Celebrating our Community Grant Groups
Retrofit West has awarded 29 community group grants totalling nearly £300,000 across the West of England. Here's what happened when we brought the groups together.
This month, we invited 18 of our funded community grant groups together for the day. Groups from across Bristol, Bath and North East Somerset, and South Gloucestershire, some based in cities, others serving rural communities all gathered in one room to share what they’ve been working on, swap notes on what’s worked, and have honest conversations about the challenges too.
But to understand why a day like that matters, it helps to know a bit about the project behind it.
“Fantastic opportunity to share, learn and be inspired by others. This fills me with optimism so needed right now!”
Goska, St Werburghs Community Association
The Community Group Grant programme
When people hear about home energy efficiency through a neighbour, a local event, or a community group they already trust, they’re far more likely to take action. That’s the thinking behind our Community Group Grant project, which funds local groups across the West of England to engage their communities on retrofit and help residents take steps towards warmer, more energy efficient homes.
The geographic spread of our groups is deliberate. We want the support to reach everyone, regardless of where they live.
We’re now three cohorts in, and across all three rounds we’ve awarded 29 grants totalling £293,701.60.
From first events to finding their feet
Several groups have applied for funding across multiple rounds, and watching them develop over time has been one of the most rewarding parts of running this programme. Many started by getting the foundations in place: building a website, establishing a brand identity, and setting themselves up properly so they could communicate with their communities effectively.
From there, they moved into running their first events and workshops, learning as they went what works and what doesn’t, which topics land, how to reach the right people, and how to talk about retrofit in ways that feel accessible rather than technical. Those lessons have fed directly into how they operate now. Many groups are running a more varied programme of activity than they ever started out planning to, and increasingly they’re offering events in a hybrid format so that people who can’t attend in person don’t have to miss out.
What the community work looks like on the ground
The range of activity our groups have delivered is varied and impressive. Last year alone, talks and information events drew over 1,000 attendees, Green Open Homes welcomed more than 200 visitors into real properties, and the Westbury Warmer Homes Fairs have brought hundreds of visitors through the doors across their annual events.
Beyond the events themselves, groups have been busy building the infrastructure to support long-term engagement:
- Websites built and updated
- Brand identities developed to help groups reach wider audiences
- Workshops, webinars, and information events run across the region
- Resources produced and distributed through newsletters, mail drops, radio adverts, and posters
- Local job opportunities created
- Neighbourhood-level support established in communities across Bristol, BANES, and South Gloucestershire
The outcomes are felt at a practical level too: warmer homes, lower energy bills, residents who feel more confident about making changes, and communities that are better connected as a result.
The ripple effect
24% of the people who have interacted with Retrofit West first heard about our services through a community group or event. That speaks to the relationships these groups have built with the people around them, and the difference it makes when trusted local voices are sharing information about what’s available.
Here’s to everything that’s been built
Running community retrofit activity takes persistence and creativity, often from people doing it alongside other commitments and in the face of real headwinds. Days like the one we had a couple of weeks ago are a reminder of just how much has already been achieved, and how much stronger the work is for being done together.
We’re proud of every group in this network. Thank you to everyone who came along and made the day what it was.
It’s always best to meet people in person, and seeing what others have done is inspiring as well as being practically helpful. Working in this sector can also be quite hard, with all the headwinds we face. Getting together with like-minded people is always good for morale, and gives encouragement to keep going.
– Melinda, SGCEN
