Previously funded projects
The BWCE Fund has supported a variety of projects since 2015, including initiatives around fuel poverty, food & growing, biodiversity, energy efficiency in community buildings, re-use and recycling, low-carbon transport, energy audits and advice, environmental education and water conservation.
2025
We awarded £40,500 to 10 brilliant community projects.
Plus £5,000 went to South Dartmoor Community Energy to fund projects in the vicinity of Portworthy solar farm.
Bath City Farm
£5,000
Toward the cost of creating sheltered and secure cycle parking at the farm, promoting low-carbon active travel and reducing car travel.
Bath Community Kitchen
£4,800
Toward the group’s weekly community meals at the Lighthouse Centre in Twerton, which are made using surplus food that would otherwise go to waste.
Bath Share & Repair
£4,300
To involve more people in reducing carbon, waste and landfill through external events and community engagement.
Corston Community Orchard
£2,100
Toward a solar generator for use by the orchard and Grow Timsbury, partner groups who both have a strong focus on promoting sustainable low-carbon lifestyles.
High Littleton Scout Group
£5,000
To replace single-glazed windows with double-glazed units in the scout group’s hall which also hosts valuable community activities.
Oasis Hub Bath
£5,000
To provide household audits for the group’s pantry members experiencing economic hardship. Identifying what energy saving measures they could benefit from, providing energy saving equipment, and running workshops about reducing energy use.
Percy Community Centre
£2,044
To purchase and install a Bike Repair Station outside the Percy Community Centre, as a way of encouraging low-carbon active travel and reducing car journeys.
Swallow
£2,260
To create an accessible vegetable growing area, reducing food miles and enabling greater access to gardening and fresh, organic food for the group’s members with learning disabilities.
The Hive Community Centre
£5,000
To install cavity wall insulation at the Hive, a community venue that provides a Youth Hub, Community Food Pantry and Community Fridge to assist those in food poverty.
Time Bank Plus
£5,000
Toward the cost of a project worker for the group’s ‘Borrow It’ Library of Things, who will be involved in updating and expanding the Library of Things to offer a more comprehensive range of resources and opportunities to local people on low incomes.
2024
We awarded £40,500 to 10 brilliant community projects.
Plus £5,000 went to South Dartmoor Community Energy to fund projects in the vicinity of Portworthy solar farm.
Bath Community Kitchen
£5000
To tackle food waste and poverty by providing free meals events in the areas of highest deprivation in Bath, using surplus food from local suppliers.
Bath Share & Repair
£3755
To take their ‘How to Reduce Waste Project’ into the rural schools that their Repair Cafes serve in those locations.
Bishop Sutton Village Hall
£2100
To reduce gas energy use by introducing new thermostats that can adjust the heating in different zones in the hall by local or remote control.
Climate Hub Bath and North East Somerset
£4500
To support an exciting and expanded programme of activities and events in 2024 and to support their continued growth and development as an organisation.
Cycle Chippenham
£5000
To create a cycle path as a cut-through between two dead end roads, using some unused land. This grant covers the critical first steps of the process.
Freshford & Limpley Stoke Home Energy Group
£750
To purchase a thermal imaging camera to support home energy surveys.
Friends of Marksbury School PTA
£4900
To provide a contribution towards the cost of a new low carbon air to air heating system and energy education programme.
Genesis Trust
£4500
To provide energy saving items for people affected by poverty and disadvantage to be distributed by Bath Foodbank and Life Projects.
More Trees B&NES
£5000
To insulate their new hub in Twerton. This building will become their HQ and provide space for tree seed processing, workspace, training, networking for staff and volunteers plus education including schools.
Transition Bath
£5000
Toward the cost of a freelance worker who is helping to develop the organisation’s plans and strategies, grow projects, recruit volunteers, organise events and support fundraising.
2023
We awarded £31,505 to 11 brilliant community projects.
Plus £5,000 to South Dartmoor Community Energy to fund projects in the vicinity of Portworthy solar farm.
Bath City Farm
£5000
Toward an air source heat pump to supply heating and hot water to the main community farm building.
Bath Share & Repair
£2650
To invest in a thermal imaging camera and put together materials to support a number of workshops in partnership with community organisations aimed at helping people to learn “HOW TO” save energy and reduce fuel costs.
Climate Friendly Bradford on Avon
£1800
For a feasibility study of a proposed new traffic-free, multi-user greenway between Bradford on Avon and Trowbridge.
Climate Hub Bath & North East Somerset
£1200
Toward the development of a physical Climate Hub in Bath that can act as a focus for climate action work locally.
