Welcome to our information page for communities working in Herefordshire.

Project Inspires £30,000 Community Support

Members of the local community in Fownhope have come together to support a new Co-operative which will bring sustainable heat to businesses in Herefordshire. Together they have raised an amazing £30,000 for the Woolhope Dome Community Wood Fuel Co-operative, the majority of which has come from individual contributions. The money will enable to project to launch its full public share issue in October.

The Co-operative has been set up by Fownhope Carbon Reduction Action Group and aims to use sustainably harvested wood from local woodlands to fuel wood-chip boilers that will heat local business and community premises. The Co-operative will own and operate woodchip-powered boilers in local premises and provide fuel for these boilers from local sustainable sources. The project is supported by Sharenergy, a not-for-profit organisation.

Gareth Williams from Caplor Energy, a founding Director of the Woolhope Dome Community Wood Fuel Co-operative said 'this investment shows a real commitment by the local community to environmental sustainability and a genuine willingness to make a difference at a local level. From the outset we wanted to use local woodlands to fuel local businesses from an economic, social and environmental perspective. This investment will take us a step closer to achieving our aim'.

The Co-operative's share offer will raise the necessary capital to purchase and install the wood-chip boilers. Individuals, organisations and businesses will be able to invest as little as £250 or up to £20,000 and as Members of the Co-operative will receive interest on their investment. The target rate of return averaged over 20 years is a competitive 5-8% per annum, taking advantage of the Governments Renewable Heat Incentive which is designed to provide a guaranteed price per unit of heat generated by renewable energy.
Ben Dodd the Development Manager for the Co-operative said 'I am delighted with the response from local people. We had a gap in funding due to the demise of Advantage West Midlands and the community have rallied round, dug deep and secured the necessary funds to continue. It really bodes well for the share offer in October'.

For further information please speak to:
Ben Dodd
Development Manager
Woolhope Dome Community Wood-Fuel Co-operative
Tel: (01530) 273 312
Mob: 07816 846 979
Email: bdodd@toucansurf.com 

Community Strand of the West Midlands Low Carbon Economy Programme

Improvement and Efficiency West Midlands in partnership with Sustainability West Midlands are delivering the West Midlands Low Carbon Economy Programme to help West Midlands local authorities use the low carbon agenda to achieve cost reduction and private and low carbon job creation. The programme includes a Community Strand.

The objective of the Community Strand of the programme is to provide support to community groups and third sector organisations with viable renewable and sustainable energy proposals to help move the projects towards successful implementation, with the aim of increasing the amount of community led/owned sustainable and renewable energy projects in the West Midlands.

Packages of direct support will be made available to community groups and civil society organisations for community sustainable energy projects. The programme has the resources to support up to 12 projects across the West Midlands.

Marches Energy Agency and Localise West Midlands have been commissioned to design and manage this part of the programme. If you would like to find out more, or have any questions about the application process call our project team on 01743 277106 or email simon@mea.org.uk .

Application forms must be returned by 17.00 hours on Mon 25th July 2011. Sustainability West Midlands' Voluntary and Community Sector Group will select the 12 successful projects for funding support on Wednesday 3rd August. Support packages will be delivered for successful projects between September and November 2011.

For this element of the programme we have assembled a range of organisations from across the UK and the West Midlands who can offer the very best tailored support for your sustainable and/or renewable energy project to help move you towards successful implementation. These organisations collectively have a wide range of skills and experience including technical, legal and business capabilities. Each of the 12 support packages will have a value of around £2.5k and will consist of 5 to 10 days of support. Direct funding support by way of a financial grant is not available.

As part of the project we will be producing a common project development framework for community renewables, and will be commissioning projects against this to test and refine its viability. If you are successful in being awarded support we will seek your feedback after you have received your tailored package.

Legacy: We are also keen to develop this project beyond December 2011 and will be actively exploring ways to do this throughout this project. We hope you will be part of that, and welcome your suggestions on how we can best achieve that. 

To complete the application form, plese download the document below, or contact Simon at MEA on 01743 277106 or email simon@mea.org.uk