News
BANISH THE INEFFICENT COMMUNITY BUILDING – NEWSFLASH
Thu, 5 August 2010BANISH THE INEFFICENT COMMUNITY BUILDING – NEWSFLASH
Marches Energy Agency (MEA) has contacted a number of community building managers in Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire regarding a free energy assessment and feasibility study which is being partially funded by your Local Authority under the ‘Banish the Inefficient Community Building’ project. The remainder of the funding for these potential studies is available through the BIG Lottery’s ‘Community Sustainable Energy Programme’ (CSEP), which can provide grants towards 75% of the cost of undertaking this work.
On 4th August MEA received notification from BRE, the managing agents of the CSEP grant fund, that the scheme will be closed to new applications at 1700 on Wednesday 1st September.
If you have received a quote from MEA but have not yet submitted an application to BRE for the CSEP grant and still wish to participate in the project, we strongly recommend that you prepare and submit your application at the earliest possible opportunity. It is highly likely that this announcement by BRE will trigger a surge of application submissions, and if your organisation is to be able to secure a grant from the remaining unallocated funding, then time is very much ‘of the essence’.
As ever, MEA will be pleased to offer advice and guidance to any organisation with the final completion and submission of the application form. MEA continues to seek to enable as many community organisations across the East Midlands Region as possible to benefit from this funding stream and from the Local Authority funding, which offers community groups an opportunity for a fully-funded, impartial study which will identify opportunities to reduce energy costs and secure CO2 savings.
MEA is seeking to contact all prospective participants in this project individually to determine whether organisations still wish to be involved and to offer such assistance as may be required.
Should you require guidance with preparing your application, or if you have any other questions about the project, the please contact:
- Mr Robert Saunders, robert.saunders@mea.org.uk, 01743 277116
- Mr Joe Bentley, joe@mea.org.uk, 01743 277108.
Free Funding Search Facility Available in Derbyshire
Tue, 27 July 2010Derbyshire-based community groups looking for cash to aid their efforts to tackle climate change can search for funding opportunities at GRANT net. Provided by Derbyshire County Council the facility can help groups looking for funding in these cash-strapped times!
See: www.derbyshire.gov.uk/community/lottery_funding/grant_net/default.asp
Overseal Residents Save Cash and the Planet
Wed, 30 June 2010Overseal residents have permanently reduced their village’s carbon emissions by more than 2% per year as the 
result of a project run in the village, saving themselves both cash and the planet. The project was run by SouthDerbyshire District Council and Midlands-based energy charity Marches Energy Agency.
result of a project run in the village, saving themselves both cash and the planet. The project was run by SouthDerbyshire District Council and Midlands-based energy charity Marches Energy Agency.As part of the project almost a quarter of the homes in the village have had loft insulation, cavity wall insulation or both installed for free with funding secured by South Derbyshire District Council. In addition the village hall and Baptist Church received a free energy survey of their building, local residents were able to attend workshops and pupils at the local primary school visited an Energy Farm to see first-hand how various renewable technologies, including solar panels, work.
The measures installed and the changes people make to the way they use energy will result in lower energy bills. More than 100 tonnes of carbon dioxide, one of the main greenhouse gases causing climate change, will be saved each year as a result of the project.
Cllr John Lemmon of South Derbyshire District Council said:
'This project has been well worthwhile and shows what a community can achieve with a little bit of support and encouragement. We hope to learn from our time working with Overseal and roll out the project to more South Derbyshire villages in the coming year’
John White of Overseal Parish Council said:
‘The survey carried out on the village hall has really helped us to understand our energy consumption and to take steps towards reducing it. The building is used by many members of the local community and any savings we can make on our energy bills will benefit everyone.’
Caroline Harmon of Marches Energy Agency said:
‘We‘ve really enjoyed working in Overseal helping residents to reduce their carbon footprint through using energy efficiently. This will benefit both their purses and the planet as a whole.’
Light Fantastic Visits Arnold Carnival
Mon, 21 June 2010More than 600 people received free low energy lightbulbs at Arnold Carnival in Gedling on 19th and 20th June.
Marches Energy Agency's (MEA) Light Fantastic was on hand to give out more than 1000 of the lightbulbs and advice about energy efficiency to festival-goers at the busy event in Arnot Hill Park which was organised by Gedling Borough Council.
Caroline Harmon of MEA said: ' The response to the stand was great: at the busiest times we couldn't give out the bulbs fast enough. Lots of people also wanted advice about the range of low energy light bulbs available and we were able to help them with this. We also set up our giant snake and ladders-style board game which was popular with children and helped them to learn about lowering carbon emissions.'
Carbon Foot-printing at Bolsover District Council
Thu, 17 June 2010
Representatives from the Marches Energy Agency visited Bolsover yesterday (16th June 2010) to give information and advice about climate change and home energy efficiency. Employees of the Bolsover district council, as well as the general public, were give the opportunity to work out their individual carbon footprint using a simple carbon footprint calculator.On average the people of Bolsover were doing well with their efforts, nearly everyone we spoke to was doing something to reduce their carbon footprint, however they still had an average carbon footprint of 11,212kg. There is always something that could be improved to get those footprints down even lower and the 5-section carbon footprint calculator showed each individual the area that could best be improved for them; Be it using air travel less or buying more locally produced or organic food.
Using energy efficient light bulbs was a popular method that people reported already doing in their home to keep their carbon emissions down and we aimed to encourage this by giving out free energy saving bulbs to all that wanted them. Each bulb gives out 100 watts worth of light using only 18 watts of electricity!
We received queries about energy monitors for the home, local wind farm plans, low flush toilets and energy saving lighting. Many people were keen to look at our light bulb library and were pleased to see that a new range of energy efficient lighting is being brought out. There was some discussion about issues people were having with the traditional low energy bulbs and we were able to give advice on these issues.
Over all, the carbon footprint calculators were very popular and often people were pleased to learn that their efforts were having a significant impact on their carbon emissions.