A project that received support from Foundation has come up with a new initiative to help cut carbon emissions and fight fuel poverty.

Foundation awarded £50,000 to Blackpool, Fylde & Wyre Credit Union in June 2009 to finance an interest-free loan scheme for members to help pay for energy saving improvements to their home.

When the Government’s new Boiler Scrappage Scheme launched in January 2010, the Credit Union saw it made sense to combine the Scheme with its existing offering.

By taking advantage of both schemes, members can upgrade their old, inefficient boiler systems with a £400 grant from the Government and pay for the remaining balance with an interest-free loan from the Credit Union. The new boilers will cut members’ fuel bills by up to a quarter and reduce their household carbon footprint.

Mike Barry, Partnership Manager at Blackpool, Fylde and Wyre Credit Union says: “We are delighted with the interest in the scheme and since we combined the new initiatives, the number of enquiries has increased significantly.”

To find out more please click on the links below:

Blackpool Fylde & Wyre Credit Union

Boiler Scrappage Scheme

As part of a visit to Greater Manchester, Phil Wynn Owen, Director General for National Climate Change and Consumer Support at the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) visited one of Foundation’s demonstration projects.

The South Manchester Carbon Co-op, based in Hulme, received £3,000 from Foundation at the start of the year to set up two community cooperatives with the aim to stimulate discussion and encourage communities to develop their own ideas to respond to energy and climate change concerns. Since then, the Co-op has secured additional funding to develop and expand the project from the Mancheter Innovation Fund and ‘Big Green Challenge Plus’, a collaborative scheme between DECC and NESTA (the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts).

During the visit, which took place at the Work for Change theatre in Hulme, Jonathan Akinson, who project manages the Co-op’s workshops, spoke about the work that Foundation supported as well as other project developments he is working on in the Wythenshawe & Moss Side districts of Manchester.

Phil’s role at DECC sees him responsible for encouraging the transition to a low-carbon economy, with help for those who need it most. As part of his visit to the region he also met with the Greater Manchester Energy Saving Trust Advice Centre and took a trip to the Manchester Eco House. With so much positive action being taken in the Northwest, we’re sure he was very impressed with what he saw!

Manchester has seen a new currency hit the high street just in time for the Christmas rush – and it is also set to support Foundation.

‘Green Pounds’ can be spent in a variety of different outlets that have adhered to a stringent ethical code formulated by academic partners at MMU, such as The Royal Exchange Theatre, The Fat Loaf restaurant, Isinglass English Restaurant and Manchester Climbing Centre, and 5% of the value of each voucher sold will be contributed to Foundation for investment in carbon reduction projects in the Manchester area.

Dan Clark, founder of the Green Pound said: "Although all members of the scheme are involved in reducing carbon emissions, we wanted to give our Green Pound voucher a Carbon Emission Reduction value. Foundation was the only programme guaranteeing to reduce carbon emissions for the local community with visible results. It was for this reason that we chose Foundation to receive 5% from every voucher sold."

Visit The Green Pound website www.greenpoundvoucher.com to discover all the places where vouchers can be bought and spent.

Northwest utility giant, United Utilities, is so impressed with Foundation’s work that it has come on board as an official supporter.

United Utilities keep the taps flowing, toilets flushing and lights shining for more than 7 million people in the Northwest. The organisation has also recently been awarded the Business in the Community (BITC) Company of the Year Award for their commitment to responsible business practice.
Chris Matthews, Head of Sustainability, said, “Foundation offers something new to Northwest businesses – an opportunity to invest in projects in the region that will stimulate low-carbon technologies and skills, or tackle issues such as fuel poverty, helping those communities in our region who perhaps find it difficult to implement carbon reduction projects.”

Since launching in April this year, Foundation has approved just over £250,000 of funding for new carbon reduction projects across the region.

In addition to the ten pilot projects supported before launch, Foundation is now helping fund nine new exciting projects. These include supporting a credit union in offering interest-free energy efficiency loans to low-income households, a cycle to work initiative, a community tree planting scheme plus many more. All of these projects will actively help the Northwest to reduce its carbon emissions and benefit the communities in which they are based.

Darren O’Toole, Foundation’s Projects Manager said: “We are really excited by the projects we have been able to support so far. The more donations Foundation receives the more we’ll be able to make happen in the future.”

Further details of all our new projects will be added to our projects page over the coming weeks so please keep your eye out for updates.

