A real and valuable transition to renewable energy can only come about with the support and consideration of the communities it affects. Because of this, we design and build our Renewable Energy Parks in a collaborative way, as good neighbours, which creates continuing local benefits to communities and benefits of reducing carbon emissions to the whole of the UK.
We work with communities to support projects that matter to them, so that our projects make a real difference to real people. For example, this might be looking after local landmarks, creating warm spaces, saving energy or investing in education.
In partnering with communities, we also look beyond renewable energy parks, using our resources and expertise to advance community initiatives that are important to them. Examples include ‘Warm Spaces’ at village halls and local hotels, Energy Efficiency Training helping to address fuel poverty in communities, installation of WIFI in community buildings to help senior citizens, and our Climate Care Award Scheme highlighting awareness of climate issues in schools.
Ridge Clean Energy believes communities should share the progress and advantages of a future powered by renewable energy. Therefore, each of our Renewable Energy Parks includes a dedicated Community Benefit Fund for the local area.
The fund provides money for the local community each year, throughout the lifetime of the project’s operational life. The size of the fund is linked to a project’s technology (solar, wind, BESS, or combination of each) and scale.
Our team already has extensive experience with Community Benefit Funds (dating back to the early 2000s), having successfully implemented them for many currently operational wind farm parks.
We plan and develop projects hand-in-hand with community groups, focusing on how we can add long-term value to those local communities while adding renewable energy to the grid. Each Renewable Energy Park is assigned a Community Partnership Coordinator over the lifetime of a project, who builds a relationship with involved people in the area to identify and develop initiatives that support the community’s path to Net Zero.
We work closely with our community partners to find and support projects that matter to their communities and will have a genuine and long-lasting impact on the lives of local people. Here are some examples of our most recent work:
Inveraray Pier
Since 2020, we have been working with community leaders and groups in the town of Inveraray in Scotland, near to our Ladyfield park. Our team helped the community to apply for and secure £244,000 in funding to take ownership of the pier and restore it, finally seeing it open to the public for the first time in a decade in 2024. We supported local community negotiations with the previous pier owner, helping to provide the confidence that a repurchasing was possible. This was undertaken years before we submitted a planning permission application. Read more here.
Ridge Climate Care Awards
Education is a key part of our community work, which is why we have launched an innovative awards scheme – The Climate Care Awards – to encourage environmental awareness and action among the younger generation. Read more here.
Our Climate Care Awards are open to primary age children within a school setting or a community group such as Scouts and Girlguiding groups. They can be completed as part of the school curriculum or run as a club activity.
The Climate Care Awards highlight and recognise what we can all do to care for our planet. They are designed to encourage sustainable living, build resilience and reduce eco-anxiety and climate apathy among young people.
If you are interested in finding out more about The Climate Care Awards and how to run them with your class, school or group please download our free resources.
Download ResourcesWarm Spaces
We work with community groups, parish councils and community councils to provide Warm Spaces in local communities. Warm Spaces are places where people can gather for free in a warm, safe, welcoming place, while enjoying a hot drink with company. We have initiated and provided seed funding for these ideas, which include:
Some of these ‘Warm Spaces’ have turned into regular community coffee clubs continuing to support community cohesion, demonstrating the legacy work we strive to achieve. Read more here.
