I can’t believe it’s June already!  Time flies when you’re having fun… and also when you’re promoting a community energy scheme which will help schools and community buildings save money on their energy bills, save carbon and help children learn about energy and climate change.

Over the past few weeks, we have been out and about across Greater Manchester spreading the word about the project – from a car boot sale in Partington and vegan fair in Chorlton to a film premiere in Salford and a sober morning rave in Manchester!

Fundraising update

I’m pleased to report that share applications now total over £43,000 when you include offline investments. That’s a great start, but we still have a long way to go before we reach our optimum target of £186,000.

Having said that, if everyone on our mailing list chipped in £250, we’d be more than half way to our target!  🙂

Upcoming events

We have lots of activity planned for the rest of the month to get the message out about our project and share offer – do let us know if you’d like to help with any of them.

• Tonight we’ll be at the latest North West Sustainable Business Quarterly at 5.30pm at Citylabs (near the MRI on Nelson Street).
• On Saturday, you’ll find us at Didsbury Festival in Didsbury Park from 11am to 4pm.
• Also, it won’t have escaped you that we are competing with the EU Referendum for attention!  They say if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em, so we’ll be at What has the EU ever done for Manchester’s environment? on Thursday 16 June at 6.30pm at the St Thomas Centre in Ardwick.
• And next weekend, we’re hoping to have a stall at Manchester Museum on Saturday and we’ll be out and about at the Manchester Day Parade on Sunday.

Thank you and keep sharing!

Finally a big thank you to everyone who has invested so far.  If you’ve not had chance yet, please do consider applying for shares as soon as you can as this will really help to build momentum and encourage others to invest as we approach the 30 June deadline.

Please also keep sharing details of our project with your friends, family, colleagues and acquaintances, and encouraging them to join and invest too – here are some links you might want to share:

• Website: http://www.gmcr.org.uk
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WeAreGMCR
• Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/WeAreGMCR
• Crowdfunder: http://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/gmcr
• YouTube: https://youtu.be/6ruHiaBt2EA

And don’t hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions.

We’ve had a great start to our share offer and are currently up to £25,850. Thanks to everyone who has joined so far. If you are thinking of investing, head over to our invest page, and to our crowdfunder, or you can also catch up with us at various  events between now and the end of June, including the following:

• Thu 26 May 19:00 – 21:00 Unlock Democracy meeting – Friends Meeting House, Mount Street, Manchester
• Sat 28 May 11:00 – 17:00 Manchester Vegan Fair – Chorlton Irish Club, M21 9DG
• Thu 9 Jun 17:30 – 20:30    North West Sustainable Business Quarterly – Citylabs, Nelson Street, M13 9NQ

Greater Manchester Community Renewables (GMCR) has launched a share offer to raise £186,000 to put solar panels on schools and community buildings across Greater Manchester.

GMCR, a community group established in January 2015, plans to install solar panels on Irlam Primary School, Primrose Hill Primary School in Ordsall and The Fuse, a community building in Partington. They will also help Moss Community Energy [2] install panels at Fiddlers Lane Primary School in Irlam.

The sites will benefit from lower electricity bills and a lower carbon footprint as a result of the clean electricity being generated from their rooftops, and surpluses will go into a Community Fund to support eco-friendly projects in the local area. [3]

The installations will be funded from a community share issue, where members of the public can invest in shares in GMCR to own a stake in the project. People who buy shares will become members of GMCR and receive interest of up to 5% per annum on their investment.

Ali Abbas, Director of GMCR, said:

“We are delighted to launch our first share offer to give people across Greater Manchester the chance to invest in a project that will not only provide a financial return, but will also make a real difference to local communities and the environment.”

Elaine Darwin, Headteacher at Irlam Primary School, said:

“We’re really excited to be part of this project.  The solar panels will not only save us money on our energy bills, they will also be a great resource to help children and grown-ups learn about where our energy comes from and what it means for the environment.”

Cllr Derek Antrobus, Assistant Mayor for Planning at Salford City Council, said:

“We welcome this community-led project, which is giving people who live or work in Salford the opportunity to invest in locally produced clean energy, helping our schools save money and supporting action to reduce our impact on climate change.”

Roger Lightup, Salford resident and former Mayor of the City, said:

“I have invested in Greater Manchester Community Renewables because it’s a great opportunity to generate a long term income stream for further eco-friendly projects in Irlam and Ordsall.”

GMCR’s share offer is open until 30 June 2016, with a minimum investment of £100 and a maximum of £20,000. Those interested in investing should read the Share Offer fully and take appropriate financial advice.

ENDS

Notes to the editor

1. Greater Manchester Community Renewables Ltd is a community benefit society, registered number 7066. GMCR received a grant from the Urban Community Energy Fund, provided by The Department of Energy and Climate Change
2. Moss Community Energy Ltd is a community benefit society, registered number 7174.
3. It is projected that the sites will collectively save just under £50,000 on their energy bills, and a community fund of over £60,000 will be generated over the life of the project.

Update: Our share offer is due to launch to Monday 16th May – watch this space!

Greater Manchester Community Renewables (GMCR) [1] and Moss Community Energy (MCE) [2] are helping Salford boost its position in the nationwide renewable energy league by installing solar panels on three schools in the area.

Hot on the heels of Wigan, Rochdale and Stockport, Salford is current ranked 171^st out of 348 areas in the country for green energy generation, and 160^th for generation of electricity from solar in particular.

