February newsletter

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After a jam-packed January round-up, you might have expected a slow news month... but here we are again with plenty of CREW updates. We'd especially love to hear your climate action ideas so we can pitch them to the Merton Climate Action Working Group. Read on for inspiration! When we're not busy 'powering down' communities or fighting fuel poverty, CREW has some amazing projects going on in community buildings across London and we thought it was time we spilled the beans.   New Unity is complete!  In summer 2019, New Unity​ and CREW Energy won a funding grant from Islington Council's Community Energy Fund to make the non-religious church's Upper Street building more heat efficient. The project involved installing a Building Management System (BMS) and introducing Hydromx within the heating system to save the charity a forecast 40,000kWh, 9 tonnes of C02e and around £2000 per year – including a whopping 25% on their heating bill! The project was completed in November 2019 and CREW ran its first energy café at the venue on 26 January 2020 as part of Big Energy Saving Week (more on this below). Next flagship project CREW Energy is working with the Polka Children's Theatre in Wimbledon, with funding support from the GLA’s London Community Energy Fund. We are helping the Theatre develop a sustainability plan for the original part of the building. Technologies under consideration are solar PV, a heat pump, heating controls, LED lighting and heat transfer solutions. CREW is also building a funding proposal for the project. Stay tuned for more project updates! Big Energy Saving Week   20-26 January 2020 marked Big Energy Saving Week, a national campaign run by Citizens Advice, Citizens Advice Scotland, Energy Saving Trust and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy to raise awareness around our energy usage and habits. We held two energy cafés in Morden and Islington and filled the social media sphere with money-saving energy tips from our favourite partners and Tweeters. But you don’t need an awareness week to start saving energy – so each month, we'll be bringing you a tip to help you on your way to energy efficiency! Your February energy-saving tip   63% of the water we use is in the bathroom! By turning off the tap while brushing their teeth, a family of 4 could save up to £36 on water bills, and up to 17,520 litres of water a year. Get water-saving freebies from Thames Water here Help us take climate emergency action CREW has now been part of Merton’s Climate Emergency Working Group (CEWG) for four months, helping the council shape its plans for climate emergency action. And now we need you to get involved! The CWEG has been split into the following broad working groups: Buildings and energy Transport Green spaces Behaviour change Finance Products and waste If you have any ideas you would like to submit in connection with these themes, get in touch on social media (links below). If you'd like to play a more active role, CEWG will also be inviting the public to come along to an open day at the end of February where you can vote on you preferred priorities for the ideas submitted. Keep an eye out on our social channels for the date and venue and we hope to see you there!     As part of the emergency plans, Sustainable Merton officially launched the Business Energy Champions campaign, in conjunction with Merton Chamber of Commerce, at an event in Wimbledon on 16th January where we shared our initial ideas with other enthusiastic members. CREW looks forward to offering technical support to this scheme which encourages local businesses to develop their own sustainability plans. There will be regular meetings – so, again, stay tuned for dates... CREW has partnered with Thinking Works as part of our energy café offering in Lambeth, Merton and Wandsworth. They are an award-winning not-for-profit company, helping to create a sustainable and more energy-efficient future. They work with local authorities, housing associations and water boards across London and Southern England on a number of projects, from energy advice home visits and fuel poverty reduction workshops, to domestic and school energy audits. They use a bespoke digital survey form to capture data and help refer clients to over 70 partners for assistance, including Age UK, Citizens Advice Bureau and local health and wellbeing services. During 2018-2019, Thinking Works helped 1,275 households save an average of £488 per property and we're hoping to help add plenty to this number in 2020! To speak to us about an in-home visit, or if you have any other energy queries, come along to one of our upcoming energy cafés:   Commonside Community Development Trust Thursday 6th February 11am - 1pm (includes an energy talk) Thursday 13th February 11am - 1pm Friday 21st February 9am - 12pm Friday 28th February 9am - 12pm Friday 6th March 9am - 12pm That's all for this month! But if you're interested in more CREW news...   Sign up to the mailing list Share Tweet Forward Share