Cumbria

Month: August 2023

  • Job: Project Manager – Community Retrofit and Renewables

    Job: Project Manager – Community Retrofit and Renewables

    With the ongoing growth of CAfS and an internal promotion, we are now recruiting for a new Project Manager to join our Low Carbon Communities team. This is a great opportunity to join our team of project managers delivering our Solar Made Easy and Retrofit Made Easy projects.

    About you

    You’ll use your brilliant communication and engagement skills to deliver complex information simply and concisely and encourage, support and manage contributions and opinions from multiple individuals in community groups. Your event and project management skills will ensure you successfully develop the projects, keep to budget, and manage quality and risk.

    About this role

    This Project Manager role will support our Community Retrofit and Renewables project, a programme which includes continuing the roll out of the Solar Made Easy project to new communities, and developing and delivering the Retrofit Made Easy project in five communities in Cumbria, including one farming community.

    Both projects work with local community sustainability groups to engage residents around installing solar PV panels and/or retrofitting their homes for energy efficiency. We organise community information events where we provide advice and give people opportunities to get further support.

    About the Low Carbon Communities Team

    Our Low Carbon Communities Team takes an area or sector-based approach, delivering carbon reduction projects uniting people through shared action and which provide benefits to their community. The term ‘community’ includes groups of residents or businesses or other groups with a common interest.

    Our team supports communities to deliver tried and tested reduction activities as well as to trial new approaches. We practice exemplary engagement, consultation and involvement techniques, transfer knowledge and skills and provide project management.

    To apply, please email your completed application form to us by 9am on Wednesday 4 October.

    Interviews will be held via Zoom on 10 & 11 October 2023.

    The interview process will also involve one or more tasks relating to the role.

    The important stuff

    • SALARY SCALE: £26,000 – £34,000 (FTE)

    • LOCATION: Flexible working patterns with blended home, site and office (Penrith) work.

    • HOURS: 22.5 – 37.5 hours a week, 3 – 5 days per week, subject to confirmation of additional funding and candidate preference.

    • START DATE AND DURATION: As soon as possible, fixed term to 31 October 2024 with potential for extension.

    You’ll love working at CAfS

    Working at CAfS comes with great benefits. You’ll be joining a friendly and supportive organisation, and your wellbeing and work:life balance are hugely important to us. As well as flexibility around your working hours and location, you’ll have 22 days of paid annual leave pro rata, plus bank/public holidays. We pay an employer pension contribution of 6% from day one of employment.

    What a job at CAfS offers you…

    • The opportunity to be on the frontline driving action on climate change as part of a respected organisation that is making a difference.

    • Collaboration with dedicated colleagues, communities, local authorities and other organisations who are striving towards the same goal.

    • A dynamic working environment in which we continually innovate to achieve the best outcomes for employees, communities and planet.

    • A consultative working culture where staff are encouraged to contribute to new developments.

    Our work culture and benefits…

    • We are a friendly and supportive team of colleagues and board of trustees

    • We are committed to equality, diversity and inclusion in all that we do.

    • We will provide the equipment you need to do your job.

    • Employee wellbeing is very important to us. We do what we can to help colleagues achieve a great work/life balance.

    • We have a flexible working policy and we use it. Most staff work part time so we are accustomed to managing different work patterns. Staff can also work at home where possible.

    • We invest in learning and development and encourage people to develop their skills and commit time and resources to development.

    Find out even more about the benefits of working at CAfS >

  • Press Release: Cumbrian homes get energy advice boost with £400k funding win

    Press Release: Cumbrian homes get energy advice boost with £400k funding win

    Local charity Cumbria Action for Sustainability (CAfS), widely recognised as the county’s trusted organisation for independent home energy advice, has been awarded over £390K by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero to expand their Cold to Cosy Homes service. One of only seven organisations in the North West to be funded, CAfS will be working with the North West Net Zero Hub to deliver the programme.

    James Johnson, Head of Regional Programme at North West Net Zero Hub said “The North West Net Zero Hub is delighted to be supporting Cumbria Action for Sustainability (CAfS), along with six other projects through the Local Energy Advice Demonstrator competition. This is exciting news for the North West, and a great opportunity for talented North West organisations to carry out innovative approaches, supporting residents to make homes warmer and bills cheaper.”

    The money awarded will be used to create at least 15 new jobs to help to expand CAfS in-demand Cold to Cosy Homes service, which gives free advice and energy saving equipment to a wide variety of households. The new funding will enable CAfS to offer bespoke, impartial home retrofit advice and guidance to nearly 800 vulnerable households over the next two years. This will be supported by a programme of events – online retrofit webinars, open homes events and Cold to Cosy Homes staff providing advice at community events.