Fairfield House
£1600
Towards implementing the Fairfield House Sustainability plans to improve the energy efficiency of the bungalow on site.
Keynsham Community Energy
£2700
To provide slow cookers and energy efficiency advice to parents at Keynsham Children’s centre, reducing people’s energy bills and cutting CO2 emissions.
Kidical Mass Bath
£1100
To Percy Community Centre to purchase and install a Bike Repair Station, to be sited outside the Percy Community Centre as a way of encouraging low carbon active travel and reducing car journeys.
Oasis Hub Bath
£4875
To provide slow cookers, slow cooker recipe books and heated over-blankets for food pantry members this winter.
Southside Family Project
£4908
For fuel debt advice and energy efficiency training for Southside Support Workers. Helping local families in fuel poverty to reduce their energy use, alongside the provision of energy-saving packs
Swallow
£2472
For the group’s Energy Saving project, that will make information easy to understand for people with learning disabilities. Helping them to reduce energy consumption, increase energy efficiency and save money.
Transition Bath
£3200
For a paid student intern to grow Eco Together climate empowerment. This project will help form new Eco Together groups.
2022
We awarded £31,706 to 11 brilliant community projects.
Plus £5,000 to South Dartmoor Community Energy to fund projects in the vicinity of Portworthy solar farm.
First Steps (Bath)
£1800
Towards the replacement of a boiler heating system with a sustainable alternative.
FACE - Family Action on Climate Emergency
£1725
Toward building the FACE community in schools and other settings across the B&NES area, and researching needs, opportunities, barriers and triggers for climate action amongst local families.
Carers Centre B&NES (Care Network)
£4000
To create a food garden for carers to learn to grow food and to provide food for carers to increase sustainability and food security..
Zero Carbon Compton
£1500
For Energy Efficiency surveys for households in Compton Dando, including social housing tenants.
Bath Share & Repair
£1800
Toward the Carbon Footprint Project which will help younger children to understand how they can repair, reduce and reuse to reduce carbon emissions.
Percy Community Centre
£1000
For additional insulation to enclose the parts of the community centre’s boiler room infrastructure that are currently uninsulated.
Bath City Farm
£5000
Towards an air source heat pump and ventilation system for the new purpose-built community hub and cafe.
Middle Ground Growers CIC
£4000
Towards the cost of building a solar-powered barn to power the group’s farm – charging tools, delivery bikes and cold storage for crops.
Freshford Village Memorial Hall
£5000
To replace the hall’s old oil-fired boiler, oil tank and controls with a highly thermally efficient air conditioning system.
Trowbridge Environment Community Group
£4000
Towards the cost of delivering four repair-and-reuse cafe community events during 2022, to encourage members of the public to become more engaged with their lifestyle choices and learn how they can live more sustainably.
Corston Community Orchard & Garden
£1880
To establish a rainwater harvesting, storage and distribution system to ensure there is a sustainable and sufficient water supply so that the newly planted trees and hedging can thrive.
2021
We awarded £33,300 to 11 brilliant community projects.
Plus £3,000 to South Dartmoor Community Energy to fund projects in the vicinity of Portworthy solar farm.
Batheaston New Village Hall
£2797
Toward the purchase and installation of solar panels for a new Community Village Hall in Batheaston.
Bathampton Community Co-operative Ltd (Dry Arch Growers)
£5000
Toward the development of a ‘Community Energy Renewable Farm’, supporting the purchase of a solar mini-barn for storing food, charging farm tools and e-bikes for delivery of organic veg boxes.
Bath Share & Repair
£3000
For the ‘How To Reduce Your Carbon Footprint’ project which will seek to provide practical ways that people can reduce their carbon emissions to make a positive impact on their environment.
Fairfield House
£4600
For the Fairfield House “zero to hero” energy sustainability assessment, to appraise the potential for energy saving, carbon and cost reduction and use of renewables at Fairfield House, a multi-cultural and multi-faith place of welcome in Bath.
Grow Batheaston
£5000
For the ‘Grow Batheaston Store’ project, to set up and run a community shop, supplying local produce in the village.
Julian House
£4827
Toward the running costs of the Bath Bike Workshop which enables and encourages local residents to take up cycling, and/or make it their chief form of transport, by providing free or affordable cycling products, services, and initiatives.
Peter Pan Play School
£2044
For the provision of a bike, scooter and pram shed with the aim of encouraging families to use sustainable transport for their commute to the pre-school.
