CAfS

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  • Job: Project Officer – Cold to Cosy Homes

    Job: Project Officer – Cold to Cosy Homes

    Date posted: Tue 9 June 2020
    Closing date: 11pm, Tue 30 June 2020

    Join our busy team delivering Cold to Cosy Homes Cumbria and other energy-advice projects to vulnerable households across Cumbria. Our Cold to Cosy Homes service provides energy-saving advice to households along with installing energy-saving measures to save on costs, cut carbon and enjoy a cosier home. The role includes promoting the service to our network of volunteers and organisations across Cumbria and providing advice by telephone and at home visits. The role also includes analysing demand for advice, visits and installations and coordinating with our team of advisors and installers.

    Application & Interview Process

    Please apply by completing the application form below. We do not accept CVs. Guidance for submitting your application is included in the form.

    Application Form – Project Officer – Cold to Cosy Homes

    The closing date for return of applications is 11pm on 30 June 2020. Candidates shortlisted for interview will be informed by Friday 3 July 2020. Interviews will be held on 8 or 9 July 2020. These are likely to be online.

    Job description

    If you prefer to download the job description and person specification, please use the link below:

    Job Description – Project Officer – Cold to Cosy Homes

    EMPLOYER:  Cumbria Action for Sustainability (CAfS)

    LOCATION:  Principally home working, with meetings required in Cumbria and at our office in Penrith when Covid-19 restrictions allow. Eden Rural Foyer, Old London Road, Penrith, CA11 8ET.

    REPORTS TO:  Project Manager – Energy Efficiency

    HOURS:  30 hours a week, with flexibility to be worked across 4 or 5 days.

    SALARY RANGE:  £21,000 to £25,000 per annum full-time equivalent, (£16,800 to £20,000 for the 30-hour week) depending on skills and experience.

    DURATION:  6-month fixed-term contract (with potential for extension subject to funding).

    APPLICATIONS BY: 11pm on Tuesday 30 June 2020. Please apply using the application form. CVs will not be considered.

    ABOUT CAFS:

    Our vision is a zero carbon Cumbria and we strive to bring about a better way of life, in balance with our environment.

    Our mission is to empower and enable people, communities and businesses to live and work more sustainably by sharing our knowledge, practice, skills, networks and practical experience. We manage and deliver events, advice, training and practical projects across the county as well as providing specialist consultancy services to enable individuals, communities, businesses and local authorities to drive a shift towards a Zero Carbon Cumbria.

    CAfS is an award-winning charity with a team of fourteen highly skilled staff, working with a pool of specialist contractors and volunteers to deliver around 20 major, transformational low-carbon projects each year. CAfS is the leading organisation in Cumbria showcasing low-carbon living, energy-efficiency improvements, renewable technology and reduced use of fossil fuels, both on a domestic scale and in the community. Now in our 22nd year, CAfS is the first point of reference in the county for information on sustainability. CAfS is a dynamic, pro-active and responsive organisation, continually striving to deliver effective projects that make an impact and drive real change towards a low-carbon future. As such, we continually initiate, scrutinise, refine and launch new projects, accessing funding from a variety of sources or earning income from delivering specialist services.

    MAIN PURPOSE OF ROLE:

    To work with other team members to deliver the Cold to Cosy Homes Cumbria project to vulnerable households across Cumbria, as well as other energy advice projects.

    KEY AREAS OF RESPONSIBILITY:

    • Expand and implement the Cold to Cosy Homes Cumbria project across districts in Cumbria – expanding specifically to Carlisle, Allerdale and Copeland districts.
    • Promote Cold to Cosy Homes and other household energy related services widely to residents and partner organisations across Cumbria.
    • Provide a programme of energy advice by phone and through visits to vulnerable households throughout Cumbria.
    • Provide a high quality of customer service, building a friendly rapport with clients and a strong and credible reputation for the advice service and CAfS.
    • Coordinate and support our team of professional energy advisors to provide telephone based advice and visits.
    • Coordinate installation of energy measures in homes through our trusted contractors.
    • Deliver energy advice events for people at risk of fuel poverty.
    • Provide clear and accurate home-energy-related information and advice to clients by phone, video, at events and in their homes.
    • Support CAfS’ other energy services.