    CAfS Home Energy Programme Manager, Andrew Northcott said, “Our well-established Cold to Cosy Homes Cumbria service has supported 5,500 people since its inception. This new funding will enable our team to support even more households with specific, detailed, and independent retrofit advice, making even more homes across Cumbria warmer, drier, healthier, and cheaper to heat. By making their homes more energy efficient, it will also reduce their carbon footprint, contributing to our ultimate aim of a zero carbon Cumbria by 2037.”

    The two-year funding means that CAfS can develop and enhance its current advice scheme by offering in-depth home retrofit advice to hard-to-reach consumers and hard-to-heat homes, houses that are often traditional stone-built properties, off the gas grid.

    Andrew continued “Adding to our existing team of expert advisers, we’ll be able to give advice on the traditional homes we have here in rural Cumbria, such as sympathetic wall insulation, improved ventilation, and low carbon heating sources such as heat pumps, or solar panels. We’ll also be able to signpost to grants and other government schemes.”

    CAfS are currently adding to their expert team to be able to deliver the project including Project Officers and contract Home Energy Advisers and potential applicants are encouraged to see more details.

  • Meet one of our new community climate champions

    Meet one of our new community climate champions

    Matthew Stemp joined our Climate Champions in the first call for volunteers, about three months ago.  He is a youth worker, who was interested in the programme as a way of meeting like-minded people in his area, and sharing his enthusiasm for making a difference with climate action. Here he explains how the first three months as a volunteer Climate Champion has gone.

    The first three months as a climate champion volunteer involved some training, we had some practical support like CAfS policies and data handling, and I also took one of their carbon literacy courses. All of this was very useful, but the Carbon Literacy course really surprised me in terms of the content and how practical it can be, providing me with resources and information that I can use in my role a climate champion. In fact, this inspired one of my first event ideas after reflecting on how heating our houses is responsible for a huge portion of Cumbria’s carbon footprint while also being connected to the cost of living crisis. I also met with Clare [ZCC Community Climate Champions coordinator] and other volunteers to develop my ideas and link up with other people and groups involved in climate action. 

    For my first go at community engagement, I’ve planned to run a workshop at an event in September which will explore how people can save energy and reduce costs with their housing. I’ve already made connections with a local eco-church network and will be engaging with young people locally to encourage them to attend and volunteer. I think that sometimes the best way to get communities involved in lowering carbon emissions is to link it in with areas such as saving money, community gardening and caring for nature. 

    There are challenges in this role; not everyone will have the time to give to a project like this and the geographical spread of Cumbria and lack of public transport can mean that it can be difficult to get good attendance at events. I was a bit surprised at how few people are involved in climate action locally, but this programme has already helped me to find others who are interested, and hopefully help me get a few more people involved. There is so much potential for our climate champion network as the group grows. For me, it’s all about joining the dots. 

    If you’re interested in getting involved and live or work in the Copeland area, you can find more here.

  • Contractor Opportunities: Home Energy Advisers

    Contractor Opportunities: Home Energy Advisers

    Home Energy Advisers

    Our Cold to Cosy Homes service is expanding to deliver even more free home energy advice across Cumbria. The service supports vulnerable people who may be living in cold, draughty, or damp homes. The eligibility requirements of Cold to Cosy Homes target households that either are already in or are at risk of falling into fuel poverty. It is open to all types of householders – homeowners, private renters and social housing tenants.

    To help us meet ambitious targets to make Cumbrian homes warmer, healthier and cheaper to heat, we are now recruiting for Home Energy Assessors in all areas of Cumbria. We’re looking for motivated individuals, with a commitment to supporting vulnerable clients, to join our fast growing team of advisers in delivering telephone and in-home energy advice. You will have excellent interpersonal skills, sensitivity to the needs of a diverse range of clients and enthusiasm to develop your knowledge of home energy efficiency.

    Key responsibilities and tasks:

    • Delivering energy advice by telephone, and in-person at people’s homes in Cumbria.
    • Identifying current insulation levels and heating system.
    • Identifying damp and mould issues.
    • Referring clients to relevant Heating and insulation schemes to further improve the efficiency of their home.
    • Installation of free simple energy-saving measures such as LED light bulbs, radiator reflector panels, and draught-proofing.
    • Tariff, Fuel debt and Smart meter advice.
    • Tips and advice on how to reduce energy.
    • Onward referrals to other organisations when required.
    • Provide a high quality of customer service, building a friendly. rapport with clients and a strong and credible reputation for Cold to Cosy Homes and CAfS.
    • Travelling independently around Cumbria to deliver the service.
    • Contribute positively to peer learning across our team of in-house and contractor energy advisors.
    • Contribute to the ongoing work of CAfS generally, including attending appropriate meetings and training sessions.
    Cold to Cosy Homes logo

    Our Cold to Cosy Homes service includes:

    • Advice about home energy efficiency by telephone and in-person at clients’ homes by trained CAfS employees and contractors.
    • Events and training about home energy efficiency for householders and volunteers.

