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A message from our chief executive

How the world has changed in a short space of time. In these unprecedented times, we hope that you and your families are safe and well. We’re very much thinking about all of our supporters, as you deal with the impacts of the Coronavirus pandemic on every aspect of your lives – not least economically and socially. Even in dark times, there are some positive things to celebrate. Across Cumbria, we’ve seen individuals and communities coming together to support each other, with overwhelming responses to appeals for volunteers. People are innovating and embracing technology to stay connected with each [...]

By |2020-04-03T16:16:28+01:00April 3rd, 2020|Homepage, News|Comments Off on A message from our chief executive
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Cold to Cosy Homes scheme responds to Covid-19

Our Cold to Cosy Homes Cumbria service has been modified in response to the Coronavirus situation. We are currently offering only the free-of-charge emergency service to vulnerable households whose gas boiler has broken down. Call free to the LEAP call centre on 0800 060 7565 to find out if you or someone you know could be eligible for a free boiler replacement. This emergency boiler scheme, called ECHO, will run for the next few weeks, until the fund is used up. The scheme is aimed at households that are vulnerable and need immediate assistance to stay warm and well [...]

By |2020-03-19T11:07:10+00:00March 19th, 2020|Draughtproofing, Home energy efficiency, Homepage, News|Comments Off on Cold to Cosy Homes scheme responds to Covid-19
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Coronavirus – CAfS response

Last updated: Friday 3 April 2020 We have had to take the decision to pause many of our projects for the next few months, in response to the Coronavirus pandemic. Much of our work involves community engagement, which can’t continue at the moment. We are still here, however, and working behind the scenes, albeit with temporarily reduced staffing. CAfS events In keeping with the latest government advice, our events in April and May have been cancelled: the LILAC community housing event the Carbon and climate literacy training the final two parts of our Retrofitting for energy efficiency level 4 course [...]

By |2020-04-03T15:57:13+01:00March 16th, 2020|Homepage, News|Comments Off on Coronavirus – CAfS response
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Focus group informs EV project

In last months newsletter and on our website, we put out an appeal for electric vehicle owners and non-EV owners alike to lend us their experiences and perceptions and the response we received was heartily enthusiastic! Dozens of respondents told us how they would happily give us some insight into their views on EVs, so we asked them to do exactly that over a pizza and a pint at Kendal’s Brewery Arts Centre. Because we had a wealth of respondents to choose from and only a small amount of space, we sent out invites to those who lived fairly locally [...]

By |2020-02-27T15:40:48+00:00February 27th, 2020|Electric vehicles, Homepage, News|Comments Off on Focus group informs EV project
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EV chargepoint share offer under way

About a month ago, we mentioned that we would soon be supporting the launch of a unique community share offer that aims to change sustainable transport in the North West. Well, the launch has been and gone and the Charge My Street share offer is NOW OPEN as anyone who follows our social media should already be well aware. We’ve tweeted and Facebooked about little else since the offer went live on the 24th. We're like a new mother or Piers Morgan after a Greggs vegan pastry reveal. It closes on 31 March so you can expect to hear more [...]

By |2020-02-28T12:52:09+00:00February 27th, 2020|Community energy, Electric vehicles, Homepage, News|Comments Off on EV chargepoint share offer under way
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Sunny side up for Ambleside

Sixty per cent of Ambleside’s annual domestic energy consumption could be powered with solar PV systems. That’s according to a study done by Alex Boyd who came into the CAfS office recently to present his findings to a wide-eyed audience of our staff. Alex’s aim was to produce a workable methodology to create large-scale assessments of roof space for solar panels using publicly available data. The lakeside town was chosen as the guinea pig for this study as part of the Ambleside to Zero programme, but the method was designed to apply to any town on the map. [...]

By |2020-02-17T16:44:56+00:00February 1st, 2020|Ambleside to Zero, Homepage, News, Renewable energy|Comments Off on Sunny side up for Ambleside
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Calling all EV drivers & wannabes!

Do you drive an electric vehicle (EV) or do you want to? We’re looking for drivers to take part in a focus group about life as the owner of an EV. In particular, we’re looking for people who own an EV but can’t install a charger at their home. Maybe you live in an apartment or terraced home without a driveway, for example. We would love to know how you manage! Maybe your workplace has EV chargers. Perhaps you’re extremely good at time management. Maybe you’re Elon Musk and have just moved to a terraced maisonette in Staveley. [...]

By |2020-01-31T18:15:14+00:00January 31st, 2020|Electric vehicles, Homepage, News|Comments Off on Calling all EV drivers & wannabes!
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Sharing is caring

A community share offer will be opening soon for Charge My Street, an enterprise that funds the installation of community-owned electric vehicle (EV) charge points. In the coming year, Charge My Street will be installing 200 charge points throughout the north of England, working with a range of partners, including CAfS. It's all part of a programme funded by Innovate UK. The aim is for the charge points to be funded through a public share offer run by Charge My Street. Communities and individuals who make an investment will therefore own a part of the expanding charge point [...]

By |2020-01-31T17:01:19+00:00January 31st, 2020|Community energy, Electric vehicles, Homepage, News|Comments Off on Sharing is caring
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Meet the Zero Carbon Cumbria Partnership

Sixty Cumbrian organisations are working together to drive down the county’s carbon emissions, co-chaired by Hazel Graham from CAfS. Here’s our at-a-glance guide to the Zero Carbon Cumbria Partnership, and what it aims to do. What’s the partnership for? The Zero Carbon Cumbria Partnership includes a wide range of organisations with a key role to play in decarbonising the county at the pace and scale required by climate science, and ensuring that Cumbria benefits from the opportunities this brings. The purpose of the group is to plan and oversee a radical programme of action that will enable Cumbria to [...]

By |2020-01-30T15:48:05+00:00January 30th, 2020|Homepage, News, Zero Carbon Cumbria Partnership|Comments Off on Meet the Zero Carbon Cumbria Partnership
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MPs join CAfS for Big Energy Saving Week 2020

It was a meeting of old friends and new on Friday as CAfS’ Cold to Cosy Homes officers teamed up with local MPs to spread the word to shoppers. This was in aid of Big Energy Saving Week 2020, a national campaign to help people cut energy bills with the support they need. This was very fitting for Andrew and Tina who have celebrating energy saving week for a few months by this point. At Morrisons in Penrith, Neil Hudson, the new MP for Penrith and the Border, spent just under an hour with Tina and Gemma from [...]

By |2020-01-24T17:09:35+00:00January 24th, 2020|Draughtproofing, Home energy efficiency, Homepage, News|Comments Off on MPs join CAfS for Big Energy Saving Week 2020
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