    MAIN TASKS

    • Build networks with partner organisations across Cumbria and beyond to widen the uptake of CAfS’ services by vulnerable groups.
    • Collaborate with the energy efficiency manager to strategically develop the project to ensure maximum reach.
    • Coordinate advisor schedules for availability for telephone and visit slots.
    • Monitor enquiry and referral volumes, response times and performance and take appropriate action to resolve issues.
    • Support virtual team of advisors with skills training and coaching in call handling and client visits.
    • Handle inbound and outbound client calls with enquiries, bookings and energy advice.
    • Visit clients in their homes to conduct energy assessments.
    • Assist with implementation and development of our Customer Relationship Management system to handle contacts with clients, team members and contractors.
    • Develop other information resources to support the project.
    • Deliver a series of energy-saving advice sessions online and at venues throughout Cumbria that help promote services, and actively take referrals.
    • Coordinate marketing through a wide range of channels and contacts, with the support of the CAfS marketing manager.
    • Research energy-efficiency-related issues and latest schemes to help homeowners with energy saving and fuel costs.
    • Deliver promotional webinar talks and short training sessions to small groups of people (householders and referral partners) with practical advice on CAfS’ schemes and how customers can benefit and be referred.
    • Assist in training a network of volunteer energy champions to promote energy-efficiency advice in their locality.
    • Support delivery of energy measures and draughtproofing services to homes, by promoting to clients, handling referrals, and liaising with other partners and organisations that provide client visits and fitting service.
    • Provide monitoring and evaluation of activities to meet reporting processes, measure success and inform future funding bids.
    • Act as a conduit for information to individuals on wider CAfS projects.
    • Collaborate at times with the wider CAfS team to carry out other relevant tasks or projects required from time to time.
    • Contribute to the ongoing work of CAfS generally, including attending appropriate networking meetings, team meetings and training sessions.

     

    Person Specification

    Essential skills and attributes:

    • Demonstrable skills and experience of providing high-quality customer service in a service-delivery environment.
    • Strong team player and capability to work cooperatively as part of a small team as well as on own initiative without day-to-day supervision.
    • Excellent communication skills, to network and reach out to communities and organisations supporting vulnerable customers and to provide clear energy-efficiency advice.
    • Good knowledge of energy saving in homes, and the issues that vulnerable people can have in heating their homes.
    • Good knowledge of energy retrofit options, the domestic energy market, tariff comparisons and switching and other schemes to help people save energy and afford bills.
    • Demonstrable knowledge and understanding of sustainability issues and an interest in the objectives that CAfS seeks to deliver.
    • Ability to deliver workshops and speak confidently to small groups.
    • Experience of planning, organising and scheduling events.
    • Good written communication and IT skills.
    • Ability to work to tight deadlines and juggle multiple priorities.
    • Ability to work flexibly including evening and weekend working by agreement.
    • Ability to travel independently throughout rural Cumbria.

    Desirable criteria

    The following attributes are desirable but not essential:

    • Experience of contact centre coordination roles, including scheduling, call monitoring or similar in a customer service delivery role.
    • Experience providing energy saving advice.
    • Experience of working in or with local authorities, housing association tenants or organisation supporting households and knowledge of social housing.
    • Experience providing services to vulnerable households.
    • Qualification in providing energy advice – City & Guilds Level 3 Energy Awareness.
    • Experience working with people from a wide variety of backgrounds, including vulnerable individuals and community groups.
    • Practical experience of improving energy efficiency in domestic settings.
    • An existing network of contacts in Cumbria or demonstrable ability to build networks rapidly.
    • Additional experience / qualification in energy auditing/thermography.
    • Budgeting and project management experience.
    • Experience of securing grant funding and tenders.

    If you would like more information about the role, please email: [email protected]

  • Job: Project Manager – Low Carbon Communities

    Job: Project Manager – Low Carbon Communities

    Date posted: Tue 9 June 2020
    Closing date: 11pm, Tue 30 June 2020

    We are looking for an experienced and skilled project manager to drive practical actions to cut carbon emissions in South Lakeland.

    You’ll coordinate and deliver support to inspire, motivate and enable communities to cut their carbon footprints in a range of ways, including through low-carbon energy.

    You’ll share your extensive expertise on everything from carbon footprinting and renewable energy to emission reduction for households and businesses. You’ll offer practical advice, signposting, mentoring and events, building the capacity of communities to take action and increasing their resilience to volatile energy prices and the worsening impacts of climate change.