    • The installation of energy efficiency measures such as low energy light bulbs, radiator reflector panels, and under door draught excluders..

    Our team of Home Energy Advisers work on a self-employed, sole-trader basis, providing their own insurance,  paying their own tax and National Insurance. You will need to commit to a minimum of two days a week for six home visits or ten advice calls, although we expect that there will be more work available! We experience our peak demand between September and March, with variations throughout the year. Unfortunately work is not guaranteed.

    A contract between CAfS and the contractor is agreed and signed before visits and/or calls can commence.

    Our Home Energy Advisors are part of our team, and are expected to participate in monthly training meetings, undergo regular quality assurance checks and relevant CPD training if required.

    How it works

    Visits and calls are arranged by CAfS Cold to Cosy Homes team for the adviser, for days that the adviser chooses and specifies as available (via our online calendar). Advisers should agree with Cold to Cosy Homes the days they are normally available, to enable the service to provide sufficient availability to meet demand across the team of advisers. Advisers can dictate the areas that they wish to work in – we encourage operating in your local area to limiting travel by car. Advisers are paid on completion of visits, calls, and events invoiced to CAfS monthly.

    Home Visits

    Home visits are typically 1.5 to 2 hours and experienced advisers can ordinarily complete up to three visits per day, depending on the geographical location of clients. The fee is £90 for a standard visit, which is fixed and covers all costs associated with visiting the client, including resource management, admin and travel time and costs.

    Telephone Advice Calls

    We expect our advisers to carry out two light touch advice calls in one hour, which including preparation and admin time. The fee is fixed at £15 per call.

    Events & Meetings

    Our advisers may be asked to attend events to help give advice, and are also required to attend internal meetings. This is covered by the standard hourly fee of £25 per hour.

    Essential skills and attributes:

    • Skills and experience of providing high-quality customer service.
    • Experience of working with a diverse range of people and communities.
    • Understanding of the issues households at risk of fuel poverty may face heating their homes.
    • Knowledge and understanding of sustainability issues and an interest in the objectives that CAfS seeks to deliver.
    • 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.
    • Ability to use remote working systems such as Teams, SharePoint and Microsoft Outlook
    • Good written communication and Microsoft Office skills.
    • Ability to travel independently throughout rural Cumbria.
    • Willingness to apply for a DBS check.
    • Willingness to undertake City & Guilds Level 3 Energy Awareness training and exam, as prerequisite for giving energy advice as part of the service.

    Desirable skills and experience:

    • Knowledge of domestic energy saving, the domestic energy market, tariff comparisons and switching, renewable energy and other schemes to help people save energy and afford their energy bills.
    • Experience of providing energy saving advice.
    • Experience of providing services to vulnerable households.
    • A qualification in providing energy advice – such as City & Guilds Level 3 Energy Awareness.
    • Experience of working with people from a wide variety of backgrounds, including vulnerable individuals and community groups.
    • Experience of working in a dispersed team and using Microsoft Teams or similar.
    • Practical experience of improving energy efficiency in domestic settings.

    CAfS are passionate about giving opportunities to those who might not be able to demonstrate all the skills and attributes for the role, which is why we seek applicants who can adapt and demonstrate the aptitude to learn. If you would like more information about the role, please email us.

    Apply now! >>>

    To apply as a contract Home Energy Adviser, submit your CV with a covering letter, or complete the application form. Email your submission to us as soon as possible to start the on-boarding process.

  • Take the CAfS Fundraising Challenge!

    Take the CAfS Fundraising Challenge!

    Are you looking for a challenge this summer?
    Summer is here and local architects Manning Elliott Partnership, are getting ready for their second fundraising challenge for us, a jaw-dropping 100km bike ride this August.
    Taking on a charity challenge, from swimming Cumbria’s lakes to having a zero-waste month, is a great way to do something you enjoy and raise money for a cause you care about all at the same time. It is easy to set-up a Facebook Fundraiser via your personal account to spread the word about your event and take donations. CAfS also have a JustGiving profile to make it easy for you to set up a fundraising page.
    We’ve just launched our new fundraising guide  which provides all the information you need to get started, including information on regulations, sponsorship forms and tips on ways to gain support.
    Interested, but don’t fancy organising your own challenge? There are plenty of organised events happening across Cumbria which provide fundraising opportunities for participants, just head on over to the Visit Lake District website for inspiration: Challenge Events – Visit Lake District
    If you have any questions or are interested in fundraising for CAfS this year, email our friendly team on [email protected].
    Good Luck!