South Gloucestershire Community Energy Network (SGCEN) brings together a network of community energy organisations in South Gloucestershire to share skills and resources, and create a thriving community energy sector in the area.
In 2025 they applied for a £4,000 grant from the Megawatt Community Energy Fund grant programme, to fund their ‘Train the trainers’ project. This project enlisted the support of Manchester based Carbon Coop to train a number of climate action and sustainable energy groups across South Gloucestershire so they could deliver “Warm for Winter” workshops.
“Warm for Winter” is a Carbon Coop outreach programme that shares practical advice on preparing against heat-loss, damp, and mould – ensuring safer, more sustainable households. It is designed to engage communities at most risk of fuel poverty, fuel debt or damp/cold home related health issues.
The training was delivered in 3 stages:
1.SGCEN staff received in-depth training from Carbon Co-op on two of their Warm for Winter training programmes: Mastering Heating Controls, and Tackling Damp and Mould.
2. SGCEN ran a Warm for Winter training session for staff and volunteers in their member organisations to enable them to deliver household-facing energy advice as part of the ongoing outreach work.
3. SGCEN independently delivered the Warm for Winter programme in communities in South Gloucestershire, with Carbon Co-op as their mentors.
“The funding has enabled us to deliver a training programme to our members, giving them the knowledge, skills, and confidence to deliver inclusive, informative Warm for Winter advice sessions across South Gloucestershire. This is vital to building long-term capacity within our growing community energy sector.”
Emilia Melville, Project Manager, SGCEN
If you are a charity, voluntary or community organisation based and working in the West of England and are looking for funding to support the work you deliver, then we may be able to help.