    For full details of this post, please see the job description and person specification below.

    Application & Interview Process

    Please apply by completing the application form below. We do not accept CVs. Guidance for submitting your application is included in the form.

    Application Form – Project Manager – Low Carbon Communities

    The closing date for return of applications is 11pm on 30 June 2020. Candidates shortlisted for interview will be informed by 5pm on 6 July 2020. Interviews will be held on 14 July 2020. These are likely to be online.

    Job description

    If you prefer to download the job description and person specification, please use the link below:

    Job Description – Project Manager – Low Carbon Communities

    EMPLOYER: Cumbria Action for Sustainability (CAfS)

    LOCATION: Principally home working, with meetings required in the South Lakeland area and at our office in Penrith when Covid-19 restrictions allow. Rural Eden Foyer, Old London Road, Penrith, CA11 8ET.

    REPORTS TO: Chief Executive Officer

    HOURS: 22.5 hours a week (3 days). Flexible working hours.

    SALARY RANGE: £24,000-£30,000 per annum full-time equivalent (£14,400 to £18,000 for the 22.5-hour week), depending on skills and experience.

    DURATION: Fixed-term contract from 1 August 2020 to end July 2021 (12 months with potential for extension subject to funding).

    APPLICATIONS BY: 11pm on Tuesday 30 June 2020. Please apply using the application form. CVs will not be considered.

    ABOUT CAFS:

    Our vision is a zero carbon Cumbria and we strive to bring about a better way of life, in balance with our environment.

    Our mission is to empower and enable people, communities and businesses to live and work more sustainably by sharing our knowledge, practice, skills, networks and practical experience. We manage and deliver events, advice, training and practical projects across the county as well as providing specialist consultancy services to enable individuals, communities, businesses and local authorities to drive a shift towards a Zero Carbon Cumbria.

     CAfS is an award-winning charity with a team of fourteen highly skilled staff, working with a pool of specialist contractors and volunteers to deliver around 20 major, transformational low-carbon projects each year. CAfS is the leading organisation in Cumbria showcasing low-carbon living, energy-efficiency improvements, renewable technology and reduced use of fossil fuels, both on a domestic scale and in the community. Now in our 22nd year, CAfS is the first point of reference in the county for information on sustainability. CAfS is a dynamic, pro-active and responsive organisation, continually striving to deliver effective projects that make an impact and drive real change towards a low-carbon future. As such, we continually initiate, scrutinise, refine and launch new projects, accessing funding from a variety of sources or earning income from delivering specialist services.

     BACKGROUND TO THE LOW CARBON COMMUNITIES PROJECT:

    Since 2015/2016, South Lakeland District Council has been supporting the drive towards a low carbon district by funding CAfS to deliver advice and support to communities in the South Lakeland area. The project provides practical advice, events, support, technical expertise, signposting and mentoring which leads to action on low carbon energy and other carbon reduction activities in South Lakeland communities.

    The Project Manager will build the capacity of the supported communities’ to take informed decisions, and implement measures which simultaneously reduce emissions whilst making communities and resources more resilient to increasingly volatile energy prices and worsening impacts of climate change.

    MAIN PURPOSE OF ROLE: 

    The key role of the post is to take overall responsibility for the coordination and delivery of our work funded by South Lakeland District Council to provide support and advice to communities wishing to improve the energy efficiency of their place.

    You will be responsible for delivering a number of actions that will support the community of Ambleside to work towards becoming a zero-carbon community, with a focus on delivering benefits for the local economy and businesses.

    The post holder will also play an important role in supporting CAfS to develop and deliver other similar projects which enable communities, businesses, organisations and individuals to respond to the challenges of climate change.

    EXPECTED KEY OUTCOMES:

    • A costed, renewable energy scheme proposal for Ambleside, worked up to pre-planning stage.
    • Bespoke carbon footprint tools developed for businesses and residents in Ambleside.
    • Carbon footprint assessments undertaken with businesses and residents and data collated and reported.
    • Advice provided to businesses and residents on carbon reduction measures and commitments to carbon reduction measures made by participants.
    • Lessons from Ambleside shared with other communities in South Lakeland, inspiring wider adoption.

