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Sunny side up for Ambleside

Ninety per cent of Ambleside’s annual 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. Using [...]

By |2020-02-01T12:59:49+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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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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