CSN Stories
Inspiring case studies of community action on climate change, from all over the county!
Botcherby Community Centre
Who:
Helen Fisher, Centre Manager and other community groups
Where:
Victoria Road, Carlisle, CA1 2UE
What:
A community resource for sustainability.
Key Features and Activities
Solar panels, battery storage, repair cafe, nappy library, clothes swaps, community garden, community pantry, community cook-alongs, EV charging.
About the project:
Botcherby Community Centre was awarded £14,400 from the Zero Carbon Cumbria Community Climate Grants to help fund the installation of solar panels and battery storage. The installation was part of a wider variety of activities at the centre which are inspiring local residents to live in a more sustainable way.
A key motivation for installing the panels was to reduce energy bills and power new features, such as garden lighting, bouncy castle generators and fans for the community gym, but the centre has been able to achieve so much more than this.
In addition to cutting energy bills by 58%, the centre hosts a monthly repair café and nappy library, both of which were established with support from the Community Climate Grants. It also hosts a regular clothes swap linked to the Cumbria Clothing Collective [link to case study], and has recently become a green hub, with a new garden that includes fruit trees and raised beds made from old baths.
In the garden, Groundwork North East and Cumbria helped to recruit gardening volunteers, establish growing plots, set up a compost heap and to harvest run-off rainwater in industrial containers, which were supplied by The Rebuild Site CIC. Thanks to funding from Groundwork, the centre also has a lean-to shed, which was constructed with the help of volunteers from Carlisle College, who were taking part in the Give a Day to the City project. The lean-to will be used as a potting shed and for seed and produce swaps. Hard and soft landscaping and a pergola for the garden have also been provided by Story Contracting and their supply chain.
Pollinator-friendly plants are already attracting bees and butterflies to the site, and a frog was even spotted recently in a pile of old leaves, but plans are underway to create more space for nature by enhancing a wildlife garden at the site. Meanwhile, a narrow patch of land in front of the centre will be turned into an incredible edible space, growing herbs, strawberries, fruit bushes, garden peas and more. The space is right beside the bus stop, meaning people can snack whilst waiting for the bus.
A well as growing healthy snacks, the centre is tackling food poverty through a weekly community pantry, supported through FareShare and supplemented by produce from the nearby Botcherby Paddocks allotments. Locals can buy 10 items for £3.50. Mental health charity Growing Well also provides salad boxes using surplus from their veg bag scheme. This produce is particularly sought after by members of the refugee and asylum seeker community, who enjoy cooking from scratch.
These cooking skills are shared with the community through ‘cook-alongs’. For example, a Kenyan refugee settled in Botcherby recently organised an African food cook-along with the kids club, where children helped with the preparation work and then tucked into the finished meal. The centre has also produced recipe cards, which are given away for free.
Energy from the centre’s solar panels is also being used to power two Electric Vehicle charging points, which were installed by CIC Charge My Street.
“A key motivation for installing the panels was to reduce energy bills… but the centre has been able to achieve so much more…”
Influence and reduction of emissions:
By switching to renewables and reducing the energy costs, the centre is saving money which can be invested in more activities for the local community.
The garden is attracting local residents, who then make use of the amenities, and it becomes a starting point for engagement and behaviour change. The growing space, solar installations and water butts have prompted lots of interest and questions, and generally, the diverse community has been supportive and welcoming. There has been no anti-social behaviour – a few spare planks of wood disappeared recently, but came back to the centre having been made into planters by one of the allotment neighbours.
The nature friendly and growing spaces have brought the community together and are building community cohesion. Whilst fruit and flowers raise a smile and are important for mental health.
In addition to formal advice on ECO4 grants and home energy savings provided by charities such as Futureproof Cumbria, it has been important to have ‘living proof’ of the savings made by switching to renewable energy.
Challenges & Learning Points
- A key challenge, as with any busy and effective community centre, is time pressure on key workers to take on new initiatives. Dealing with the local council, which owns the building, has also felt slow, bureaucratic and risk averse.
- Networking has been vital to the success of this project. By including a range of partners, and being open to new opportunities, Botcherby Community Centre has effectively created a sustainability resource for the local community and is normalising the need to ‘go green.’
- Inspirational leadership has been important. The centre has built up a good group of people to deliver activities, and the trustees are very supportive, however, without the passion and commitment of the Centre Manager it is unlikely that this range of sustainability resources could be established in Botcherby.
- The installation of batteries has been key to powering evening activities with solar energy. A smart meter is used to monitor usage, and the plan is for additional energy generated to be sold back to the grid, further increasing revenues for the centre.
- Leading by example is an effective way of educating people about sustainability, and the Community Centre is an ideal ‘trusted messenger’ to reinforce this learning.
- More solar panels have now been provided by Cumberland Council and in theory it would have made more sense to combine this into one project, however, the Community Climate Grant was useful as a demonstrator project, illustrating the proof of concept for this investment.