     KEY AREAS OF RESPONSIBILITY:

    • To take overall responsibility for the coordination, budgeting, delivery, evaluation and reporting of South Lakeland District Council’s support for low carbon communities.
    • To provide and co-ordinate advice to communities wishing to improve the energy efficiency of buildings in their community or to generate community owned renewable energy.
    • To manage a bank of energy efficiency and renewable energy experts to provide additional technical advice to these communities.
    • To coordinate and facilitate learning and skill sharing amongst communities.
    • To support CAfS existing sustainability projects and to develop ideas and funding for new projects in collaboration with CAfS staff and Chief Executive Officer.

    MAIN TASKS:

    • To support Ambleside Action for a Future, and its sub group Ambleside to Zero, to work towards zero carbon.
    • To work up options and manage feasibility work on new local renewable systems.
    • To develop and roll out carbon footprinting tools for businesses and residents.
    • To provide carbon reduction support for businesses.
    • To deliver a low-carbon events programme, including visits to homes and a conference in the wider South Lakeland district.
    • To deliver a programme for sharing lessons learned in Ambleside with other communities in South Lakeland.
    • To expand the CAfS online low-carbon knowledge hub for communities to enable them to learn about different aspects of low-carbon energy transitions.
    • To advise and support local authorities on zero/low-carbon transitions.
    • To respond to enquiries from community representatives from South Lakeland.
    • To disseminate learning from the programme so far.
    • To manage the budget to maximise outcomes from the project.
    • To monitor, measure, evaluate and report on success.
    • To be the primary contact for CAfS’ work with SLDC.
    • To secure ongoing funding to provide support to other communities in Cumbria.

    OTHER RESPONSIBILITIES:

    • To support other programmes of community energy efficiency and climate change activity in South Lakeland and elsewhere in Cumbria.
    • To be a conduit for information to individuals on wider CAfS projects.
    • To contribute news articles, web content and other information about the project to the marketing team for publicity and CAfS’ profile raising.
    • To work with the chief executive officer and other CAfS staff to create new projects, secure additional funding and deliver effective projects based around sustainability.
    • To contribute to the ongoing work of CAfS generally, including attending appropriate networking meetings, team meetings and training sessions and carry out other tasks or projects required from time to time, as directed by the CEO or trustees.

     

    Person Specification

     Essential skills and attributes:

    • A good understanding of the basic principles of energy efficiency in buildings and sustainable building methods.
    • A post-16 qualification in a relevant field e.g. sustainability, building, energy management, community development or similar.
    • A good understanding of the main features of various renewable technologies and how they can be used appropriately with buildings and on a community scale.
    • Understanding or experience of carbon footprinting tools for households and/or business.
    • An understanding of and demonstrable interest in the objectives that CAfS seeks to deliver around sustainability and creating a zero-carbon Cumbria.
    • Experience of planning, organising, scheduling and budget management of projects.
    • Excellent communication skills, with the ability to put complex information across simply and concisely and to a range of different audiences.
    • Ability and willingness to prioritise, work to deadlines and juggle multiple priorities.
    • Creative and innovative approach to work.
    • Ability to work in a small team as well as on own initiative without day-to-day supervision.
    • Ability to work flexibly including evening and weekend working by agreement.
    • Ability to travel independently throughout rural Cumbria.
    • Good IT skills.
    • Experience of working with people from a wide variety of backgrounds, including community groups.

    Desirable criteria

    The following attributes are desirable but not essential:

    • Knowledge of and contacts from the South Lakeland area and/or across Cumbria, preferably across various community and/or sustainability-driven initiatives.
    • A degree-level qualification in a relevant field e.g. sustainability, building, energy management, community development or similar.
    • Experience of delivering community-led schemes, especially on energy efficiency and renewables.
    • Experience of community engagement (especially with volunteers and committee members) or community consultation.
    • Specialist knowledge of renewable technologies or sustainable building methods.
    • Experience of providing energy audits, including site surveys, energy data analysis and technical report writing.
    • Fundraising experience, specifically the ability to act quickly on opportunities and attract contract and grant funding.
    • Experience of monitoring and evaluating projects.
    • Experience in online meeting platforms and webinars.

    If you would like more information about the role, please email: [email protected].

  • Funding target reached and EV webinar!

    Funding target reached and EV webinar!

