Thrive Renewables to help turn local community buildings into warm hubs for winter

The nationwide scheme offers grants of up to £4,500 to each eligible building, which could include village halls, community centres and church halls, so that it can make improvements such as insulation, draught-proofing, LED lighting or improved heating controls ahead of winter.

For the first time since starting the programme in 2016, Thrive will make energy essentials training available to the local communities that apply, delivered by national energy charity, and administrator, Centre for Sustainable Energy (CSE). Topics covered will include fuel poverty awareness and basic energy advice, community approaches to tackling fuel poverty and energy efficiency in community buildings.

To apply, buildings need to be located within a 20-mile radius of one of the company’s clean energy projects across the UK. This includes its 5MW battery storage project, which is located close to the village of Wicken in Northamptonshire. Storing electricity when energy is abundant and exporting it back to the grid during peak times, Wicken has the capacity to provide 1.49 hours of electricity, or 7.45MWh, to the National Grid or local distribution network.

Adrian Warman, Head of Operations at Thrive Renewables, said: “Across the UK, we’re seeing many community buildings struggling or having to reduce their services as a result of soaring energy bills. At the same time, more and more people are looking to them as a warm, welcoming space that they can rely on during challenging times. Through our community benefit programme, we hope to help these important social hubs so that they can continue offering support to those who may be struggling this winter, with our training programme also helping to develop long lasting energy efficiency knowledge and skills to help people reduce domestic energy bills.”

Tess Rushton, Senior Project Worker at Centre for Sustainable Energy, added: “We are excited to run the 7th round of the Thrive Renewable Community Benefit Programme. Community buildings serve as vital spaces for people to gather, take part in social activities and often, access support. In recent years, they have come under threat from rising energy costs. We are so pleased to be able to support them with longer term energy resilience through the community benefit programme and help them to provide warm and comfortable spaces for the communities they serve. This year, we’ll be able to take that support even further with our additional energy essentials training, allowing us to further upskill communities to combat fuel poverty at a local level.”

The application process is administered by CSE, with applicants asked to complete a full energy survey of the shared building using guidance supplied by the charity. This will help to identify potential improvements, including zero-cost measures, and calculate carbon and cost savings for different options. Applications will remain open until 21st September 2023 and more information can be found at: https://www.thriverenewables.co.uk/cbp

Now in its seventh round of funding, Thrive’s Community Benefit Programme has awarded 51 grants to 43 buildings, totalling over £150,000 nationally. These improvements save 75 tonnes of carbon dioxide each year.