By Tom Taylor, Charity Consultant and Kirklees Climate Commissioner March 2024 – 

Community Buildings include a range of spaces managed by independent non-profit organisations such as charities and social enterprises. They include faith buildings, halls, scout huts, and community centres. Community organisations often own them or there is a long lease in place with a Council or similar public body.

There are over 300 community-managed buildings in Kirklees, run by various non-profits, charities, and faith organisations. They provide vital hubs for services and social activity, including arts and creativity, childcare, training, youth clubs, health and fitness and mental health support.

These are spaces bringing generations together to celebrate weddings and birthdays. They are the places to go when you need help or when you can offer help to others. We gather in community buildings to talk about shared problems and learn, to hear decision-makers, and to have our say in local decisions. They are the places where we work, volunteer, and work together.

The Impact of COVID-19

In the pandemic, community buildings were not able to offer their usual activities and services. Instead, they adapted to provide space for volunteers and staff to organise the delivery of food, medication, and support to the most vulnerable in our communities. The ‘We were built for this’ report by Locality documents the phenomenal response of the voluntary sector in meeting community needs.

After ‘lockdown’, many people did not return to community activities, particularly older individuals, and those with health concerns. This impacted room bookings income and meant lower takings at community cafes and events. Some volunteers did not return to their roles.  With fewer volunteer trustees and more complex health and safety requirements, the workload fell on fewer shoulders.

Then the Energy Crisis Hit

In mid-2021, energy prices began to rise.  Within a year, some community buildings were facing a 400% increase in their energy costs. As the ‘cost of living crisis’ continued, the demand for community organisations increased. More people were requesting help with benefits advice and accessing government financial support. More people sought help from foodbanks and mental health services. Our community buildings were needed more than ever.

I had been working with Third Sector Leaders (TSL) Kirklees to set up a network of Community Anchor organisations in Kirklees. In June 2023, at a meeting of the TSL Kirklees Community Buildings Network, there was an agreement that energy was the priority, and I took on this challenge as a project.

Community Buildings & Energy Project

I conducted a survey to understand their concerns and to learn more about the buildings. Sixty-four organisations responded. The Community Buildings & Energy Survey 2023 revealed that 73% of community buildings had already taken proactive energy-saving measures like LED installations and draft proofing and nearly 90% had plans to do more. However, financial constraints, a lack of technical advice, the difficulty in finding trustworthy suppliers and the complexities of upgrading historic buildings emerged as substantial barriers.

Each building had an average of 300 people using them every week and spent an average of £11,700 a year on energy. If this is a representative sample, then community buildings are used by tens of thousands of people every week, and community buildings spend £3.5m a year on energy.

If we could save just 10% of this cost, it would be like a benevolent donor giving £350,000 every year for community activities and support.

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COMETs and the Energy Neighbours project

Two key ideas emerged from the consultation.

• To pool our information and share our learning. Through network meetings and sharing information about suppliers, contractors, and funding opportunities, we can help community buildings to accelerate energy efficiency works and make the best use of funds.

To support this, there is the idea emerged of a badge or label, identifying those organisations who are working on energy issues and sharing their information. They are to be known as COMETs (Community Organisations Making Energy Transitions) and be celebrated and recognised for their achievements.

• To help residents to reduce their energy use and costs. Local people face the same challenges that community buildings do – increased bills, a lack of advice and information, difficulty finding trusted contractors and finance and the challenges of planning permission.

Community buildings have strong local networks and have space to bring people together. How could we help them learn about energy efficiency, and renewables and understand their home’s energy use? Like the COMET network, could local people share information, learn, and work together to deal with the energy challenge?

This idea is being developed as Energy Neighbours. We think more people will be willing to act on their energy use if they are not doing it alone – and that companies that offer insulation, heating and renewable installations will be interested in the possibility of working on ten or twenty properties instead of just one.

We will also explore how community and cooperative business models might help us work together and raise finance. The hope is that Energy Neighbours can empower those in our most disadvantaged communities while strengthening links with community buildings. We intend to share learning locally and nationally as the project develops. I am working with TSL Kirklees to develop the project and seek funding.

Community Resilience and Sustainability

Communities have a key role to play in reducing carbon emissions in Kirklees and working towards a greener, fairer, and more sustainable way to live. Working together to reduce the energy use of our homes and community buildings has multiple benefits. It helps:

• keep more money in our communities
• reduces pollution
• reduces the carbon dioxide emissions that cause global heating
• strengthens community relationships
• helps us grow in confidence to make the world a better place.

The Kirklees Climate Commission supports and encourages the development of these projects and now leads in supporting the Community Buildings Network in Kirklees. As a Climate Commissioner focusing on the local third sector, I report back to the Commission regularly.

If you are interested in finding out more or getting involved please get in touch with me at tom@tslkirklees.org.uk or find out more about the Climate Commission at https://www.kirkleesclimate.org.uk

Note: Kirklees Climate Commission is a non-profit company.

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