    Despite pressures from the national response to the Covid-19 pandemic, the community share offer from Charge My Street has succeeded in raising £130,000 to install 100 electric vehicle (EV) chargepoints across Cumbria and Lancashire.

    Charge My Street and CAfS would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who put forward their own investment and to those who helped get the word out about the share offer. Investors included those who have been driving EVs for years and some who have not yet made the switch but could see the benefit of preparing our region for wide scale uptake. The money will be used to get communities in the North West ready for the EV revolution and a more sustainable tomorrow.

    With the target now met, the focus of Charge My Street will turn to the identification of the very best sites throughout the two counties at which to locate brand new chargepoints.

    On the 30th of June, CAfS and Charge My Street will host a free webinar intended to provide the public with any information they need to decide whether they would like to apply to be a chargepoint host. We’ll be discussing the difficulties of charging your EV if you live in the North of England as well as the benefits and opportunities of EV driving more generally.

    The online talk will also feature speakers from Carlisle City Council and Renault UK discussing why they are supporting Charge My Street and further EV uptake. At the very least, it’s an opportunity to see some new smiling faces and we could all do with that at the moment!

    The webinar will take place on Tuesday 30 June from 4pm to 5.45pm and will include talks from six speakers as well as a Q&A section with the attendees.
    If you would like to register for the webinar, you can do so here.

    Potential chargepoint hosts include any site with space for at least two EVs with strong mobile data signal or open broadband. The site must also be accessible to the public overnight, through the day or both.

    For more information on becoming a chargepoint host, visit Charge My Street’s website.

  • Secondment Opportunity:  Project Officer, Cold to Cosy Homes Cumbria

    Secondment Opportunity:  Project Officer, Cold to Cosy Homes Cumbria

    Date posted: 26 May 2020
    Closing date: 9am Tuesday 9 June 2020

    We have an exciting new Secondment Opportunity to join our Energy Team as a Cold to Cosy Homes Project Officer from July 2020, initially for 3 months with possible extension.

    The role is to expand our successful Cold to Cosy Homes Cumbria project more widely across districts in Cumbria – expanding now specifically to Carlisle, Allerdale and Copeland – and helping Cumbrian households reduce their carbon emissions, reduce bills and keep warm.

    Applications are especially welcome from people who work in, or regularly engage with community organisations and/or vulnerable people as part of their professional role.

    The new role is mainly home working during the pandemic restrictions, but will when possible include attending events, visits to clients and meetings to:

    • Expand and implement the Cold to Cosy Homes Cumbria project more widely across districts in Cumbria – expanding specifically to Carlisle, Allerdale and Copeland.
    • Promote Cold to Cosy Homes and other household energy related services widely to residents and partner organisations across Cumbria
    • Provide a high quality of customer service, building a friendly rapport with clients and a strong and credible reputation for the advice service and CAfS.
    • Provide a programme of energy advice to vulnerable households throughout Cumbria.
    • Coordinate installation of energy measures in homes.
    • Deliver a series of energy advice events for people at risk of fuel poverty.
    • Provide clear and accurate home energy related information and advice to clients by phone, video, at events and in their homes.
  • A message from our chief executive

    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 other and keep services going as far as possible. We are seeing government working with scientists to help chart a way through.

    All of these things show that it is possible for society and systems to adapt to a global challenge collectively. It shows that people can understand and buy into action on big issues. We must ensure that the lessons we learn and the capabilities and insights we gain from tackling this pandemic are also brought to bear in preventing climate change.

    For now, however, it is understandable that climate change simply isn’t the priority we would want and need it to be. We have had to take the decision to pause many of our projects for the next few months. 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. This is a difficult time for CAfS, as it is for many organisations, as we navigate through the implications of the pandemic for our funding and reshape our approach so that CAfS survives this extraordinary period, in order to carry on the fight against climate change when life starts to return to normal.

    Our staff capacity will be limited for a couple of months so we need to make a few changes to our communications. We will pause our newsletter for now, and we’ll instead share any important updates with you on our social media, so please do follow us on Facebook and Twitter. Regrettably, we will not be able to respond to general enquiries during this time. If you do have an essential enquiry, please use our [email protected] email address and we will reply if we can.