Swallow
£1000
For insulation for the offices and meeting rooms of this charity that supports teenagers and adults with learning disabilities throughout Bath and NE Somerset.
Transition Larkhall
£600
Toward an extension of the Larkhall Community Orchard, planting food producing trees that aid carbon capture and storage. It also will provide a source of local food that will cut carbon by reducing the need to transport food.
Wellow Village Shop Association
£500
Toward the cost of replacing an old, power-hungry display fridge with a more energy efficient model for use at this community shop.
Youth Connect South West
£4976
For the ‘Grow it Cook it!’ project that will work with the local community to support the provision of low cost, good quality local food and encourage local people to grow and cook their own food.
2020
We awarded £28,370 to 9 brilliant community projects.
Keynsham Community Energy
£2970
To work with the Centre for Sustainable Energy (CSE) to train six local volunteers who will provide energy advice community events and attend home energy advice visits alongside a CSE energy adviser.
Bath Mind (Greenlinks)
£2900
For a polytunnel to be used for training and food production in support of the Greenlinks eco-therapy allotment project and the Food for Thought catering enterprise.
Bath Cloth Nappy Library
£4163
To update and expand the cloth nappy library’s stock to enable it to support more of the community to become aware of and make the switch to reusable nappies.
Alice Park Community Garden
£960
For the Alice Park Community Garden’s ‘Edible Food Forest’, which includes the purchase and planting of food producing trees and shrubs at the community garden, volunteer training and a food feast community activity to teach local people to identify and use produce.
Transition Bath (Energy Sparks)
£4200
For the cost of a Volunteer Coordinator to train and support volunteer ambassadors for Transition Bath’s Energy Sparks programme that provides energy advice and an education toolkit for B&NES schools.
FACE- Family Action on Climate Emergency
£1177
For a range of awareness raising activities throughout 2020, targeting different communities in Bath and the surrounding area, empowering families to take action to reduce carbon emissions, and building the FACE community.
Cheese Project - Cold Homes Energy Efficiency Survey Experts
£4500
To establish a pilot replica project in Bath of the C.H.E.E.S.E. Project, providing thermal surveys to assist householders to improve the energy efficiency of their homes.
Kilter Theatre
£3000
Toward the delivery of workshops in schools in Bath that focus on discussions about climate change and the creation of a song that articulates the pupils’ feelings about climate change and their proposed solutions.
Merriott Village Hall
£4500
Toward the installation of twenty-six solar panels on the village hall and electric storage batteries.
2019
We awarded £31,204 to 11 brilliant community projects.
The Carers Centre B&NES
£5000
The Carers Centre B&NES(Care Network) used their £5000 grant to add secondary glazing to windows at the front of their Carers’ Wellbeing Centre. This included all of the rooms used by carers for group activities and counselling and one-to-one sessions.
Marksbury Village Hall
£5000
A £5000 grant contributed to the overall costs of ceiling insulation, plaster works and new electrics at Marksbury Village Hall.
All Saints
£4319
All Saints used their £4319 grant to install LED lighting and a digital heating control system in the Weston Hub building. This has transformed this old building into a sustainable facility for the whole community and has reduced the annual energy bill.
Bath Share & Repair
£950
With a £950 grant Bath Share & Repair have been able to give each Repair Cafe its own resources. This has made each one more independent and they no longer need to move resources from one side of Bath to another, thereby reducing carbon emissions. The PAT Testers for each café give both repairer and user the confidence that each repaired electrical item is safe to use. Through having banners which can be hung outside each venue they are able to give members of the public advance notice of when and where each cafe is.
Percy Community Centre
£3700
Percy Community Centreused their £3700 grant to install LED lighting throughout the building, including in the Conference Room, corridor, sports hall, basement room and some storage areas.
Climate Friendly Bradford on Avon
£1500
With a £1500 grant Climate Friendly Bradford on Avon have been able to purchase drinking fountains which they have installed in three locations to reduce the use of plastic bottles in the town. Three thirst-quenching poems have also been written for plaques on the fountains.
Henstridge Village Hall
£3000
Henstridge Village Hall have used their £3000 grant to remove the original night storage heaters and installed 36 infra-red low energy heating panels into the existing suspended ceiling together with a new control system, temperature sensor and push button control.
