Atherstone’s White Hart Community Groups will be more sustainable thanks to funding from Warwickshire County Council’s Green Shoots Community Climate Change Fund.
The £1m Green Shoots Community Climate Change Fund is allocated by Warwickshire County Council and supports a wide range of small, community-powered initiatives across Warwickshire in addressing the climate change emergency.
White Hart Community Groups is a social organisation that runs groups for Atherstone residents, including a community fridge and a range of activity workshops
They have been awarded £886 in Green Shoots funding to help them to overhaul their existing lighting system with energy efficient LED alternatives.
The Groups’ Atherstone base currently uses a variety of fluorescent and other lighting technology. Switching these to low-energy LED fittings will enable them to reduce the overall number of light fittings and overall energy consumption, whilst increasing the amount of available light in the well-used building.
The cost savings from the lighting switch will help the Groups to deliver their latest initiative: Warm Winter Hub. This new service operates on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday (10am-2pm) and is for anyone in the community who would like a warm space to come along for a cup of tea and a biscuit, or soup and a roll and be among friends.
Cllr Heather Timms, Portfolio Holder for Environment, Climate and Culture, said: “Sometimes it is the little things that can make a huge difference and following the lead of White Hart Community Groups and switching energy-hungry traditional lighting to LED equivalents is something that just about everyone can do at home to reduce their carbon footprints.
“How fantastic that this funding will enable the Groups to deliver something as beneficial to the community as a Warm Hub alongside its established offer of groups and services using the building throughout the week.”
Martin Horner Chair of White Hart Community Groups said “We are very grateful for the Green Shoots funding from Warwickshire County Council. The changes to our lighting have made such a difference, everywhere is so much brighter with the new LED lighting, and more efficient too. We hope to see some Electricity cost savings going forward.
“All our groups are now benefitting from improved lighting, and our new Warm Spaces project has really taken off, with a good number of people coming in to take advantage of a place to get warm, have some refreshments and meet others for a chat. We look forward to all of our groups continuing into the future, and the savings we will make will contribute to that happening.”
More information about White Hart Community Groups can be found online: https://www.whcg-atherstone.org.uk/
Find out more about Warwickshire’s Warm Welcome Hubs: https://www.costoflivingwarwickshire.co.uk/home/warm-welcome-locations
A full list of projects that will receive Green Shoots Community Climate Change funding can be found here: https://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/regeneration-projects/green-shoots-community-climate-change-fund-2022/5
For more information about the Fund, visit: www.warwickshire.gov.uk/greenshootsfund
For more information about how Warwickshire is facing the challenges of the climate change emergency, visit: https://www.warwickshireclimateemergency.org.uk/
Get the latest news about how Warwickshire County Council and partners are facing the challenge of the climate emergency and how you can get involved: http://eepurl.com/hrk-zf