Innovative pay as you save loan brightens up Scout Hall
ABOUT THE FUNDING
When Selsey Scouts reached out for funding to reduce their energy consumption by replacing the fluorescent lights in their main hall of the scout hut with LED lights, we came up with an innovative ‘loan’ concept to help them. The calculations showed that the switch would deliver a saving of over £300 per annum in their energy bills.
11 twin fluorescent tube lights were replaced with twin 30-watt LED fittings over the Summer of 2019 making the space much brighter. The upfront cost of the project of £1,100 was met by Ferry Farm with the Scouts paying back it back from the annual savings over an agreed period.
“We’re keen to use our funding to help people save money on their energy usage and implement energy efficient replacements wherever possible so this project was a natural fit for us. The ‘pay as you save’ concept allowed the Scouts to fund a project that would otherwise have been out of reach to them. As well as being more energy efficient, the hall is now brighter too”
Tom Cosgrove, Voluntary Director Ferry Farm Community Solar
ABOUT FERRY FARM COMMUNITY SOLAR
The Ferry Farm community solar farm is located just north of the town of Selsey in West Sussex and straddles the parishes of Selsey and Sidlesham, which are the community it serves.
Created in 2016, our 5 megawatt community solar farm is made up of around 19,000 solar panels which, to date, have generated 5,400,000 kilowatt hours of electricity from the sun. That is enough to power the equivalent of 1,300 homes every year!
Surplus income generated by the solar farm, after operating and finance costs and reserves, is used to support Ferry Farm Community Solar’s community purpose and since 2016 we have provided over £85,000 of funding to support community projects.
We expect to generate at least £2million over the solar farm’s 30 year operating life to support local community initiatives.