Grindleford Primary School launches ambitious solar panels fundraising campaign for solar panels after winning place in national project
On Thursday 2nd October Grindleford Primary School launched months of exciting fundraising activities aiming to raise £12,000 to buy and install solar panels, as part of the innovative Solar Schools project.
The ambitious fundraising drive kicked off with a Green Day where pupils wore green all day, bought cakes donated by the teachers and had fun outdoor activities in the school garden. Once installed the panels will generate clean electricity, help cut the schools energy bills and generate additional income which will be spent on school resources, equipment and a bike shed.
Grindleford Primary School, in the Peak District National Park, is one of only 15 schools to gain a place on the Solar Schools scheme this year, after over 260 registered their interest. The project, run by the carbon cutting campaign 10:10 in partnership with 100% renewable electricity company Good Energy, provides schools with all the free tools and training they need to crowdfund the cost of installing solar panels.
The project helps school children learn first-hand about renewable energy, climate change and energy efficiency.
Headteacher Leonie Hill said: “We are thrilled to have been chosen as one of this year’s Solar Schools. We’re a small school with a big ambition – to install solar panels on our roof! As a rural school in the Peak District National Park we want to reduce our carbon footprint, save money, protect our beautiful surroundings and educate our children about the environment and how they can make a difference.”
Amy Cameron, Solar Schools campaign manager said:“Grindleford Primary School more than earned their place on the Solar Schools project thanks to their passion, commitment and some great ideas for raising that cash! It’s going to be a big challenge, but we know, if the local area gets behind them, they’re more than capable of doing it!”
Good Energy CEO and founder, Juliet Davenport OBE, said:
”Good Energy is proud to support Solar Schools. Our vision is to create a safer, greener Britain and Solar Schools has that in buckets, education, community and sustainability all working hand in hand, bringing sunshine into our classrooms.”
Grindleford Primary School will be giving their whole community the chance to get involved in their solar powered efforts, with a variety of activities and events throughout the year including school fairs, quiz nights and outdoor events.
Fifty schools have already benefited from Solar Schools’ package of on and offline resources and training, including a website which enables parents, local businesses and others to donate virtual solar panels to schools and follow their fundraising progress. So far, schools on the project have raised more than £400,000 and it’s expected they’ll break the half-million barrier this academic year.
The scheme has been praised for its ability to revitalise communities and teach skills such as fundraising, social media and business engagement to both pupils and parents.
Main contact name: Helen Illingworth
Email: grindlefordprimaryschool@gmail.com
Phone: 07855 330446
Grindleford Primary School is a small rural school in the Hope Valley with 74 pupils aged 4 to 11.
www.solarschools.org.uk/grindlefordprimaryschool
Photos and photo opportunities available upon request.
How Solar Schools works
Solar Schools helps cut carbon emissions, boost budgets, build fundraising capacity and engage pupils, parents and the community with renewable energy.
Schools on the project receive a comprehensive fundraising toolkit that helps them to raise the money they need to install their very own solar panels including:
- A webpage on the Solar Schools site (solarschools.org.uk), designed by experts to make it easy and appealing for family, friends, businesses and ex pupils to donate.
- Free printed resources like banners, posters and stickers to help spread the word.
- In-depth training sessions on everything from fundraising to press work.
- How-to packs, case studies and videos to help along the way.
- 10:10 staff support and mentoring throughout the journey.
Schools are ideally suited for solar PV because they use most of their energy during the daytime.
Schools on the Solar Schools project raise between £8,000 – £15,000 to install 4 -10kWp of solar PV. A school installing 8kWp of solar (about 30 panels) could:
- · Bring in over £21,000 in feed-in tariff payments over 20 years.
- · Save over £400 a year in electricity bills (and that’s before any more electricity price rises).
- · Save over 87,500 kg of carbon dioxide emissions over 25 years – equivalent to 215 barrels of oil!
- · Create enough power to make 130,000 slices of toast… (two pieces of toast every day for 178 years!)
About 10:10 www.1010uk.org
Started in 2009, 10:10 brings people together to take positive, practical action on climate change. We are a 60,000-strong community of people, schools, hospitals, shops, football clubs and everything in between, doing bold, brilliant stuff to cut carbon emissions.
Twitter: @1010
Good Energy www.goodenergy.co.uk
Good Energy is a fast-growing 100% renewable electricity supply company, offering value for money and award-winning customer service. An AIM-listed PLC, and founder member of the Social Stock Exchange, our mission is to support change in the energy market, address climate change and boost energy security. Good Energy matches over the course of a year all the electricity its customers use with power from renewable sources. For the last three years, Good Energy has topped the Which? energy company customer satisfaction survey. Good Energy’s dual fuel tariff is cheaper on average than the standard tariffs sold by the ‘Big 6’ before discounts.
Twitter: @GoodEnergy