Reading Community Energy Society (RCES) has recently awarded a grant to fund a vegetable growing project at Highdown School and Sixth Form Centre in Emmer Green. The school used the grant of £500 to purchase vegetable planters in a project spearheaded by Year 8 student Callum Potter. Callum and the Estate Staff built trugs and planted vegetables in them including lettuce and leeks, as well as mint, oregano and sage. The produce is now being used in the school kitchens…

True Food Co-op in Emmer Green has slashed the amount of electricity used for lighting their shop by 65% after upgrading to LED lighting. The not-for profit community shop received a grant from Reading Community Energy Society to help undertake the project, completed in August 2021, and they haven’t looked back. Chair of True Food Co-op, Francis Jakeman, said: “We have been delighted with the new LED lighting as it is so much brighter than before. There are no more dark corners…

Reading Community Energy Society is celebrating its 5th anniversary in July. Since the first share offer was released on July 15th 2016 the society has raised enough funds to install solar power systems on 22 buildings across Reading including Reading Central Library and the University of Reading. The average electricity produced by all the solar panels is enough to power 128 homes for a year 1. The Society is run by a board of 9 directors and aims to accelerate…

Chiltern Hills Community Energy (CHCE) has been recently established by Henley Town Council’s Climate Emergency Working Group in order to meet their renewable energy objectives, covering a wide area of Henley and beyond. Working in partnership with Reading Community Energy society (RCES), CHCE’s first steps have been to identify suitable buildings (public, community and commercial) where solar panels could be installed, offering favourably priced electricity to the users. RCES will provide financial, technical and administrative management on behalf of CHCE…

We were pleased to welcome Molli Cleaver, President of Reading University Students’ Union, to our 2020 AGM, to hear about her work to support and encourage the University to become greener.  Below is a transcript of her speech: What sustainability means for our students  Good evening, my name is Molli and I am the President of Reading University Students’ Union. We are separate to the University but work very closely on collaborative projects that aim to enhance the student experience…

Following its successful first year of operation, RCES is extending its portfolio of buildings to cover a radius of 10 miles from the centre of Reading. As a consequence, the Society is seeking owners and users of suitable buildings to have renewable energy facilities (such as solar and possibly other technologies) installed on their buildings at no cost. Building owners and users will benefit through: RCES purchasing and installing the renewable energy facility at no cost to the building owner;…

The Amersham Road community centre has recently been refurbished, extended and reopened as The Weller Centre. They now have an electronic display showing real time solar power generation and total generation. The centre will be a great asset in the local community and is being managed by Catalyst Housing association who are very grateful to both RCES and Energy4All for the benefit that they now receive from the solar installation.

Your friendly Reading board members – working hard on the co-ops behalf at a board meeting held on Wednesday 11th January. They were planning the AGM and starting to think about what they want to achieve in the future and are on the lookout for more future renewable energy and energy saving projects in Reading. From Left – Right: Cllr Rachel Eden, John Malone, Dan Fernbank, Clare Sharp, Tony Cowling, Rachael Hunter, Tony Hoskins, Cllr Liz Terry.