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We are delighted to announce that our application to the Big Give to match fund our annual appeal has been successful! Between 20th-27th April every donation we receive will be doubled, meaning twice the climate action will be made possible here in Cumbria! 

Last year, our fantastic supporters helped us to raise a massive £12,241 for our Big Cumbrian Climate Challenge campaign. Our infographic shows some of the amazing climate action we achieved over the year. From youth work to community energy projects to smashing carbon literacy targets, our supporters help make positive climate change a reality here in Cumbria. A big thank you to everyone who has helped make our work possible by donating, coming to events, volunteering and spreading the word! 

If you would like to get involved and show your support for climate action in Cumbria, you can pledge your intention to donate to our upcoming appeal here today. This will allow us to send you a reminder along with the donation link as soon as the appeal is launched. 

Click here to pledge your support. Thank you! 

Manning Elliot partnership, an architects firm based in Penrith, have chosen to partner with CAfS as their charity for 2023. They are planning fundraising activities throughout the year that will help support our efforts to combat climate change. 

Manning Elliot specialise in creating bespoke, forward thinking, and sustainable architecture.  

Director Nick Bailey said: “Our role as architects is filled with responsibility, this being towards our clients, our projects, our design ethos and very significantly towards our environment and the inherent impact our designs have upon our communities and the way we live and work. 

“Delivering sustainability and promoting design concepts that engender sustainable processes and solutions that promote the use of green technology and reduce our carbon reliance, remain core tenets of our thinking. 

“We believe that in supporting CAfS, we can help our clients to embrace and better understand the choices that we make, and to promote and encourage the greener technologies that are available to us. 

“This might be done through sustainable design, further promoting recycling of materials, or less reliance upon fossil fuels for lighting, heating and transportation. 

“We will be undertaking various activities during the course of this year, including sponsorship and fundraising, to support Cumbria Action for Sustainability, and we will also be encouraging our clients to assist us with that support.” 

Some of the activities planned for throughout the year include a hike up Helvelyn, a 20 mile walk around Lake Ullswater and then a 100km cycle ride. 

We are thrilled to have been chosen as Manning Elliott’s charity of the year and are excited about the potential impact of the initiative. The funds raised will go directly towards supporting our projects which are vital in the fight against the impact of climate change in Cumbria. We’re confident that our shared commitment to the environment will lead to a brighter, more sustainable future for all of us.

We will be following Manning Elliott’s activities throughout the year- so stay tuned! 

To find out ways you can support fundraising for CAfS have a look here. 

We’re very excited to announce that Cumbria County Council has allocated CAfS £6,000 for grants to not-for-profit community groups hosting events during Great Big Green Week, 10-18 June.

The funding, from the Council’s Environment Fund, will mean grants of up to £300 can be made available to help community organisations arrange and host their own event. The funding can be used for venue hire, publicity, speaker expenses, film hire, or other resources.

Great Big Green Week, a national campaign organised by the Climate Coalition, aims to raise awareness of climate change and get more people involved in taking action to reduce their carbon footprint.

The week will see a variety of celebratory events taking place across communities in the UK including wildlife walks, films, talks, litter picks, forest school events, vegetable growing, as well as larger events to support sustainable business and sustainability festivals. Last year we listed over 90 events – and this year, we hope to list even more on the Zero Carbon Cumbria events page.

In addition to the funding, we will be providing supplementary resources for the events, including materials with information on how to reduce your carbon footprint, and our other projects such as Cold to Cosy Homes which aims to provide support and advice to people struggling with their energy bills. An event to help community groups plan their activities also takes place on the 27 April.

Councillor Celia Tibble, Cumbria County Council Cabinet Member for Environment, said:

“I am delighted that the council is able to support CAfS with providing grants for this year’s Great Big Green Week. Climate change is already a threat to Cumbria and is one of the greatest threats to humanity globally so this campaign is a great opportunity for us all to consider the effect our actions have on climate change and the part we can play in tackling it.

 “Collectively there’s so much we can do to make a difference and reduce our impact on the planet so if you’re thinking about putting on an event, I’d encourage you to get in touch.”

Helen Attewell, CAfS Cumbria Sustainability Network Coordinator, added:

 “These grants are an easy way to enable community groups to put on an event for Great Big Green Week in June. Up to £300 can be provided towards expenses to help make the event a success.

“We’re looking to encourage events in areas which have maybe missed out in the past, and with more vulnerable communities, such as migrants and refugees, older people, younger people, and people with disabilities. We are all going to have to live with the impact of climate change, but it’s important that people who already face challenges in their lives, for example around the cost of living, aren’t disadvantaged further.”

For more information and how to apply for a grant, visit Zero Carbon Cumbria – Great Big Green Week.

Households in South Lakeland and Eden will get an extra helping hand to cut their energy bills thanks to a funding boost for Cumbria Action for Sustainability.  

CAfS is expanding support for households wanting to make energy-saving home improvements or fit solar panels, after successful bids to the government’s Shared Prosperity Fund, via South Lakeland and Eden district councils.  