    Many of you may want to help with Cumbria’s response to Coronavirus. As we mentioned, it’s been so heartening to see the strong response to appeals for volunteers. Whilst we’re not able to take up offers of volunteer support just now, we may put out a call for help with specific tasks, skills or expertise later. We’ll keep you posted on our social media.

    Finally, we’re very conscious that there will be many demands for your support for compelling and urgent causes in the months ahead, but for those who feel able to help, we would greatly welcome any donations you can give, to help ensure we are still able to stand up for a zero carbon Cumbria in the future. You can donate via our website.

    Stay safe and we look forward to being back in touch with you before too long.

    Best wishes,

    Karen Mitchell
    Chief Executive Officer

  • Cold to Cosy Homes scheme responds to Covid-19

    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 and is completely funded by energy suppliers under Warm Home Discount Industry Initiatives.

    For those people who need to stay at home due to illness or to avoid risk of contracting Coronavirus, it is more important than ever that their homes have a working heating system.

    To date Cold to Cosy Homes has provided over 350 home energy advice visits across Cumbria in collaboration with LEAP (the Local Energy Advice Partnership).

    As announced earlier this week, we are temporarily suspending visits to people’s homes through our Cold to Cosy Homes service in order to help ensure people who are affected by health issues are not put at risk of infection. We will resume visits as soon as it is appropriate to do so. In the meantime, we are still taking bookings, which we ask you to do online here:  https://cafs.org.uk/cafs-draughtproofing-energy-saving-services/.

    And while you are thinking about helping your neighbours, how about checking that they are on the Priority Services Register with their energy company and the utility companies (water, gas, electricity). You can phone Electricity North West on 0800 195 4141 or sign up online: https://www.enwl.co.uk/priority.

  • Coronavirus – CAfS response

    Coronavirus – CAfS response

    Last updated: 31 May 2023

    The way we’re delivering some of our projects and services has been adapted to take account of the current Coronavirus guidelines.

    Here are some updates about our main services and activities:

    CAfS events

    We are now running both in-person and online events. We are taking Covid precautions at our in-person events. We request that for the protection of vulnerable people, you remain COVID-19 aware and follow the government guidance. Visit our events page to see events we’ve got planned.

    Cold to Cosy Homes Cumbria

    We’re continuing to offer our free telephone advice calls, and our free professional draughtproofing service has now resumed. Find out more >

    Staffing & contact

    The majority of our staff are working from home. Email is the best way to reach our team. You’ll find contact details on our staff team page.  You can also phone our office on 01768 210276.

    We thank all our customers and supporters for their patience and understanding.
  • Job: Community Carbon Literacy Coordinator

    Job: Community Carbon Literacy Coordinator

    Date posted: 27 February 2020
    Closing date: 5pm, Wednesday 25 March 2020

    CORONAVIRUS UPDATE:
    Due to the current situation with Coronavirus, we are suspending the recruitment of this post for the time being. If you were interested in applying but had not yet done so, please send an email to [email protected] by the deadline of 5pm on Wednesday 25 March 2020 to express your interest in the role. We will keep your details on file and contact you when we resume the recruitment to invite you to apply then.

    Details about the post – for reference only at this stage

    HOURS: 15 hours per week (0.4 FTE)
    START/END DATE: Fixed-term contract to end February 2021 (with potential to extend subject to additional funding)
    SALARY RANGE: £21,000 – £24,000 a year (full time equivalent)
    LOCATION: Eden Rural Foyer, Old London Road, Penrith, CA11 8ET

    Our new Community Carbon Literacy Training Coordinator will take overall responsibility for our new Community Carbon Literacy project. It’s a hugely exciting project for us – a widespread programme of events on climate science and solutions, including open home events and carbon literacy training courses across Cumbria. You’ll recruit and train community volunteer trainers and coordinate and support them to deliver training in their communities. The postholder will also coordinate volunteer open home hosts to deliver five open home events.

    Application & Interview Process

    As noted above, recruitment for this post is currently on hold due to the Coronavirus situation.

    Please follow the instructions above to register an interest and we’ll get in touch when recruitment opens.

