Zoe Toone

Our annual ‘How are we doing?’ survey is now live. 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 […]

British Science Week is a ten-day celebration of science, technology, engineering and maths that will take place between 11-20 March 2022. British Science Week, run by the British Science Association, is a ten-day celebration of science, technology, engineering and maths. The festival features entertaining and engaging events and activities across the UK for people of all […]

UNESCO created World Book Day on 23 April 1995 as a worldwide celebration of books and reading. The first World Book Day in the UK and Ireland took place in 1997 to encourage young people to discover the pleasure of reading. “We wanted to do something to reposition reading, and our message is the same today […]

Fairtrade Fortnight is an annual promotional campaign organised and funded by the Fairtrade Foundation to increase awareness of Fairtrade and Fairtrade products. Two weeks every year, thousands of individuals, companies, and groups across the UK come together to share the stories of the people who grow our food, mine our gold, and grow the cotton in our […]

We are delighted to announce that Watlington Community Action Group (CAG) is our  Community Group of the Month for February 2022! Watlington Climate Action Group was founded in April 2019 and started life as a Facebook community group, with the aim of helping Watlington to address the Climate Emergency. They became a member of Low […]

UK schools could reduce energy costs by £44 million per year, which means they have the power to prevent 625,000 tonnes of CO2 from entering the atmosphere. Schools can play a critical role in helping the UK cut carbon emission levels, and even the most minor actions can have a big difference. Young people have […]

Get involved with climate action in Oxfordshire! We often get questions from people who want to get involved in tackling climate change in Oxfordshire. Unfortunately, as a small organisation we aren’t always in a position to take on volunteers or staff at the Low Carbon Hub, so we’re limited in the ways you can be […]

Happy new year from everybody at the Low Carbon Hub! Climate action in Oxfordshire Three years ago, in January 2019, the Oxford City Council officially declared a climate emergency in Oxford. In April, they announced the UK’s first citizens assembly to address the climate crisis within Oxford. This citizens assembly was held over two weekends […]

As 2021 comes to a close, we wanted to reflect on the highlights of the year in our work with our communities. Community groups continued to flourish despite the pandemic Community coffee mornings continued We held our first Low Carbon Hub community coffee morning of 2021 on Tuesday 23 February and discussed the challenges and […]

As 2021 comes to a close, we wanted to reflect on our Hub highlights of the year for our key programmes. Project LEO Project LEO (Local Energy Oxfordshire) is an ambitious, wide-ranging and innovative trial, seeking to accelerate the UK’s transition to a zero-carbon energy system. This year the 10 partner consortium made some great […]

As 2021 comes to a close, we wanted to reflect on our Hub highlights of the year – it’s been another unconventional one! We celebrated £3 million invested in the Community Energy Fund We met our target of raising £3 million of new investment into the Community Energy Fund ahead of the 31 March 31. […]

Whether you live in a city, town or village in Oxfordshire, the Coalition for Healthy Streets and Active Travel (CoHSAT) want to know what amenities you consider most important to have within a 15 minute walk or cycle ride. The concept of a 15-minute neighbourhood (15MN) is that the amenities that are most important to […]

One week ago, the finishing touches were being made on the final COP26 agreement. The frantic final hours of COP26 were a distinct contrast to the carefully choreographed first days. A series of tense huddles that took place more than 24 hours into overtime finally produced the Glasgow Climate Pact that all countries were happy […]

The most significant climate conference in the world may be over, but that doesn’t mean you can’t catch up with the many events that took place over the two weeks. If you missed it, our CEO Barbara Hammond took part in a panel event: ‘How communities can coordinate and collaborate to play a more active […]

Word of the day: Local After Wednesday away from the Blue Zone, I was ready to get back to the hustle and bustle of the pavilions. Thursday’s theme was Cities, Regions and Built Environment. Around COP26, the day was also referred to as local authority/local government day, emphasising how local governments can work with communities […]

Word of the day: Communities Today was a little different for me. After a couple of long days in the Blue Zone, I was keen to get out in Glasgow and attend one of the many fringe events. There are a huge number of fringe events taking place over the two weeks of COP26, and, […]