Foundation will be exhibiting and taking part in the Great Green Debate at this year’s Business Northwest exhibition and conference.

Business Northwest is a free to attend event that provides businesses with the opportunity to learn cutting edge business techniques, listen to inspiring keynote speakers, network with likeminded individuals and source products and services from a diverse exhibition.

Now in its fourth successful year the event is being held at Manchester Central on 28-29th October 2009.

Foundation’s very own Chief Officer, Mark Turner, will be appearing as a panellist at Wednesday’s Great Green Debate. The debate will bring together experts in the fields of sustainability and business who will respond to questions from the local business community, discuss the problems faced by companies looking to make themselves more environmentally attractive and offer solutions and advice on how they can develop sustainable strategies.

SMEs are invited to submit questions prior to the debate. To submit a question register online to attend Business North West and email greendebate@nwe.co.uk. If your question is selected you will be contacted prior to the event and will be invited to ask your question during the debate.

Both days will also host a full line up of keynote speakers, including Michelle Mone, founder of Ultimo Lingerie and Mark Howe, Country Director of Google UK; informative and educational seminars; speed networking and investment advice from top business angels. And of course, day one would not be complete without the region’s largest business networking drinks held in the Network Café.

Foundation will be at stand 176a in the ‘Sustainable Hub’ so please come along and visit us!

For more information about Business Northwest 2009, as well as your chance to register to attend the event please visit www.businessnorthwest.co.uk .

Foundation is pleased to announce its appointment as the carbon partner for the Northern Regeneration Summit 2009.

Delegates attending the Summit will be asked to make a donation to Foundation to compensate for their travel-related carbon emissions and prove their committment to reducing carbon and tackling climate change in the region.

The Summit is the largest regionally focussed regeneration event in the North of England. Held this year on the 20th and 21st October 2009 at the City of Manchester Stadium, it provides the opportunity for public and private sector regeneration professionals to come together in order to discuss regeneration for the North of England.

Stephen Thomas, Regeneration & Renewal Sales Manager for Haymarket Business Media says:
"We're proud to offer our support to Foundation. By engaging the delegates who attend our event, we are offering them a unique way to show their commitment to the local environment but also the North West regional carbon compensation fund. Foundation utilises these donations to support community carbon reduction projects. As our event is based in Manchester, Foundation guarantees that these donations will provide funding to projects in the Greater Manchester region."

Tickets for the event are free and are available by registering at www.northern.regen.net.
Please also see www.northernregenerationsummit.com for the line up of speakers and topics for the Conference.

“Students certainly create an awful lot of energy,” says Christopher Kirkup, Principal at Queen Elizabeth Grammar School. “But until we’re able to bottle it, we’ll continue to be heavily reliant on other resources.”

The Penrith school is part of a Cumbria Action For Sustainability (CAFS) project supported with £35,000 from Foundation. The project increases energy efficiency in two buildings near the Lake District – the school and Rosley Village Hall.

Local firm Sundog Energy has fitted 42 photovoltaic panels to the school roof - turning light into electricity and allowing the substantial savings to be ploughed back into the children’s education.

Mr Kirkup said: “Apart from the cost issue, it’s a fantastic opportunity to teach our young people more about climate change and the technology being developed to tackle carbon emissions. They can see it in action first hand, and it can support their learning in a range of subjects including maths, science and environmental science.”

Stuart Harrison, Design Technology teacher at the school, added: “My department is keen to highlight the benefits of engineering as a career choice. There’s no better way of stimulating interest than involving students in this kind of scheme.”
The CAFS project also saw a village hall at the heart of this small Cumbrian community increase its own efficiency with the best insulator nature can provide – sheep’s wool.

Local firm Second Nature UK spent years perfecting the ideal blend of sheep’s wool to give all the benefits of insulation, without the downsides associated with synthetic materials such as fibreglass.

Managing Director Christine Armstrong is in no doubt that users of the village hall, the scheme’s beneficiaries, will see a number of improvements from this natural solution to energy loss.

She said: “The building will be warmer in winter and cooler in the summer, and the trustees will see a reduction in their energy bills as a result. Our insulation -Thermafleece - only needs to be fitted once, as it will last as long as the building itself.
“I think when you use a natural British product like this, it captures the imagination of the community, getting them involved and engaged.”
Richard Suddaby is the Project Officer at CAFS that set the schemes in motion. He said: “Here are two different venues that require subtly different solutions to their energy issues.

“Foundation helped deliver the right answers for each individual case.”