A new service to help charities tackle climate change and lower their energy bills has been announced, bringing together the Centre for Sustainable Energy (CSE), a national energy advice charity, and Social Investment Business, a leading UK social investor.
The new service aims to provide free, specialist support for charities to both plan and finance the most effective actions to improve their energy resilience, lower bills and help tackle the climate crisis.
The collaboration will bring together CSE with social investors to provide wrap-around support as part of the £15m Energy Resilience Fund: a package that launched at the end of last year and includes free energy audits, with blended grant and loan finance for charities, community organisations and social enterprises to invest in energy improvements, retrofits and electric vehicles.
While the Fund already provides free energy audits for eligible applicants, the new service announced today expands this offer by also connecting organisations with CSE’s specialist advice. This support could include help to interpret energy audits, understand accurate costings, identify what consents and permissions are required, guidance on project management and more. The intention is to make it as easy as possible to gain investment and implement upgrades that could lower bills and help tackle climate change.
The Energy Resilience Fund, and support from Centre for Sustainable Energy, can be used for a range of energy efficiency measures, including energy efficient lighting systems, insulation upgrades, glazing upgrades, ventilation upgrades, small scale wind turbines, solar PV panel systems, battery storage systems, solar water heating systems, heat pumps and electric vehicles. The funds could also be used to pay for a wide range of related costs including capital costs, labour costs, project management costs, staff training, revenue losses and contingency.
Earlier this year, Social Investment Business published new research revealing how some charities are having to spend as much as 50% of their entire budgets just to cover utility bills, limiting their ability to deliver charitable aims. This new collaboration aims to support charities and the social sector to secure the investment needed to improve their buildings, lower energy bills and cut carbon emissions.
Since the Energy Resilience Fund launched in November 2024, organisations across England have received finance and support to make improvements, including buying electric vehicles including an electric tractor and electric minibus, installing LED floodlights, retrofitting insulation and double glazing, solar panel installation, and replacing gas boilers with air-source heat pumps.
The Fund is managed by Social Investment Business, in partnership with Big Issue Invest, Charity Bank, Co-operative and Community Finance, GMCVO, Groundwork UK, Key Fund, Resonance, The Architectural Heritage Fund and The Ubele Initiative, with funding from Better Society Capital, Access – The Foundation for Social Investment, and Social Investment Business Foundation.
Organisations can find further information about the Fund, eligibility requirements, and how to apply here.
Robin Bell, Retrofit Project Officer from Centre for Sustainable Energy said:
“This collaboration comes at a critical time, as people, charities and community organisations seek to tackle the climate emergency while struggling with the rising energy costs. There is huge potential for community buildings to reduce their emissions, cut their running costs, and become safer, healthier community spaces.
Retrofitting is an opportunity to make our buildings more affordable to run and more comfortable to use, as well as creating new skilled jobs in every region. Working with Social Investment Business on this initiative brings together our expertise in community buildings and energy efficiency to ensure as many organisations as possible can access the right support and funding to put their net zero plans into action.”
Rob Benfield, Director of Grants and Investments for Social Investment Business said:
“We’re delighted to be launching this new service, which will enable more organisations to improve their energy efficiency. Our research has shown that charities care about climate change and are facing huge pressure from rising bills, but as a sector we are falling behind in making much-needed energy efficiency improvements. This new partnership will ensure charities have the right support every step of the way as they plan, apply for funding and implement projects to improve their energy resilience.”