Word of the day: Accountability  Momentum has been building throughout the first week with a flurry of press releases, announcements, and commitments made from multiple countries on deforestation, methane and coal. All of this has been very positive. However, a new report out today from Climate Action Tracker (CAT), the world’s most respected climate analysis […]

Word of the day: Resilience  The second week of COP26 started under grey Glasgow skies on Monday. The weather didn’t improve, unfortunately, but the day did! After starting with a couple of hours queueing to get in and then registering, just getting into the coveted Blue Zone felt like an achievement. It is a vast […]

We need both local action and global collaboration if we are going to stop run away climate change.  This Tuesday at COP26 three Project LEO partners, including Low Carbon Hub, are joining forces with organisations around the globe to announce a partnership to foster international collaboration on smart local energy grids.  You can join us live […]

Led by a powerful coalition of sustainability organisations, Let’s Go Zero is uniting and supporting UK schools working to become zero carbon by 2030. In October 2020, charities including Ashden, Global Action Plan and the Fairtrade Foundation teamed up to launch a new initiative helping UK schools transition to net-zero. The ‘Let’s Go Zero’ initiative provides schools […]

We are delighted to announce that Banabury CAG is our  Community Group of the Month for October 2021! Despite the challenges of the pandemic Banbury CAG have continued to raise awareness of climate change and to provide solutions to the crisis in their community. They continued to meet on a monthly basis by zoom and […]

We are really pleased to announce the publication of our 2021 Social Impact Report. Every year we publish a round-up of the contribution we have made during the past financial year towards the creation of an energy system that is good for people and good for the planet. 2020/21 was a record-breaking year, with: 4.3 […]

In September communities across the country will join together for the Great Big Green Week. It will be the biggest event for climate and nature ever in the UK, and everyone’s invited! Great Big Green Week The Great Big Green Week will take place 18 – 26 September 2021, and will be the largest event […]

The results are in for our 2021 ‘How are we doing?’ survey and they show that people continue to trust in our expertise around local, renewable energy and low carbon. Our respondents also continue to perceive us to be committed to the creation of a low carbon, locally owned renewable energy system. We’re really pleased […]

Fantastic opportunity to put your marketing experience to good use. Join our team helping to develop an energy system that’s good for people and good for the planet.  The Low Carbon Hub is recruiting a Marketing and Communications Coordinator to support the development and delivery of marketing campaigns for key carbon reducing programmes. It’s an […]

We are looking to recruit a new role: a Smart Energy Systems Trial Manager to join the team to facilitate our participation and deliver our objectives in the Project LEO energy trials. We are using our portfolio of nearly 50 local energy generation and storage assets in the trials. We’re looking for someone with strong project […]

We are delighted to announce that GREEN TEA (TRANSITION EYNSHAM AREA) is our  Community Group of the Month for September 2021! Green TEA (Transition Eynsham Area) is a vibrant and dedicated group that has been finding local solutions to climate change for twelve years. They are part of the Transition Network, a grassroots movement that […]

We are pleased to announce the publication of our 2021 Annual Performance Summaries. Each year we produce an Annual Performance Summary for our previous share offers, giving an insight into the latest financial, social, and environmental performance of your investment(s). This has been a year of adapting, as the Covid-19 pandemic has meant our staff […]

We are delighted to announce the addition of four new community groups bringing our total community membership to 36! 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 […]

We are very excited to announce the launch of Project LEO’s new website. A few months of work in the making, we are delighted to share with you the new site, which is easier to navigate, more user friendly and has a lot more information about the Project! Our goal with this new website is […]

We are delighted to announce we have received £5,000 of investment into the Community Energy Fund from the Lord Mayor’s Charity Trust. During former Lord Mayor Craig Simmons’ term as Mayor (2019-21), Oxford City Council declared a climate emergency and Craig was really focused on how the city could play its part in the face […]

We are delighted to announce that Thame Green Living is our  Community Group of the Month for July 2021! Thame Green Living are one of the Low Carbon Hub’s most recent groups but they have lost no time in carrying out impressive town-wide actions on climate change identified in their extensive and strikingly designed Green […]

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 […]

