Schools, social clubs and allotments are just some of the North Ferriby institutions benefiting from renewable energy, thanks to the work of volunteers from the village – and the local football club could be next.
Launched three years ago, Sustainable Ferriby is community interest company which helps organisations in the village switch to more sustainable energy use.
Projects have so far brought solar power to an allotment, allowing gardeners to replace their petrol-driven lawnmower with a battery-charged alternative, a new solar roof at the village primary school and solar panels on a social club.
Both the allotment and social club solar arrays received funding sourced by Sustainable Ferriby, who also persuaded East Riding Council to opt for solar panels as part of refurbishment work at the school
Potential solar initiatives in the pipeline include a link-up with Northern Premier League side North Ferriby FC.
“Our model is different to most community energy organisations,” explained founder director Simon Hudson.
“We act as enablers by encouraging and supporting others to own and operate energy assets for the benefit of the wider community.
“As a non-profit CIC, we’re not about owning and running our own energy projects. Instead, we provide expertise, source potential grant funding and give people confidence to make the change.
“As a rule, people don’t really understand the benefits of sustainable energy until it’s explained to them. There’s a lot of understandable fear about considering doing something new. We make it easier for them to believe in it.”
Hudson was the first resident in the village to install rooftop solar panels on his house two decades ago.
The idea to establish Sustainable Ferriby coincided with retirement and a desire to share his personal passion with others.
“I was lucky enough to be in a position to start something like this with a few other like-minded people here.
“We just cracked on and came up with a list of 15 organisations in Ferriby and Swanland to approach to see if they would be interested.
“As it was, the people at the allotment contacted us to look at how they could bring power to the site while staying off grid.”
The solution was the installation of a four-panel solar array on the roof of a shed which houses a manual Edwardian water pump, with funding for the panels secured from a nearby wind farm community grant scheme.
Allotment committee vice-chairman Alistair Green said: “Installing a traditional power line to the site would have cost us a fortune.
“As it is, we now have clean energy from the solar panels. We’ve got a new, much lighter mower and removed the problem of storing petrol on site. We’ve also got a place where people can charge their own tools and even a power source for lighting if we need it.”
Sustainable Ferriby’s long-term aim is to turn the whole village into an ‘energy club’ with a network of community-run projects, generating their own surplus energy to offer to residents at cut-price rates.
For now, Mr Hudson believes the ripple effect of the CIC’s work is already happening.
“I can think of at least two dozen people in the village who have had rooftop solar panels installed directly as a result of what we have been doing since we started.
“Whether it’s solar, heat pumps or electric vehicles we are here to help them.”
Sustainable Ferriby’s third annual community workshop on sustainable homes and community energy takes place on Saturday 2nd May at North Ferriby Primary School, from 10am to 1:30pm.
The event is free and open to the public with guest speakers, live demonstrations, stalls and residents sharing their own experiences of switching to sustainable energy systems.
For more information visit www.ferribysustainability.co.uk