Two new Cornish community projects among four to tackle climate crisis across the South West
Mustard Seed Property and Tamar Energy Community are two of four new projects raising funding to take action on climate change and provide affordable community housing.
Two new community projects to help tackle climate change and affordable community housing have launched in Cornwall.
Mustard Seed Property and Tamar Energy Community are among four new green investment initiatives across the South West, who are raising funds to combat the climate crisis using local community engagement.
Somerset Co-operative Community Land Trust and Bristol Energy Cooperative are also fundraising via the impact investment platform Ethex to provide community housing and green energy to their local communities, offering retail investors the chance to support ethical initiatives while seeing a return on their investment.
Tamar Energy Community - aimed to raise £290,000 to bolster its solar roofs portfolio of renewable energy installations across in West Devon. The community-owned rooftop solar arrays are generating green energy in and around the Tamar Valley, supplying excess income to a community benefit fund that delivers green solutions to energy efficiency and fuel poverty issues in the area. TEC reached its goal and investments closed within a few days.
Mustard Seed Property houses and supports people with learning or mental health issues struggling to cope with the growing pressures of everyday life.
Somerset Co-operative Community Land Trust is aiming to raise £445,000 to provide affordable housing and urban development for the good of local communities. This will help the co-op further develop their site in Taunton and purchase a second site in Wiveliscombe, Somerset, to provide permanently affordable, community-owned homes and working hubs for local social enterprises.
Bristol Energy Cooperative, a not-for-profit, community-owned enterprise, is raising £2 million to increase the low carbon energy supply in and around Bristol. The funds raised will go towards financing a portfolio of renewable energy projects in the Bristol region, with plans in the pipeline for solar roof installations, community microgrids and a 300kWp micro hydro power station.
They are aiming to raise £600,000, which will go towards the refurbishment of a recently purchased second property and to the purchase and development of a third, enabling them to house up to 20 more vulnerable adults each year who might otherwise be at risk of homelessness.
“The debate around the right approach to combatting the climate crisis and the lack of affordable and sustainable housing has intensified in recent weeks and we are increasingly seeing a need for more local, community-led initiatives both to raise awareness of the issues and to take direct action.
"We are also delighted to offer retail investors – day-to-day investors who wish to support ethical impact initiatives – a decent investment offering with a good targeted return on that investment.
"This puts change back in the hands of local communities and there is clearly a significant appetite amongst investors in the South West to support these kinds of sustainable initiatives. The benefits are clear for investors, for these community-led initiatives and for the planet.”
Lisa Ashford, CEO of Ethex