Isle of Lewis homes to see the light with new energy project

TWO community estate trusts on Lewis have launched a project which will make households more energy efficient and help address fuel poverty.

LED Communities representatives - Matt Bruce, TIG Board Member, Holly Magee, Project Administrator, Sally Reynolds, Urras Oighreachd Chàrlabhaigh Development Manager, Agnes Rennie, Chair of Urras Oighreachd Ghabhsainn, Kenneth Maclennan, Chair of Urras Oighreachd Chàrlabhaigh, Lisa Maclean, Urras Oighreachd Ghabhsainn Development Manager, Amy Kapherr-Diament, Project Officer, Finlay MacLennan, Project Officer. Picture: Supplied

Galson Estate Trust and Carloway Estate Trust have launched their version of the LED Communities Project, joining forces with Tighean Innse Gall and the Climate Challenge Fund to bring it forward

They will be taking action on a number of energy efficiency fronts — the main one being the supply of LED lightbulbs, which they hope could save some homes £100 a year.

Between now and March 2018, two project officers from Tighean Innse Gall (TIG) will be working with Galson and Carloway to switch households over from standard lightbulbs to LEDs.

Between 10 and 14 LED bulbs will be given out at a time, which can cut bills by more than £100 a year.

The aim is to supply the bulbs to a total of 220 homes — 110 homes in each estate — and to give advice on other energy-saving and money-saving measures too.

Where appropriate, Energy Performance Certificate surveys will also be carried out. These surveys take a closer look at whether there are any further energy improvement measures a home would benefit from, such as insulation to internal and cavity walls, lofts, external walls and underfloors.

Anyone who is interested in taking part in the LED Communities project is asked to contact Tighean Innse Gall in Stornoway on 01851 706121 and ask for Finlay MacLennan or Amy Kapherr-Diament, who are the project officers. Project administrator Holly Magee from TIG can also take information from anyone who is interested in taking part in the project.

Three launch events are being held next week and residents are warmly invited to come along.

The first event is being held at Urras Oighreachd Gabhsainn in the Business Centre, South Galson, on Tuesday June 6, from 6pm to 8pm.

The next two events are both on Thursday, June 8. The first from 2pm to 4pm at Carloway Old School Annex and the next at 5pm to 7pm in Breasclete Community Centre.

Point and Sandwick Trust launched the first LED Energy Community project on Lewis in March 2016, in conjunction with Tighean Innse Gall and the Climate Challenge Fund.

The Galson and Carloway LED Communities project is modelled on this kind of partnership, as a way of helping reduce fuel poverty and have a real impact on the lives of residents.

Both estate trusts put in £7,500 to the project. Galson’s money came from their community investment fund and Carloway had help from Western Isles Development Fund and BASF Pharma in Callanish in raising their sum.

The Climate Challenge Fund contributed more than £121,000 to the project.

Galson estate trust is roughly twice the size of Carloway, with a population of 1900 compared to between 500 and 600, so it has introduced an eligibility criteria.

To be eligible to take part from Galson, which covers most of the north of Lewis, households must have a resident who is aged 75 or above.

This means the project is closely aligned with one of the three key areas in Galson’s strategic plan — that of elderly care.

Lisa Maclean, Commercial Development Manager at Galson Estate Trust, said: “It’s not just a couple of bulbs. It’s meaningful and will make a different to their bills and to the person.

“Elderly care is something that’s very clearly on our agenda and we see this as being a really good way of giving us information on property as well because EPCs will be carried out.”

She added: “We were looking at ways of engaging to support people from an energy efficiency perspective but we wanted to make sure that there was an impact, so we thought the obvious thing was to speak to TIG because we knew they were carrying out other projects.

“We are committed to looking at how we roll out phase two of it. We are looking at how we can go to phase two and three and then the wider vision is that every household would have had the opportunity to be part of the project.”

Carloway did not set any eligibility criteria due to the smaller size of their estate and fewer households. But, like Galson, they intend to look at ways of continuing the project with a second phase later on, to get round more households.

Sally Reynolds, Development Officer at Carloway Estate Trust, said: “We know we’ll get subscription but we’re not sure we’ll get oversubscription too quickly.

“For us it will be very meaningful and it’s the first project of this type on the estate. It’s really good, really positive, and because we all work together so much it was quite natural to do this.

“It’s just really exciting and we’re really pleased that BASF have come on board.”

While Galson are celebrating their 10th anniversary this year, Carloway have been existence for just two years and both trusts were pleased to work together in a formalised way.

Sally added: “Galson were really good to Carloway before Carloway bought the estate. The land trusts work well together and it’s a really nice community.

“We do a lot of helping each other but this is certainly the first time for us and for them of applying together in partnership. We wanted to really meaningfully work together on something.”

TIG director Stewart Wilson said: “TIG is pleased to lead the LED Communities project in partnership with Urras Oighreachd Gabhsainn and Urras Oighreachd Carlabaigh demonstrating our desire to work in partnership with community land trusts in order to address the energy needs of rural communities.

“TIG, as the local energy agency, has the knowledge and skills to make this project a success and we look forward to seeing the benefit to householders in these communities.”