30 July 2009 10:24
Staffordshire mission gets energy makeover with the help of E.ON’s Sustainable Energy Fund
Midlands based energy company E.ON has awarded a grant of over £16,000 to the Swan Bank Mission in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, to carry out an energy makeover of two community areas.
The Mission, which was established in 1948, supports the local community on key issues such as educational achievement, economic deprivation, unemployment and financial hardship; regardless of religious belief or social status.
The grant comes from E.ON's Sustainable Energy Fund which helps community groups and not-for-profit organisations develop sustainable energy measures.
The money will be used to install a destratification system to make more efficient use of heat within the sports hall, as well as double glazing within three rooms that are used for community activities.
These improvements are part of a wider energy efficiency project that also plans to insulate the roof and install energy efficient lighting.
Tony Jenkin Jones, Community Relations Executive for E.ON, said: "It's great to be able to support the Swan Bank Mission as they provide such an important service to vulnerable people in the Burslem area.
"They have aspirations to move towards implementing renewable energy technologies in the future, and we're glad to be able to help them start on this path by making a significant reduction in their energy usage.
"By making these changes the mission will be able to reduce their carbon emissions by over 3.8 tonnes each year.
"This will also mean significantly reduced energy bills, which in turn will enable the mission to provide more facilities for the community."
Ashley Cooper, from the mission, said: "The support from E.ON is just brilliant! Our aim as a mission is to support our community and reduce urban deprivation, and this funding means that we'll be able to free up money for developing our provisions.
"By reducing our carbon footprint, we'll be able to give greater levels of comfort to the vulnerable people that we help, as well as reducing our impact on the environment.
"We'll be able to have even more of an impact within our community now as we'll be able to develop new activities, particularly around youth and sports in the hall area. This will help to have a positive impact on the low aspirations among many of our young people as well as improving their health."
The Sustainable Energy Fund is backed up by a dedicated web resource which provides top tips on energy efficiency and sustainability and full details of how to apply for a grant. To access it go to
www.eon-uk.com/sustainableenergyfund
The next deadline for applications is 16th October 2009.
Ends
Notes to editors:
- E.ON is one of the UK's leading power and gas companies - generating and distributing electricity, and retailing power and gas - and is part of the E.ON group, one of the world's largest investor-owned power and gas companies. We employ around 17,000 people in the UK and over 93,000 worldwide;
- We're one of the leading green generators in the UK, with 21 wind farms located from Cornwall to Northern Ireland. We own one of the UK's largest dedicated biomass power stations at Lockerbie. Combined, our renewable portfolio generates enough green energy to power the homes in a city the size of Manchester;
For more information contact:
Deanna Mooney on 024 7618 3678