Woodcraft Folk are delighted to announce its latest grant success. The Royal Society of Chemistry’s Outreach Fund has awarded Woodcraft Folk £5,000 to support the use of additional renewable energy at Common Ground.
The idea for the project came about at Common Ground Pre-Camp where members tested the site and came together to explore electricity and power needs on site. There was universal agreement that the charity needed to explore clean and green methods of generating the electricity needed to make the camp a success.
On hearing about the grant success, Debs McCahon (Woodcraft Folk’s CEO) said
“I’m so pleased our application was successful. It was a little bit rushed following pre-camp, but after our experiences on site using a diesel generator members of all ages were committed to finding a more sustainable solution. I will be so proud to see our camp powered by solar as we take more steps to reduce Woodcraft Folk’s carbon footprint.”
The grant has three key elements. Firstly, it will provide the materials to upgrade the existing Energy Trailer. The Energy Trailer was first used at a camp more than 10 years ago! The trailer will be able to make use of improvements in battery technology, crucially being able to store the energy generated from solar panels to power equipment at night time. The energy trailer will be used to provide electricity to the central area.
The grant will also support young people to participate in a number of workshops exploring renewable energy and what makes batteries work! The hands on workshops will enable children and young people to create their own electrical circuits powered by solar energy and better understand how energy is created and stored.
And finally, the grant will also provide an opportunity for young people to build three small scale solar arrays, providing all the electrical needs for three villages.