Getting Funding
Here are some of the projects that are already cutting carbon and saving energy thanks to funding from Foundation.
Foundation helps community-based carbon reduction projects get going.
Completed Projects
Project: Astley Moss Mossland restoration
Beneficiary: Astley Moss
Astley Moss Mossland restoration
Activity:
Insulation
Foundation funding:
£25,000
Annual CO2 savings:
31.00tons
Lifetime CO2 savings:
2.5ha of mossland at Astley Moss, Leigh is being restored and protected with help from Foundation. The funding means that a lot more work will be carried out on the site and the area will be restored much more quickly.
“Mossland is a unique habitat and very special to the Northwest because of our wet climate. We have 75% of England’s mosslands but we have lost 99% of it already – what’s left is just 1% of what we once had. We need to value our mossland, it’s our equivalent of rainforests and it plays such an important part in tackling climate change.”
Rosslyn Colderley of Lancashire Wildlife
Project: Wood burning stoves
Beneficiary: Local households
Wood burning stoves
Activity:
other
Foundation funding:
£31,650
Annual CO2 savings:
8.70tons
Lifetime CO2 savings:
Wood-burning stoves in 15 Trafford homes help people currently spending more than 10% of their income on energy to reduce carbon emissions and energy costs. The local economy will also benefit as opportunities emerge for businesses to install stoves, supply wood, or redirect waste wood from landfill.
Michelle: “During the day Bernard is in on his own, so we either have to heat the whole house – which we can’t afford to do all the time – or not have the heating on at all. A wood stove will let us properly heat the one room where Bernard spends most of his time.”
Bernard: “I’m not the greenest person in the world but it’s nice to think you’re doing your bit for the environment. Maybe if everyone could do a bit more it would really start to show.
Bernard and Michelle Acton, Stretford residents
Project: Bickerton Village Hall
Beneficiary: Bickerton Village Hall Trust
Bickerton Village Hall
Activity:
Photovoltaic
Foundation funding:
£2,839
Annual CO2 savings:
1.80tons
Lifetime CO2 savings:
Bickerton Village Hall has received funding from Foundation to install 27 electricity producing solar panels on its roof, helping the hall to become self-sufficient and benefiting over 10,000 people during its lifetime.
“We’ll be the first village hall in Cheshire to generate electricity for the National Grid. The contractors for the project are a local company, and the panels will be made locally too. If this project could be reproduced in buildings throughout the country the combined impact for the environment would be huge.” Carol Shadbolt, Managing Trustee, Bickerton Village Hall.
Project: Weaver Vale Housing Trust
Beneficiary: Local social housing
Weaver Vale Housing Trust
Activity:
Heating
Foundation funding:
£20,000
Annual CO2 savings:
6.60tons
Lifetime CO2 savings:
Residents in Northwich are heating their water at half the cost and reducing carbon emissions at the same time thanks to the money provided by Foundation towards the cost of a Weaver Vale Housing Trust project.
“We’re not served by National Gas, so we have to rely on hot water which is heated in a cylinder by an electric immersion. Solar energy will help us significantly reduce our bills and have a very important environmental impact.”
Gill Hampton, Brakeley Lane resident
Project: Wirral CosyHomes at Wirral Council
Beneficiary: Local households
Wirral CosyHomes at Wirral Council
Activity:
Heating
Foundation funding:
£27,500
Annual CO2 savings:
2.30tons
Lifetime CO2 savings:
Wirral’s CosyHomes programme supplies boiler replacements and insulation to low income households. With funding from Foundation, the project can now provide solar hot water heating to many properties that are ineligible for government grants.
“The majority of homes we work with are classed ‘hard to treat’. It can be difficult and expensive to improve their energy efficiency. Being able to offer solar hot water heating is great. It can provide up to 100% of hot water in summer and even during the rest of the year the figure stands at 50-70%, which will save people both money and energy.”
Ed Kingsley, Principal Officer (Home Energy) at Wirral Council
Project: Cumbria Action for Sustainability
Beneficiary: Queen Elizabeth School and Rosley Village Hall
Cumbria Action for Sustainability
Activity:
Photovoltaic
Foundation funding:
£35,000
Annual CO2 savings:
4.30tons
Lifetime CO2 savings:
With the money received from Foundation, local firm Sundog Energy will fit 42 photovoltaic panels to the roof of Queen Elizabeth Grammar School – turning light into electricity and allowing the substantial savings to be ploughed back into the children’s education. Rosley Village Hall will also increase its own energy efficiency with the best insulator nature can provide – sheep’s wool from British hill farms made into ‘Thermafleece’, the award winning product of Cumbrian firm Second Nature UK Ltd.
“Students certainly create an awful lot of energy, but until we’re able to bottle it, we’ll continue to be heavily reliant on other resources. Aside from the cost issue, the photovoltaics offer a fantastic opportunity to teach our young people more about climate change and the technology being developed to tackle carbon emissions. They will see it in action first hand, and it can support their learning in a range of subjects including maths, science and environmental science.”
Christopher Kirkup, Principal Queen Elizabeth Grammar School