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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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CAfS catches up with Natural Cumbria

Have you come across Natural Cumbria yet? It's an online directory of sustainable businesses in the county. Emma from CAfS attended their first business network meeting last month, in the appropriately candlelit, wooden-floored surrounds of the Lancrigg Hotel. Natural Cumbria are very kindly raised funds for CAfS and the environmental charity Another Way at their sustainable Christmas market in Ambleside on 7 December 2019. Amy from Another Way gave a powerful talk on climate emergency and the need to take action. It was great to meet the fantastic range of businesses there.  There were health and wellbeing providers (from [...]

By |2020-01-24T14:37:08+00:00December 20th, 2019|News, Plastic-free|Comments Off on CAfS catches up with Natural Cumbria
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Kieran Macfadzean, CAfS TV

Well, hello there. I’m Kieran Macfadzean. You may remember me from such TV channels as That’s Cumbria. Dated Simpsons references aside, I’ve joined CAfS at the very tail end of 2019 to be given just enough time to learn where the teabags are kept before I’m sent away for my Christmas holidays. Once the tinsel is taken down though, I’ll be getting to work on the project to install electric vehicle charging points across the North West of England. I’ll also be supporting Jaki in the day-to-day running of the website as well as helping out in the [...]

By |2019-12-20T12:21:45+00:00December 20th, 2019|News|Comments Off on Kieran Macfadzean, CAfS TV
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Meet our new CEO!

We were very excited to welcome on board our new chief executive, Karen Mitchell, this month. Karen is now settling into her position at our helm, while her predecessor, Hazel Graham, gets busy in her new CAfS post, bringing some of the most influential organisations in Cumbria together to tackle climate change. Watch this space to hear more about what Hazel's been doing in the new year. Meanwhile, Karen shares her thoughts about the challenges and opportunities ahead for CAfS... I’m delighted to be writing to you as the new CEO of Cumbria Action for Sustainability. I have long [...]

By |2019-12-20T12:41:14+00:00December 20th, 2019|News|Comments Off on Meet our new CEO!
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Tips for a sustainable Christmas

With just a few days left for those Christmas preparations, here are our last-minute tips for celebrating this festive time of the year, without costing the Earth! Still looking for last-minute presents? There’s a big trend this year for buying experiences instead of physical gifts. Vouchers for local restaurants, theatres, cinemas and other venues are a great way to support your area’s businesses and they don’t come in wasteful packaging. If you’re wrapping physical gifts, try using some nice cloth material – it’s two gifts in one, as your recipient can reuse it. You can use narrow strips of [...]

By |2020-01-24T17:05:23+00:00December 20th, 2019|News, Plastic-free|Comments Off on Tips for a sustainable Christmas
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Ambleside to zero carbon – the story so far

Could Ambleside become a zero carbon community? That’s certainly the goal of the town’s sustainability organisation, Ambleside Action for a Future (AAFAF), and CAfS is helping to make it a reality. In 2019, we began a package of support for the town, thanks to support from South Lakeland District Council and the Space to Connect fund. Here’s a quick guide to what’s been happening. All in the plan What would it take for Ambleside to become carbon neutral? That’s the big question, and we’re helping to answer it. We’re creating a detailed, costed programme that would lead AAFAF towards [...]

By |2019-12-20T10:49:35+00:00December 5th, 2019|Ambleside to Zero, Community energy, Home energy efficiency, News, Renewable energy|Comments Off on Ambleside to zero carbon – the story so far
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Calling all teachers & young people!

Are you a young person or a teacher who'd like to take action on climate change in Cumbria? Please could you spare a few minutes to fill in our survey on how we can help you! We are planning to set up a programme of support for young people. There are grants out there that would make it possible for us to do this, but we need to show that there is a real need for our help, and an appetite to take action. That's where our surveys come in. There's one for teachers, and one for young people. By [...]

By |2019-12-05T09:32:18+00:00December 5th, 2019|Homepage, News, Youth|Comments Off on Calling all teachers & young people!
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Whitehaven coal mine – what’s happened so far & next steps

Efforts to prevent a new coal mine in Cumbria suffered a blow in November after the Secretary of State decided not to ‘call in’ the county council’s decision to approve the mine. We asked one of the campaigners against the mine to share an overview of what’s happened so far, and what the next steps might be in the battle to prevent it. Our thanks to Maggie Mason for contributing this guest post for us and sharing her unique insight, as a retired minerals planner at Cumbria County Council. CAfS strongly supports the views of campaigners that the new [...]

By |2019-12-11T09:48:36+00:00December 2nd, 2019|Climate politics, Fossil fuels, News|Comments Off on Whitehaven coal mine – what’s happened so far & next steps
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Raise funds for CAfS as you shop this Christmas

Did you know that when you shop online, you can raise funds for CAfS at no cost to you whatsoever? We always encourage you to consume as little stuff as possible, and to support local businesses for the things you really need to buy. But for those purchases that you need to make online, it's really easy to generate funds for CAfS. It's like giving a little Christmas present to the environment with every purchase you make. Shopping with most big online retailers Some of the biggest online retailers will make a small donation to CAfS when you shop [...]

By |2019-11-22T17:13:39+00:00November 22nd, 2019|Homepage, News|Comments Off on Raise funds for CAfS as you shop this Christmas
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General election 2019 – Ask your candidates the hard questions

We go to the polls on Thursday 12 December 2019 to elect new MPs for Cumbria and a new government for our country. Will it be a government that will take the transformational actions needed to cut the UK’s carbon emissions in time to halt damaging climate change? That’s up to us as voters. Climate science demands that every country reaches zero carbon by 2030. The next government is crucial - by the time another general election comes around, it will be too late to put in place the range of actions the science demands. This is our chance [...]

By |2019-12-17T15:30:38+00:00November 22nd, 2019|Climate politics, News|Comments Off on General election 2019 – Ask your candidates the hard questions
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