Our community group of the month for June 2021 is Rose hill and iffley low carbon, otherwise known as rhilc! RHILC are a thriving group who have an inclusive approach to tackling climate change and always strive to involve the whole community in their activities. They have responded positively to the changing situation brought about…

On Wednesday, 12 May, the Energy Collaborate meetings re-launched with a collaboration between CAG and Low Carbon Hub. Energy in your community, what’s possible? Low Carbon Hub and the CAG Network were pleased to restart their Energy Collaborate meetings last month to learn more about how we can support our community groups and individuals with…

We are delighted to announce that Sustainable Wantage is our first Community Group of the Month for May 2021. They are a vibrant group with a creative and inclusive approach to community activity and have been quick to respond positively to the changing situation brought about by Covid-19 restrictions. Their initiatives have not only saved…

Our Community Grant Fund offers financial support for carbon cutting activities across Oxfordshire. All Community Members of the Low Carbon CIC can apply for a small or large grant that can be used to fund activities that contribute to the Hub’s aims: to cut Oxfordshire’s carbon footprint and contribute to creating a decentralised and locally-owned…

Oxford City Council are offering free solar panels to a local community project Oxford City Council have 42 solar panels (350 watts) and an inverter which they are now no longer able to use. They’re hoping to find a new home for them and so are looking for a local community project which could make…

We are pleased to announce the awarding of five Low Carbon Hub small grants of £500 each. All Community Members of the Low Carbon Hub CIC are eligible to apply for funding. Our community groups can either apply individually or in consortia with other Community shareholders. The grants can be used to fund activities that…

We held our first Low Carbon Hub community coffee morning of 2021 on Tuesday 23 February and discussed the challenges and rewards of running a successful community group. Setting up and running a community group takes a lot of work, coordination and enthusiasm. It can be time consuming and frustrating but inspiring and wonderful when…

Low carbon community group Sustainable Charlbury successfully applied for a £5000 large grant from Low Carbon Hub’s 2020 Community Grant programme to assess the energy efficiency and heat loss of a group of homes in Charlbury. The tests on The Green are part of a much bigger, long term project to build up a picture…

In our latest blog, our Social Impact Director Saskya Huggins makes the case that putting fairness at the heart of a net-zero energy system is not only the right thing to do, but is the most effective way to achieve the mass engagement we need to achieve our 2050 commitments. The UK Government published its…

At the Low Carbon Hub, we work with community groups across Oxfordshire which have a focus on low carbon and sustainability actions. Many of these groups join the Low Carbon Hub and become CIC (Community Interest Company) community shareholders, giving them access to advice, support and grant funding. Over the past few months, we have…

Sustainable Didcot are one of our community group shareholders that work to promote sustainability in the town of Didcot. In response to the Town Council declaring a climate emergency, Sustainable Didcot applied for and received a grant, to help the community to investigate ways to lower energy usage and carbon emissions on the path to zero carbon.…

As part of the Oxford Preservation Trust’s all-new virtual Oxford Open Doors format for 2020, earlier this month the Low Carbon Hub participated by entering a virtual tour of the Sandford Hydroelectric plant in Sandford-on-Thames. We created the Sandford Hydro tour so that anyone can take a look inside the control room and turbine hut at…

Demonstrating the power of locally-owned community energy projects to accelerate the UK’s low-carbon transition Westmill Solar Co-operative, the UK’s first community-owned solar farm, has opened and is accepting applications for funding up to £5,000 from its new Community Grants Scheme. The 5MW solar park has now been operating under community ownership for nearly 8 years.…

The Coalition for Healthy Streets and Active Travel (CoHSAT) is a group of voluntary and campaigning organisations working across Oxfordshire to create attractive, accessible and people-friendly streets. They are working to promote efficient, active, low carbon and sustainable travel, which will reduce traffic, air pollution and noise, and enable healthy and thriving communities. The group…

Join us to discuss the future of energy, in our series of webinars The world may be focused on the immediate threat of coronavirus, but we feel strongly that it’s as important as ever for us to continue with our work to tackle the climate crisis and create a zero carbon energy system that’s good…

Each year every Community Member of the Low Carbon Hub is eligible to apply for a large grant of up to £5000, to support carbon-cutting activities, and we are usually able to award 2-3 grants per year. This year one of our grant recipients is GreenTEA (Transition Eynsham Area). They applied for a Low Carbon…

How to keep the momentum going on climate change and ensure a green recovery from COVID-19: advice and ideas from low carbon community groups across the UK From the very start of lockdown restrictions in the UK we’ve been impressed and inspired by our Low Carbon Hub CIC Community Groups, who have been adapting to the…

Join us for a Community Coffee Morning on Tuesday 16 June at 11am Date: Tuesday 16 June 2020Time: 11am-12pm We’re holding an online Community Coffee Morning at 11am on Tuesday 16 June for low carbon community groups across the UK – and we’d love to see you there. This event forms part of Community Energy…

Communities in lockdown: how Oxfordshire’s low carbon community groups have been adapting to lockdown and continuing their carbon-cutting activities From the very start of lockdown restrictions in the UK we’ve been impressed and inspired by our Low Carbon Hub CIC Community Groups, who have been adapting to the situation in a myriad of ways and…

Our Low Carbon Hub Board helps to direct our future direction and strategy, as well as ensuring that we’re always best serving the interest of our shareholders – both our Low Carbon Hub IPS Investor Members and our Low Carbon Hub CIC Community Group Members. As part of the Board we have a Communities Director,…

Active Oxfordshire and Cyclox are partnering up to provide free of charge, refurbished bikes for Oxford’s NHS and social care heroes to ensure they can get to work if they aren’t able (or don’t feel comfortable) to use public transport during COVID-19 lockdown. They are aiming to raise enough funds to provide 100 bikes to…

Your feedback is vital in making sure we’re doing as much as we can to meet our mission of creating an energy system that’s good for the planet, and for people. We always want to be improving our work, and how we communicate it with the people who support us, just like you. That’s why…

We often get questions from people who want to get involved with our work on tackling climate change in Oxfordshire. Unfortunately, we aren’t currently set up to take on volunteers at the Low Carbon Hub, so we’re limited in the ways you can be directly involved in our work. However, there are lots of other…

Hook Norton Community Land Trust is developing a group of affordable and sustainable homes in the village of Hook Norton. The Trust was officially set up in July 2019 and since then they’ve shared information through hosting a webpage on the website of Hook Norton Low Carbon. But, they now have a wealth of information…

The Low Carbon Hub Community Energy Champions Guide Councils across the country, including Oxford City Council, have now that we’re in a state of climate emergency. It’s time to act. We all have our part to play when it comes to mitigating the effects of climate change. Here at the Low Carbon Hub we’re primarily…

We would like to say a massive thank you to all who came to the ‘Inspired by Communities’ event prior to the Low Carbon Hub Joint AGM on 7 October and who helped to make it such a genuinely inspiring experience. The room at the Town Hall was full with many of our CIC Community…

Large grants We are offering two grants of up to £5,000 for this year’s large grants fund, available to our community group members. These grants are part of the ‘community benefit’ we return to communities.  The year’s theme is energy efficiency. We are interested in applications relating to residential, commercial and public buildings; your project…

As well as providing help and advice, Low Carbon Hub also offers financial support to  our community shareholder groups wanting to carry out carbon-cutting activity in their community. Here is a case study of what one group did with a small grant we awarded them. Westmill Sustainable Energy Trust (WeSET) was one of the last community groups to successfully…