Monksdale Allotments Community Orchard
£522
A £522 grant has resulted in eight fruit trees and an edible hedge being planted at Monksdale Allotments Community Orchard. The money also enabled volunteers to purchase a hedge trimmer, tree pruner, fruit press and wild flower seeds
Time Bank Plus
£3660
A £3660 grant has contributed towards the annual running costs of the Library of Things/Borrow It scheme run by Time Bank Plus. This scheme encourages residents to borrow useful household items rather than buy them
Transition Bath
£3053
A £3053 grant contributed to a pilot of the Ride to Work by Bike project run by Transition Bath. This has provided employees at Bath based workplaces the opportunity to trial the use of an electric bike for six weeks each. Each workplace gets the free loan of electric bicycles and associated equipment plus training and support to use the bikes and to maximise the chances of them making the switch permanent.
Friends of Bathampton Meadows Riverside
£450
The Friends of Bathampton Meadows Riverside originally applied to the Community Fund for a £500 grant to install a recycling bin and a noticeboard. However, through using recycled materials (e.g. recycled wood for the noticeboard) they were able to reduce their costs down to £50 enabling £450 to be recycled back into the Community Fund for the following year.
2018
We awarded £27,500 to 10 brilliant community projects.
Wellow Village Shop
£625
A £625 grant enabled Wellow Village Shop to replace the large, power hungry chest freezer with two freezers. They have reported that the new freezers cost a fraction of the old one to run as well as reducing their carbon footprint.
Friends of Roundhill Primary School
£650
The Friends of Roundhill Primary School used their £650 grant to fund training sessions to make better use of the boiler/ heating system in the school. The funding also kick-started an eco-team project in conjunction with the Energy Sparks initiative. Pupils from both the infant and junior parts of the school identified efficiencies they could make across the school which resulted in significant
Swallow
£1476
A grant of £1476 enabled SWALLOW to install a new dropped ceiling with full insulation into one of their offices to improve working conditions and increase energy efficiency.
Bath Share & Repair
£3878
A grant of £3878 enabled Bath Share & Repairto develop additional regular Repair Cafes in Weston Hub and Peasedown St John and to operate pop-up Repair Cafes in areas such as Foxhill.
Transition Bath
£3400
With a grant of £3400 Transition Bathcarried out a feasibility study for their proposed ride to work electric bike project. This included publicity for the project, interviews with a number of companies who were interested in joining the scheme, the development of a website, sourcing of an e- bike loan company, investigation of cycle training schemes and health monitoring.
Camerton Community Hall
£2500
With a grant of £2500 Camerton Community Hall purchased and fitted 70 rolls of Superglass insulation to upgrade the insulation in the Community Hall.
Bath Carnival
£4790
A grant of £4790 enabled Bath Carnival to engage local residents in communal workshops to design and build large colourful structures which were then attached to non-motorised modes of transportation, including tricycles, pushchairs and wheelchairs. These featured in the Bath Carnival procession on Saturday 21 July, replacing motorised vehicles and reducing the carbon footprint of the event
Centre for Sustainable Energy
£4240
A grant of £4240 enabled the Centre For Sustainable Energy to provide a programme of expert, tailored energy advice in the Radstock and Midsomer Norton area. Around 80% of households were interested in reducing energy usage and 40% asked for more information on the best way to use their heating controls.
Time Bank Plus
£3145
A grant of £3145 enabled Time Bank Plus to keep the Library of Things/Borrow It open to the public for a second year, increasing to approximately 140 items donated by local people or organisations..
Bath Spa Students’ Union
£2825
Bath Spa Students’ Union had applied for a grant of £2825 to work with student volunteers to deliver simple and inexpensive methods of keeping student housing insulated. This project did not go ahead as anticipated. The student union spent only £73 of the grant and returned the remaining £2752 to be recycled back into the Community Fund for distribution to other fund applicants the following year.
2017
We awarded £30,543 to 11 brilliant community projects.
Plus £10,000 to South Dartmoor Community Energy to fund projects in the vicinity of Portworthy solar farm.
Bath City Farm
£2285
Bath City Farm used a £2285 grant to carry out a feasibility study to investigate the potential for an anaerobic digester to produce sufficient gas to fuel cooking in the Farm’s proposed new cafe.
Transition Bath
£5000
With a grant of £5000 Transition Bath developed activities for primary school pupils to help them learn about energy. This included visiting schools to support teachers and pupil eco-teams to perform energy saving activities.
Saltford Community Association
£1373
With a £1373 grant Saltford Community Association were able to install two fan units to reduce the heat loss caused by the height of the open space within the hall.
Community at 67
£1000
With a grant of £1000 Community at 67 in Keynsham installed a new uPVC door at the front of the premises and replaced the doorstep with a ramp. They also held a session with the Centre of Sustainable Energy to advise people on energy saving, applying for grants and using online tools to get the best deal on energy usage.