We’re really pleased to announce that Triodos Bank will provide a loan to help fund the construction of Ray Valley Solar, our first ground mount solar park.  Triodos Bank UK has approved a new loan facility to go toward the construction of the project this year. Further lending will also be made available for its operation, with […]

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 […]

Last month, Low Carbon Hub Operations Manager, Harry Orchard, carried out several Minimum Viable System (MVS) trials at Sandford Hydro as part of Project LEO. What is a Minimum Viable System trial? A Minimum Viable System is the minimum set of participants, technologies and practices required to test a new process, service, or asset. Referred […]

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 […]

On Earth Day 2021 we are excited to announce that we are partnering with Good Food Oxford and Oxfordshire Greentech (Oxfordshire’s low-carbon business network) for the third year of the Switch Up Your Lunch (SUYL) campaign. As part of Oxfordshire’s ongoing action on climate change, we are joining Women in Sustainability, and the national Veg Cities campaign. To encourage […]

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 […]

We are delighted to report that we signed the construction contract for Ray Valley Solar ground mount solar park last month, and the project is due to be completed in September 2021. Ray Valley Solar will generate over 18GWh  of clean electricity each year, enough to power over 6,000 homes. Read more about the project […]

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 […]

As 2020 comes to a close, we wanted to reflect on our Hub highlights of the year – it’s been an unconventional one! Community Energy Fund 2020 We re-opened our Community Energy Fund for 2020 early in the year, welcoming over 300 new investors and raising a huge £1.5 million, which is already supporting community energy […]

You may have seen that two weeks ago our Community Energy Fund 2021 opened for investment. By the end of 2021 we need to raise £3 million to strengthen and grow clean, renewable energy generation in Oxfordshire. We have an initial target raise of £1.5 million by 31 March 2021, which thanks to all the […]

Earlier this year we ran a series of webinars, discussing the future of energy and our work at the Low Carbon Hub to create an energy system, which is good for people and for the planet, in Oxfordshire and beyond. We are delighted to announce the launch of our next Low Carbon Hub webinar series […]

We are so thrilled to be building our first ever ground mount solar park, which will have a significant impact on the amount of green electricity produced in Oxfordshire. We are committed to putting community energy at the heart of the new zero carbon energy system and are so excited to open up the Community […]

Good news! We’re reopening the Community Energy Fund to investors next month, giving you the opportunity to support more local energy projects. We have some exciting projects coming up in the pipeline, and we look forward to announcing more detail soon.  In the meantime, we’d love to know that we have your support: make a pledge today […]

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 […]

February 2020 saw us welcome two more schools to the Low Carbon Hub. Langford Village Community Primary School (Bicester) and West Witney Primary School and Nursery (Witney) are the latest schools to benefit from a solar programme supported by Oxfordshire County Council and run by the Low Carbon Hub. Both Langford and West Witney now […]

The impact of OxFutures so far: case studies OxFutures is a programme that offers free energy audits to SMEs (small and medium enterprises) in Oxfordshire to identify energy-saving opportunities, which will reduce energy bills and cut carbon emissions. The project also has grants available to part-fund implementation of the measures recommended by the audit, as […]

Three more years of OxFutures! We have some extremely exciting news: a three-year extension to the OxFutures programme has been approved, meaning we are now able to continue the programme through to 2023. The extension will be continued by partners, Low Carbon Hub and the Oxford Brookes Environmental Information Exchange team, and means that we […]

Over the past eight years, the Low Carbon Hub has more than trebled in size. At its smallest, our team consisted of 3 members of staff and we have grown to our current number of 16! We have also increased the number of our investor members to over 1000, a number which we hope will […]

Over the past eight years, the Low Carbon Hub has partnered with 29 schools to install 5,647 solar PV panels. Our Solar Schools service offers schools a comprehensive solar installation service to power your schools with community-owned, discounted green electricity. Schools signing up for a free solar rooftop survey can apply for a grant to […]

On 17 October a group of Oxford University master’s students visited Sandford Hydro as part of their Energy Systems course. The group received a tour from Harry Orchard, our Operations and Maintenance Assistant, and were shown the inner workings of the electric hydro plant. They went inside the control room where it’s possible to see the overview […]