Solar panels at Acme Artist Studios
Eleven additional community organisations have been awarded £125,000 of funding through round three of the Carbon Reduction Community Grants Programme.
The programme supports local community groups, charities, and community interest companies to cut their carbon emissions by funding projects that increase energy efficiency, installing renewable energy sources, and supporting initiatives that seek to educate the wider community carbon emission reduction.
The successful projects include the installation of LED lighting, solar panels, air source heat pumps, and better insulation. This investment will both reduce the carbon emissions of these buildings while creating better facilities for the community to use.
Additionally, five of the projects awarded funding will carry out educational projects that will engage with communities across the borough on climate change. These projects will include workshops, seminars, and interacting with the community to tackle emissions, including reducing food waste.
This latest announcement of funding follows on from the first two rounds, where a total of £532,000 has been awarded to 33 projects across Tower Hamlets. With this most recent round of funding, the Carbon Reduction Community Grants Programme has now awarded a total of £657,181 to 45 projects that will reduce carbon emissions by approximately 638 tonnes. This is equivalent to the carbon emissions produced by driving over 1.6million miles in a car – all being removed from the atmosphere by community projects.
Acme Artist Studios was one of the organisations that benefited from the second round of funding, which allowed them to install solar panels.
Liam Creech, Head of Property Management at Acme Artist Studios, said:
“We have considered the possibility of solar panels for a long time. There has always been a strong environmental and sustainability case to install a solar system, but the initial investment required has always prevented us from moving forward. The Carbon Reduction Community Grants programme has provided the support and space we needed to plan and install a large-scale plant of 112 solar panels.
“We would not have been able to consider a project at this scale without the programme. The process has changed the way we think about the potential of solar and we are now planning further installations across other buildings in the future.”
Lutfur Rahman, Executive Mayor of Tower Hamlets, said:
“Our community organisations are vital to Tower Hamlets and play such an important role in driving forward positive change. These projects have not only reduced carbon emissions and improved the quality of community assets, but have helped to educate, engage and encourage the local community to take action on the climate emergency.”
For more information on the Carbon Reduction Community Grants Programme, please visit our website.
If you have any questions about the programme or would like more information, please email: THEnergy@towerhamlets.gov.uk
List of organisations who have received funding in the third round of the project:
Installation of renewable technologies and electrifying heating
Docklands Sailing Centre Trust
Roland Philipps Scout Centre
Tower Hamlets Community Transport
Greenlight Youth Club
Energy retrofit projects
Toynbee Hall
Hermitage Community Moorings
Public Works
Learning and behaviour change projects
The Bow Foodbank
Rich Mix Cultural Foundation
Coney
Public Works
Hackney Wick & Fish Island Community Development Trust
Posted on Monday 22nd July 2024