Nexus Methodist Church
£1500
With a grant of £1500 Nexus Methodist Church were able to install and de-bug a prototype heating controller linked online to the diary at the Claremont Church Methodist Centre in Bath.
Widcombe Association
£2075
Widcombe Association used a grant of £1500 to undertake 11 household energy surveys within the Widcombe area. They covered a range of house types, from Georgian to 1960s, and a range of occupants, from single retired people to families with young children. Following the survey each participant was provided with a written report covering results from thermal imaging, lighting and other observations.
Age UK Bath & North East Somerset
£5000
As a result of a £5000 grant Age UK Bath & North East Somerset were able to reach more older people in B&NES with their Winter Warmth message. They distributed information to through GP surgeries, flu jab clinics, newsletters, their magazine, social media and via their services. They also ran an event with exercise demonstrations to highlight the importance of staying active. We are hoping to run another event to offer more specific advice to people facing fuel poverty.
Climate Friendly Bradford on Avon
£500
A £500 grant helped Climate Friendly Bradford on Avon develop their Refill project. This include the purchase of the City to Sea Refill campaign licence (which included How To Guide for volunteers and permission to add Refill stations to the Refill mobile app), training for the project group to sign up local businesses as Refill stations and add them to the Refill App and production of stickers for local businesses. They also promoted the Refill scheme and the use of refillable bottles through talks to local groups/schools, information stands in local venues and events, getting people to pledge to refill their water bottle and receiving a sticker in return.
St Barnabus Church
£1960
A grant of £1960 enabled St Barnabas Church in Bath to install three sweep fans in the 10m high ceiling space to increase energy efficiency and reduce gas consumption.
Time Bank Plus
£4850
With a grant of £4850 Time Bank Plus set up the Library of useful things project. This involved developing storage, initial publicity, building up the ‘library’ through donations from local people, PAT testing & repairing equipment as needed, holding a launch event and producing all the necessary paperwork. By the end of the year 118 useful items were available to borrow.
Stanton Prior Village Committee
£5000
With a grant of £5000 Stanton Prior Village Committee installed six new ceiling mounted radiant heater units in the village hall. They also installed wood fibre insulation into the honeycomb voids in the hall to improve the energy efficiency of the building.
2016
We awarded £45,000 to 11 brilliant community projects.
Friends of St Saviour’s Infant School
£10,000
Funding to install solar pv panels on the school roof and to fund energy efficiency measures.
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Carers Centre B&NES (Care Network)
£5000
Upgrade lighting system in Carers Centre.
Time Bank Plus
£4950
To fund a development worker to train and support local people to grow fruit and vegetables..
Climate Friendly Bradford on Avon
£2000
Expand their energy efficiency work with households via an increased thermal imaging programme, promotion of LEDs and better information about energy use, and encourage local shopping on foot.
First Steps (Bath)
£466
To commission an energy assessment report that allows the Charity to make decisions on how to make their building become more energy efficient.
Swallow
£1165
To install a dropped ceiling with insulation.
Percy Community Centre
£2640
To complete installation of energy efficient LED lighting.
Widcombe Association
£3390
To provide in depth support to 4 local businesses with regard to their energy efficiency and provide a report of their findings.
Resources Futures
£4994
To initiate a textile recycling programme in 5 primary schools and report on the carbon saved.
The Old School Room (Chew Magna)
£5000
To contribute to upgrading the lighting in the community hall to energy efficient standards.
Transition Bath - Energy Group
£5000
To purchase a Blower Door to identify and eliminate draughts in buildings.
2015
We awarded £19,940 to 7 brilliant community projects.
Social Publishing Project
£4159
Production and dissemination to low income households throughout B&NES of a special edition of the ‘Quids in’ magazine focusing on fuel poverty
Age UK Bath & North East Somerset
£4882
Working with volunteers to support older people throughout B&NES who are experiencing fuel poverty.
Bathampton Community Cooperative (Dry Arch Growers)
£1000
To involve more people in reducing carbon, waste and landfill through external events and community engagement.
Corston Community Orchard
£2100
Installation of a solar powered pumping and watering system for three poly tunnels.
Freshford and Limpley Stoke Community Association
£2500
Develop an Advanced Heating Control System.
Percy Community Centre
£1799
To install a dropped ceiling with insulation.
Transition Bath (Energy Group)
£1500
Further development and expansion of existing try-before-you-buy LED scheme.
Bath Canoe Club
£4100
Installation of Solar Air heating as part of a clubhouse renovation.