The community energy projects will add a further 74kW to Salford’s renewable energy capacity, generating approximately 60,000kWh of clean, green energy in the first year. The sunny schools will save money on their energy bills, reduce carbon emissions and receive educational support to help the pupils learn about energy and climate change. Surplus profits made by GMCR will go into a Community Fund, for further community energy and environmental education projects.

Kate Eldridge, Director of GMCR said “GMCR will be launching a community share issue next month to fund the installation of the solar panels. These solar arrays will be owned by local people for the benefit of the local community, and we are proud to be doing our bit for the climate at the same time.”

GMCR is also planning to install a 50kW solar array on a community centre in Trafford, helping Trafford residents to cement their position at the top of the Greater Manchester league and diversifying the mix of renewables in the area. Trafford is ranked 20^th in the country for renewable energy generation, a position it has achieved from generating energy from waste and biomass, and from sewage gas, where it is number 1 in the country.

The Green Alliance [3] has launched an online map [4] which shows the renewable energy capacity and current generation of each of the 348 local authority areas in England and Wales. The Greater Manchester league rankings for renewable energy generation, and electricity generated from solar are shown in the table below.

ENDS

Notes to the editor

1. Greater Manchester Community Renewables Ltd is a community benefit society, registered number 7066. GMCR will be launching a share issue in May 2016 to raise money for the installation of solar panels. www.gmcr.org.uk

2. Moss Community Energy Ltd is a community benefit society, registered number 7174.

3. Green Alliance is a UK charity and independent think tank focused on ambitious leadership for the environment. It aims to promote sustainable development by ensuring that the environment is at the heart of decision-making. Registered charity number 1045395 and company limited by guarantee (England & Wales) number 3037633.

4. The Green Alliance’s interactive renewable energy capacity and generation map can be found at http://renewablelocator.green-alliance.org.uk/energyType/4

GMCR has signed up to the Green Alliance Clean Energy Declaration: We Want Clean Energy to Power the North. It concludes “the 2016 Budget must enable us to develop and grow renewables for our region into the 2020s. The UK government should be celebrating clean energy as core to its economic plan. To cherish what we love about our region and reassert our place in the forefront of the world’s economy, we ask the Chancellor to back clean energy for the North.”

Ali Abbas, one of our directors, had a letter published in the Manchester Evening News regarding the GM Energy Pledge (http://gm-communityenergypledge.org.uk/)

The people of Greater Manchester are being asked to show their love for locally-owned clean energy by signing a new community energy pledge.

The pledge is online at http://gm-communityenergypledge.org.uk/

Community energy groups from across Greater Manchester have come together to launch the pledge on a website ahead of Valentine’s Day to rally public support for clean energy projects which are run for the benefit of the community rather than for private profit. Members of the public who sign the pledge will be kept informed about the progress of the different schemes, and will be given the chance to invest in the projects as they are launched.

Members of the public who sign the pledge will be kept informed about the progress of the different schemes, and will be given the chance to invest in the projects as they are launched.

Ali Abbas from Greater Manchester Community Renewables said:

“In Paris, governments promised to cut carbon emissions, but the policies they have put in place are not enough. It’s up to communities to take action ourselves to make the changes we need to happen.

“Greater Manchester was the birthplace of the industrial revolution and we want it to be at the forefront of the clean energy revolution too. We are proud of our heritage and hope that people will support these modern day Pioneers.”

David Cullen from Moss Community Energy said:

“Despite all the government cuts to support for clean energy, lots of Greater Manchester community energy projects are planning to launch in 2016. Rather than competing with each other, we decided to come together on a joint platform to support each other.

“The pledge is a way of saying that, whatever the government does in the short term, clean energy is the road to the future and our projects will put communities in the driving seat.”

The Paris agreement on Climate Change commits governments to pursue policies which will limit global temperatures, but despite being a signatory the UK government has cut support for renewable power while bringing in tax breaks for oil companies. However, the groups involved in the pledge are pressing ahead with their plans for community-owned renewable energy in Greater Manchester and believe they have public opinion on their side.

Money to fund the different projects will be raised through the issue of community shares, and any financial surplus made after investors have been paid back will be available for initiatives which benefit local communities.

As world leaders gather in Paris to negotiate an international climate deal, Greater Manchester Community Renewables and Salford City Council signed an agreement on the 4th December to work together to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by installing solar panels on a number of schools across Salford. [1]

Greater Manchester Community Renewables (GMCR) was formed by a group of volunteers in January 2015. [2]  With the support of a government grant [3], the group has been developing an exciting and innovative project to install solar panels on schools and community buildings across Greater Manchester.

GMCR aims to raise up to £250,000 from a community share offer to fund the installation of solar panels.  The schools will get electricity generated by the panels at a discounted rate; members of the public who invest will receive annual interest payments; and any surplus profits will go into a community fund to support local carbon reduction and environmental education projects.

The co-operation agreement, which was signed by City Mayor Ian Stewart, means GMCR and Salford City Council will work together to identify suitable sites, consult with local communities, and give people who live or work in Salford the opportunity to invest in the project.

Kate Eldridge, DIrector of GMCR, said:

“We are really pleased to be working together with Salford City Council to bring solar panels to Salford’s schools  Not only will this help schools save money on their electricity bills, it will also help children learn more about energy and climate change.”

GMCR will soon be launching a share offer to raise funds for the project.  Members of the public are being encouraged to register their interest at www.gmcr.org.uk if they would like to receive a copy of the share offer when it is ready.