The Green Enterprise Hub, a partnership project offering sustainability advice and consultancy to businesses and social enterprises across the Westmorland & Furness area leaves a lasting legacy after supporting 205 organisations with grant funding of nearly £215,000, and over 1,391 hours of support, saving an estimated 283 tonnes of CO2e per year, from grant allocations alone.
This is equivalent to over 2 million kilometres of driving or 484 roundtrip flights to Munich.
The Hub was led by Cumbria Action for Sustainability (CAfS) as part of an innovative delivery partnership, with support from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund and Westmorland and Furness Council. The Westmorland & Furness Green Enterprise Hub received £571,359 from the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund and was open to any industry sector, including the third sector, hospitality, manufacturing, retail and transport.
The funding allowed the Hub to support both small and medium sized businesses and social enterprises with free or subsidised tailored advice, training and grants, making the move to low carbon practices and technologies more affordable. Support and advice was provided by a number of partners and specialists from across the county, including the Cumbria Chamber of Commerce, Cumbria Tourism, Lancaster University and Electricity North West.
The support provided through the hub identified further carbon savings in addition to those associated with grants that organisations will be able to save as they implement their decarbonisation plans.
As part of the project Pennington’s Tea and Coffee based in Kendal, was awarded a grant for a Solar PV installation. They went on to secure a grant from another funding source to purchase an electric roaster, to help make their roasting process more sustainable.
Owner Gina Pennington says “In July 2024, we secured a grant to purchase an electric roaster. This means we can harness energy from the solar panels supported by the Green Enterprise Hub, to power the roaster, possibly making us the greenest roaster in the UK. The new kit will produce 30% extra in the same roasting time. We will not be using gas so our bills will reduce by £800 per month.”
Ulverston Sports and Recreation Association have used their energy audit to help apply for further funding to support their decarbonisation journey. The report gave them the information they needed to enable them to apply for a grant towards cavity wall and loft insulation, which they were successful in securing.
Owain Oxenham, Junior Co-ordinator at Ulverston Cricket Club says “The energy audit was an extremely easy process, taking up only a few hours. It drew our attention to an array of issues which were having a significant impact on our energy bills. It highlighted options to improve.”
You can read more about the positive impact of the Hub and local case studies at W&F Green Enterprise Hub – Success Stories
Whilst the helpdesk is set to close, the Green Enterprise Hub will continue. The Hub has shown that there are some fantastic resources and skills in Cumbrian organisations, and the partners will continue to deliver support once the funded project comes to an end on 14th March 2025.
The Green Enterprise Hub will continue to exist as an online resource, signposting businesses to help, support and partner resources.
Project Manager at Cumbria Action for Sustainability, Zoe Hebblethwaite, says, “It is so important that we all play our role in helping to contribute positively to tackle climate change. The Green Enterprise Hub offered a fantastic opportunity to help businesses and community groups make the right choice, helping create a pathway to a cleaner and greener, net zero future. It’s great to think that the partnership approach pioneered as part of Hub will have a lasting legacy”