Last Friday our community energy project at the Doddington and Rollo Community Association (DRCA) was officially launched by Marsha de Cordova the MP for Battersea. The event was hosted by Leonie Cooper, London Assembly Member for Wandsworth and Merton (and member of CREW) and we welcomed guest speaker Alex Hartley from South East London Community Energy (SELCE). The project replaced all the existing lighting at the DRCA with highly efficient LED bulbs that are controlled by motion sensors. Most of rooms in the DRCA receive no natural light hence the lights need to be on at all times of day. This leads to very high electricity bills. Our project is saving the DRCA £1000 per month. CREW worked with Pure Leapfrog to raise the capital for the project, taking out a 0% interest loan, which will be paid back over 10-years using a portion of the money saved each month by DRCA. This is the first example of a community energy project in London using an energy services agreement, and will hopefully be a model that can be replicated across the whole of London. A portion of the money saved by the project will go into a community fund to be spent on social and environmental initiatives in Doddington & Rollo and the surrounding area This year we will use this money to fund a series of workshops on the Doddington & Rollo estate focused on tackling fuel poverty. These workshops will train volunteers on how to help local people understand the simple changes they can make to reduce their energy bills, for example, switching to different energy tariffs and reducing unnecessary energy usage. This “train the trainer” model of working with local volunteers to provide energy advice to their fellow residents shares the knowledge with the community creating a long term solution for helping with fuel poverty. This is our first project, and we’re incredibly proud of it. This is the first step towards completing our vision of bring community energy to Wandsworth.
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To celebrate the completion of our first community energy project at the Doddington and Rollo Community Association (DRCA) CREW are hosting a press event to officially launch the project on Friday 22nd September. CREW has partnered with DRCA to help reduce utility bills at the Community Centre by installing energy efficient lighting and in turn raise funds for workshops to tackle fuel poverty for the local residents. DRCA Community Centre has very little natural light but needs to provide lighting 24/7, resulting in very high utility bills. Replacing their existing fluorescent light bulbs with highly efficient LED bulbs controlled by motion sensors will save DRCA over £1000 per month on electricity. The event will be opened by Leonie Cooper London Assembly Member for Wandsworth and Merton with guest speaker Marsha de Cordova, MP for Battersea. Date: Friday 22nd September Time: 15:30 Location: DRCA Business Centre, Charlotte Despard Avenue, Battersea, London, SW11 5JE If you would like to attend please register at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/crew-drca-community-energy-project-launch-tickets-37704027762?utm_term=eventurl_text About the Project
The DRCA provides facilities for local business, charities and community groups. The Community Centre has very little natural light and requires the lights to be on 24/7, resulting in very high electricity bills. The aim of the project was to replace the existing inefficient fluorescent light bulbs with highly efficient LED bulbs, that are controlled by motion sensors. This will save DRCA over £1000 per month. A portion of the money saved will be donated to a community fund that will pay for workshops aimed at tackling fuel poverty for low income families in the local area. CREW worked with Pure Leapfrog to raise the capital for the project. CREW took out a loan from the British Airways Carbon Fund, which will be paid back over the 10-year lifetime of the project using portion of the money saved each month by DRCA. The project would not have been possible without the help of Social Power Partnerships who performed all aspects of the installation, and Simmons and Simmons solicitors who provided pro-bono legal advice on the contracts. |
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