    Job description

    THE EMPLOYER:  Cumbria Action for Sustainability (CAfS)

    LOCATION:  Eden Rural Foyer, Old London Road, Penrith, CA11 8ET

    REPORTS TO:  Zero Carbon Development Manager

    HOURS:  0.4 FTE or 2 days a week = 15hrs per week

    SALARY RANGE:  £21,000 – £24,000 per annum (full time equivalent)

    DURATION:  Fixed term contract to end February 2021 (with potential to extend subject to additional funding)

     

    CAfS ROLE AND PURPOSE:

    Our vision is a zero carbon Cumbria and we strive to bring about a better way of life, in balance with our environment. Our mission is to empower and enable people, communities and businesses to live and work more sustainably by sharing our knowledge, practice, skills, networks and practical experience.

    ABOUT CAFS:

    We manage and deliver events, advice, training and practical projects across the county as well as providing specialist consultancy services to enable individuals, communities, businesses and local authorities to drive a shift towards a zero carbon Cumbria.

    Our team of fourteen highly skilled staff work with a pool of 25 specialist contractors and 30 volunteers to deliver around 20 major, transformational low-carbon projects each year. CAfS is the leading organisation in Cumbria showcasing low carbon living, energy efficiency improvements, renewable technology and reduced use of fossil fuels, both on a domestic scale and in the community. The charity is driving the shift towards a zero carbon Cumbria and provides information, advice and motivation through events, site visits and practical projects. Now celebrating our 21st year, CAfS is the first point of reference in the county for information on sustainability.

    CAfS is a dynamic, pro-active and responsive organisation, continually striving to deliver effective projects that make an impact and which create a ‘shift’.

    BACKGROUND TO THE COMMUNITY CARBON LITERACY PROJECT

    This project will develop, recruit and train a brand-new network of twenty community trainers, to run a widespread programme of events on climate science and solutions, including open home events and carbon literacy training courses across Cumbria.

    A training package of information and interactive exercises will be developed and the network of community trainers will be supported to deliver this training to those they wish to influence, including businesses, councils, schools, churches and other organisations. All community trainers will receive an induction, a full day of training as a group, one-to-one support, opportunities for additional training and learning and opportunities to socialise and support each other.

    Individuals will also be supported to become open home hosts to showcase sustainable living, renewable energy and other solutions to support community knowledge sharing. The project is funded by a grant from the Emergence Foundation.

    Project Outcomes

    • 20 community trainers and 5 open home hosts will report improved quality of life, reduced feelings of helplessness about climate crisis and increased sense of purpose, confidence, empowerment, and agency.
    • 20 communities-of-interest report that their community has been enhanced through stronger networks, reduced feelings of isolation, increased opportunities to socialise, shared learning across groups and peer support.
    • 400 individuals (trained by community trainers) report shift in consciousness, increased knowledge of climate science and solutions, and ability to make positive changes. Increased agency, sense of purpose and responsibility.
    • 400 people (trained by community trainers) make substantive pledges to benefit the environment through taking action to reduce emissions and tackle climate change in their own lives and in their workplace or community.

    MAIN PURPOSES OF ROLE:

    We are seeking a Community Carbon Literacy Training Coordinator to take overall responsibility for CAfS’ new Community Carbon Literacy Project. Specifically, to:

    • Recruit and train community volunteer trainers and coordinate and support them to deliver training in their communities.
    • Coordinate volunteer open home hosts to deliver 5 open home events.

    This is an outstanding opportunity for an individual to make a real impact in increasing awareness, confidence, agency and knowledge of climate science and solutions in Cumbria. Every opportunity should be taken to ensure this work is integrated into the other work that CAfS delivers so that benefits are maximised.

    TASKS WILL INCLUDE:

    Volunteer/community trainer coordination and support

    • Ensure that 20 training events are run by community trainers and 400 people are trained by community trainers within one year
    • Recruit and induct 20 volunteer community trainers
    • Develop clear offer for community trainers
    • Complete volunteer agreements with community trainers
    • Ensure all community trainers attend full day accredited carbon literacy training
    • Coordinate 3 or 4 focused one hour training sessions (which will be delivered by the Zero Carbon Development Manager) for community trainers
    • Support community trainers to move on to join our pool of professional trainers if they wish, and if they show capability
    • Direct community trainers to further opportunities for learning and development
    • Coordinate opportunities for community trainers to socialise and support each other
    • Ensure that community trainers represent a diverse range of groups, reflective of Cumbria’s population
    • Manage enquiries about training courses and direct to community trainers