The funding of £92,294 in South Lakeland and £9,171 in Eden means we will be able to reach even more households through our Cold to Cosy Homes Cumbria draughtproofing and advice service, as well as expanding our support and advice service for people retrofitting their homes to make them warmer, cheaper to heat and to reduce their carbon footprint.  

It will also allow us to extend our Solar Made Easy scheme in South Lakeland, which supports households wanting to install solar panels.    

The funding means an extra 150 households in South Lakeland and 15 in Eden will benefit from support by CAfS by the end of March this year. It’s a very welcome and timely boost for our Cold to Cosy Homes Cumbria service in particular, given the surge in demand for our help as people struggle with rising energy bills and the wider cost of living crisis.  

Andrew Northcott, who heads up our energy services, said:  

“This is great news about funding for Cold to Cosy Homes Cumbria and means we can now provide more home energy advice visits to households in South Lakeland and Eden this winter. This advice will help many households who are affected so substantially by the energy price crisis.” 

CAfS’ low-carbon communities manager Molly Hogg, who leads our Solar Made Easy scheme, said:  

“We’re very grateful for the ongoing funding and support that we’ve received from South Lakeland District Council. This additional boost from the Shared Prosperity Fund will allow us to build on our pilot Solar Made Easy project and help accelerate solar panel installations in other communities in South Lakeland.” 

CAfS is currently supporting nearly ninety households to get quotations and place orders with solar panel installers in Ambleside, Kendal, Keswick, Arnside, Levens and Duddon Valley. Plans are well under way to extend the support to Penrith, Ulverston and a cluster of villages in the Greysouthen area, with more communities to follow soon. The project has helped people overcome some of the barriers to installing solar panels.  

“We’re able to give people advice, answer their questions and help them decide whether solar is right for them, as well as connecting them with local vetted installers,” Molly said. “It’s quite difficult for people to get quotes now as demand is high. We’re able to make these installations more attractive and efficient for installers by grouping them at a community level and doing some of the upfront work for them.” 

Find out more about our services: 

Cold to Cosy Homes Cumbria > 

Retrofit support > 

Solar Made Easy > 

Image Credit: visitlakedistrict.com

Our first three events in the Climate Solutions for Cumbrian Landscapes webinar series have proved incredibly popular, with each event being very nearly fully booked 

The hour-long webinars have been driven by a packed programme of expert speakers highlighting the vital role Cumbria’s landscape plays in tackling the climate emergency. So far, the series has discussed the importance of trees, peatlands and rivers, with speakers sharing the results of extensive research, right through to how that applies to local, real-life projects currently in progress and how that is making a real impact in reducing emissions, sequestering and storing carbon and supporting nature recovery. Combining facts, figures, scientific data and expert opinion, the webinars give a compelling snapshot of the current situation in Cumbria. 

The next in the series, ‘Hedgerows’ on 14 March will provide a glimpse into an ancient natural habitat providing wildlife corridors and valuable carbon storage. Owing to the popularity of the series, we’ve organised a fifth event ‘Coastlines’ on 28 April, which will dive into Cumbria’s rugged west coast, stretching from Morecambe Bay to the Solway Firth. 

The events are free to attend, but places are limited and must be booked in advance. To guarantee your place, visit www.cafs.org.uk/events.  

If you can’t attend the event on the day, all events are recorded and are available on a dedicated playlist on CAfS YouTube channel. 

The events support the work of Zero Carbon Cumbria Partnership to develop ambitious and achievable emission reduction pathways for Cumbria, working towards the Partnership’s goal of net zero by 2037. 

We’ve have launched a series of free events for builders to help them develop their skills in retrofitting and renovating a range of homes.

Tina Holt, Project Manager for the Retrofitting project said “These three events will look at the many considerations which need to be made when renovating or extending properties of different ages and types.”

The series of three events starts with a half day course in airtightness on 28 February in Penrith.  Delivered by Ecological Building Systems based in Carlisle, the course will focus on the most appropriate methods and materials to ensure airtightness when retrofitting and extending existing buildings.

This will be followed by an evening webinar on 15 March which will cover the most recent updates to Part F, L and O of the Building Regulations that came into force in June 2021. The last event will be a two-day classroom-based course on 23 & 24 March, packed with workshops and practical sessions, both led by People Powered Retrofit, a not-for-profit one-stop-shop retrofit organisation covering the North West who offer clear, independent advice and support to help deliver retrofit projects to a high standard.

The events are fully funded by the Energy Redress scheme, and are free to attend. A generous bursary is available for all the events, intended to reimburse builders for time and cost.

Tina continued “As well as being able to deliver these high quality courses with expert speakers, they’re fully funded by the Energy Redress Scheme, so they’re fully funded and free to attend. Even better, we’re able to offer a generous bursary for each event, so hopefully our local builders won’t be out of pocket.”

For full details and to book your free places, see www.cafs.org.uk/events.

Funded through the Energy Redress Voluntary Redress Scheme. Delivered in partnership with People Powered Retrofit and Ecological Building Systems.