STCE have already distributed grants from the Twemlows Community Benefit Fund, this has gone to recipients in the local area including:
Festival Drayton Centre, Market Drayton – Solar panels
The Festival Drayton Centre received £4,000 which has been put towards installing solar panels at the Market Drayton venue. The new solar panels will significantly cut the centre’s large energy bill, helping to ensure the sustainability of the highly-valued community building.
Blackberry Fair, Whitchurch – Pedal roundabout
Twemlows Community Benefit Fund has supported Blackberry Fair for several years, helping to promote sustainable practices and imaginatively engage with people, encouraging each other to embrace the challenge of collectively caring for the planet through simple, effective, positive actions.
Twemlows Community Benefit Fund helped to bring a pedal powered stage to Blackberry Fair, enabling the Fair to reduce and recycle all of its waste and to showcase a pedal powered roundabout, celebrating groups actively protecting and educating about the environment.
Park Lane Community Centre, Woodside, Telford – Water butt and LED lights
The Park Lane Centre provides a huge range of services for all ages in the local community. Manager Jacqui Idiens said “We wanted the children to have a “hands on” experience of conservation of resources, so harvesting rainwater to water their seeds and plants is a perfect lesson for them in their early lives. The LED lights will be making a small but significant reduction in the Centre’s running costs”.
Whitchurch Allotment and Community Orchard
The Community Orchard suffered some damage during the 2 storms at the end of 2021 (Arwen and Barra) and they lost some trees. They took this opportunity to plant more, and they found that by inviting families to planting days, they engaged them not just for the day, but for years to come as they watch their trees grow and harvest the fruit.
They also needed some more equipment for their beehives. The bees are now permanently sited in the Community Orchard and the group are able to sell their honey to local people.
Lightfoot Enterprises, Bishop’s Castle – Home energy surveys
Sharon Pickering of Little Wenlock had a home energy advice survey done by Jeremy Brignall-Thorp, one of Lightfoot’s trained Home Energy Advisors.
After the survey Sharon said “My home in the Old School House is a real challenge for heating and energy saving. Solid walls, poor insulation, no gas or oil, just a log stove and electrics. Jeremy certainly knew his subject and helped me navigate through the various options for making my home more energy efficient. His written report was a great help in reassuring me when I made my decisions. The only thing he didn’t have was a magic wand to find the money!”
Ellesmere Bowling Club received £1,000 support as part of a big fundraising effort to replace floodlights on its two greens and resurface a path at the site.
Gerard Brooke-Bennett, from the club, said: “The new floodlamps have reduced our energy costs as they are more energy efficient, reduced light pollution, and are trouble free, allowing us to continue within the leagues so that club members can continue playing, thus gaining a boost to both mental health and physical exercise in the open air.”
Tilstock Bradbury Village Hall, near Whitchurch, also received £1,000 to install batteries to store the electricity generated by its solar panels.
Chair Richard Thompson said: “In theory our grid electricity consumption should be zero for at least six months a year and reduced for the winter six months. We hope this project will save the village hall money as well as reduce our carbon footprint.”
Harmer Hill Village Hall, near Shrewsbury, received £1,000 to install solar panels on its roof along with battery storage.
Erica Martin and Kelvin Morgan, from the village hall committee said: “Since we had it installed two months ago we have not paid a bill. It’s been really efficient. We wanted to install solar panels because we wanted to make a green difference.”
The Renshaws Field Association in Clive was able to install a willow dome and tunnel after receiving a grant of just over £300.
An association spokesperson said: “The dome was chosen as a part of our five-year project to develop the offering of our outside leisure space in Clive. We would like to thank the fund for awarding us this grant. It hasn’t taken the children long to find the new dome.”
A new round of funding is open until April 30th 2024,