We run practical projects to bring about a more sustainable way of life in Cumbria.
Our projects tackle climate change in all sorts of ways – from helping people to make their homes more energy efficient through to supporting new community energy installations.
We work with a wide range of local and national partners and funders to deliver our projects.
Browse our current projects below to find out more.
Homes & buildings
Our Cumbria Green Build & Sustainability events take place throughout the year and welcome thousands of people to both online and physical spaces to discuss ways of reducing our impact on the planet.
New events are constantly being added with many of them being absolutely free to attend, though we appreciate any donations. Check out our events page and see if there’s anything that could help you green up your lifestyle.
Our Cold to Cosy Homes Cumbria service is helping hundreds of households to cut their energy bills, with free draughtproofing and advice.
We’re providing advice and resources to people in Cumbria wo want to adapt their homes to lessen the impact it has on the planet.
Community energy
For a couple of years, CAfS has been supporting businesses in the South Lakeland area to reduce their carbon footprint and encouraging them to share their methods and results in order to help others. Along the way we’re building a bank of resources to signpost similar businesses to so that they can find people like them who making big changes to how they conduct business.
Youth
Schools on the west coast of Cumbria are endeavouring to reduce their carbon footprint while empowering the students and pupils to learn more about sustainability.
Schools on the west coast of Cumbria are endeavouring to reduce their carbon footprint while empowering the students and pupils to learn more about sustainability.
Whole place
Eighty influential Cumbrian organisations have come together to form the Zero Carbon Cumbria Partnership, working together to reduce Cumbria’s carbon emissions to net zero by 2037. One exciting part of this work is a five-year programme of events and activities funded by the National Lottery Community Fund.
We are working alongside Ambleside Action for a Future to plan a sustainable future for this South Lakeland community, with support from the district council and through a ‘Space to Connect’ grant to boost community space, provided by the Co-op Foundation and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.
We’re a partner in this exciting programme to conserve, enhance and celebrate the natural and cultural heritage of a special part of the North West of England. One of our roles is to put sustainability at the heart of this four-year project, led by the North Pennines AONB Partnership and funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund. We’re also sharing our expertise to help the custodians of community buildings in the area.
Hundreds of people across Cumbria will be more empowered to take action on climate change through a programme of community training on climate science and solutions, funded by the Emergence Foundation.
The interactive activities include short online training sessions and climate conversation cafes, and they are delivered by a network of volunteers, supported by our CAfS training coordinator. The programme got under way in March 2021 and continues to go from strength to strength.
Farms are assessing the environmental impact of their business and working alongside CAfS to implement ways to reduce their carbon footprint.
We’re helping to develop a toolkit that farmers can use to assess their farm and farmhouses’ potential for renewable energy. We’ll learn what challenges typically face farmers in making their business more sustainable and how we could best overcome them.