    Supporting development of, and leading delivery of (a small number of) training sessions directly:

    • Mentor and support community trainers at the first session they deliver, if needed
    • Update and improve training materials as needed
    • Support community trainers with answers to queries
    • On occasion, deliver short one hour sessions on climate science and solutions

    Open Homes event programme coordination

    • Coordinate and attend five open home events
    • Liaise with marketing to team to promote open home events, manage bookings and donations
    • To recruit and liaise with event hosts
    • To attend and introduce events where needed
    • To be responsible for ensuring that a risk assessment is completed for every event

    Administration

    • Administer trainer expenses claims, manage room bookings, refreshments, etc.
    • Negotiate partnerships and free venues and refreshments wherever possible

    Project Management

    • Manage project budget
    • Develop monitoring and evaluation approach
    • Ensure that community trainers complete all required monitoring and evaluation
    • Liaise with and report to funder

    General

    • Provide updates for CAfS Zero Carbon Development Manager as required
    • To be a conduit for information to individuals on wider CAfS projects
    • To contribute news articles, web content and other information about the project to the Marketing Team for publicity and CAfS profile raising
    • To contribute to the on-going work of CAfS generally including attending appropriate networking meetings, team meetings and training sessions and carry out other tasks or projects required from time to time, as directed by the manager or trustees

    Person Specification

    Essential skills and attributes:

    • Confident knowledge of climate science, sustainable living and low carbon solutions
    • Experience of volunteer coordination and support
    • Highly organised with experience of planning, scheduling and delivering projects and events
    • Ability to host and attend events and speak confidently in front of small groups
    • Experience of delivering training sessions or presentations
    • Ability to work flexibly including evening and weekend working
    • Highly motivated and independent worker requiring minimal supervision
    • Ability to work cooperatively as part of a small team
    • Good knowledge of Cumbrian geography and the ability to travel independently throughout rural Cumbria, although many elements of the role could be completed from home or the CAfS office

    The following are desirable but not essential:

    • Experience of managing grant-funded projects
    • Knowledge of, and contacts across Cumbria’s network of sustainability groups
    • Experience of managing budgets
  • Focus group informs EV project

    Focus group informs EV project

    discussion between two men at tableIn 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 so it would be easy enough for them to attend. That’s not to say that we’re completely done with consultations though, so Eden respondents may still have a chance to shape our direction at some point!

    The informal focus group was intended to give some insight into the mind of an EV-driver for a team from Mirales Data who are working on their ChargeBetter software for EV chargepoints.

    Topics of discussion included the current challenges around adopting EVs, the ideal home situations for making the switch and the smart charging technology being trialled by some companies for future implementation.

    The evening was a huge success with each participant contributing enthusiastically to the discussion from a whole range of perspectives for far longer than we could reasonably have asked them to.
    Those from Mirales headed home with a greater sense of what the world looks like from an EV driver’s point of view and some optimism from the non-EV drivers who all reinforced their interest in making the switch from petrol and diesel.

    Anyone interested in the wider EV project that we and Mirales are working on can find out more on its dedicated page on our site.

  • EV chargepoint share offer under way

    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 about the progress being made in the campaign to increase the uptake of electric vehicles (EVs) in the rural North West.

    As previously mentioned, Charge My Street are raising £130,000 worth of shares in their community benefit society to help fund the installation of 100 EV chargepoints in Cumbria and Lancashire. These chargepoints will be owned by the Charge My Street shareholders and placed in public locations where they can be an asset to EV drivers who don’t have their own driveway to charge in.

    Over a third of UK residents don’t have their own driveway so it’s a big ask for a flat-sharer in Carlisle or a villager in Troutbeck to switch from a system where they know they can quickly grab petrol at a station in town to one where if a car is parked at the one chargepoint for miles around, they’re out of luck.

    More public chargepoints in convenient locations are what is needed to solve this problem and build people’s confidence to switch to the cleaner and cheaper EV technology. Following the moving of government targets earlier this month, this is going to need to start to happen sooner rather than later to clean up our air and slow the rate of climate change.

    We’ve been flat out here at CAfS spreading the word about the share offer to those who might be interested with only the weather stopping us from physically climbing onto the roof of the office and shouting it at passersby.

    You can find out how much has been raised so far and, dare I say, even invest yourself by going to the Charge My Street website.