News release 17.1.12
Bedminster Energy Group, working with the Southville Community Development Association, has just discovered that their application for an award of £53,000 from the Department for Energy and Climate Change was successful. It is to support their work to help save energy and reduce fuel bills in Bedminster and Southville.
Supported by the council and a wide range of local community groups, the idea is to commission a comprehensive assessment of the housing stock, carry out surveys of local homes, and run a series of community events and activities that will help people see the options for energy saving and choosing ‘green’ energy technologies at home.
Simon Hankins, CEO at the Southville Community Development Association, the charity that operates the Southville Centre says “we are delighted to be supporting Bedminster Energy Group with this work. It’s great news for the group and for the area and we’re looking forward to seeing what can be achieved”.
With recent increases in fuel bill prices, the group has ambitious plans to help people across the area reduce their energy use and get their fuel bills down. The funding has to be used by the end of the March and the volunteers in the group are keen to get going as soon as possible.
Mike Ginger from the group comments: “We face a huge challenge in the future keeping energy bills down and making homes warmer. This project will support our local community to cut energy use, reducing pressure on family budgets and helping the environment. Bedminster Energy Group is part of the Sustainable Southville Project which has a track record of local projects including the Best of Bedminster show, turning scrap land into community gardens, promoting walking and cycling and producing the local Green Map.”
They will start with gathering information about the 12,000 homes in the area and use expertise from the research team at the Bristol based Centre for Sustainable Energy to establish exactly how much money we spend on energy in our homes at the moment, and look at ways to get the best bill savings for each of the different types of housing. They will share information about what people can do at low cost to see results straight away, as well as explaining options available to pay for more expensive home improvements like solid wall insulation, and energy generation technologies such as solar panels.
The group’s first event is this Saturday afternoon, 21st January at faithSPACE (next to the Southville Centre), where they will be running talks and demonstrations and giving away free energy saving kits.
Further info / contact details:
• Bedminster energy group email: BEGBS3@yahoo.co.uk
• Phone: 07789 771134 / 0117 9341413
• More information about Bedminster Energy Group: www.bedminsterenergy.org.uk
• More information about SCDA and the Southville Centre: http://www.southvillecentre.org.uk/
• More information about the funding: http://www.greencommunitiescc.org.uk/DECCDefault.aspx
Photo credit: flickr/Tom Raftery
