On Wednesday 19^th February, community groups from around the Holme Valley gathered at the Holmfirth Tech to receive recognition for their carbon reduction projects, funded by the Bright Green Community Trust.

Since 2017, the Bright Green Community Trust has awarded grants totally nearly £150,000 to green projects in the Graveship of Holme spanning from energy efficiency to education, community growing to conservation, renewable energy, transport, recycling and more.

Funds disbursed by the Bright Green Community Trust are generated by the HoTTwind@Longley wind turbine, which is based up at Longley Farm. The turbine was set up through a partnership between Longley Farm and the voluntary group Holmfirth Transition Town, with a vision to create a community project that would reduce carbon emissions and spark further environmental change across the Graveship of Holme.

The administration of the applications and funds is handled by One Community, the Kirklees Community Foundation. One Community administer a number of funds to distribute funding to local charities and community organisations across Kirklees. For more information about their work and other funds, go to https://one-community.org.uk/

This year, representatives from the different groups gathered together at the Holmfirth Tech to share progress on their project, receive a plaque to put up at their site and also to share ideas and inspiration with other recipients.

Recipients of this year’s grants include:

Cartworth Moor Cricket Club : this long-standing cricket club in the Holme Valley hopes to make the club house more environmentally friendly and financially sustainable by installing solar panels on the pavilion roof.

Grow to School: Grow to school are running a project with a local primary school over the course of a year to teach them how to look after an allotment space for food growing and biodiversity. This education project will teach pupils, staff & families at school how to grow their own organic fruit, vegetables, and herbs. It will also get them thinking about how they can support biodiversity in gardens by the planting they do and the gentle timely management of green spaces. 

Just Hoop CIC: a new Basketball group in the Holme Valley is working to renovate a warehouse in Holmfirth into a Basketball focused sports facility. They want to make the facility as efficient and environmentally friendly as possible, so the grant will go towards replacing existing lights with energy efficient LEDs. 

Friends of Honley Library: the volunteer group running the library are looking for ways to keep the building warmer and more energy efficient for its users, many of whom are older people or young children. This grant will go towards replacing the original windows to make the building more energy efficient and secure. 

Holmfirth Civic Hall Community Trust: As part of their ongoing works to make this well-used building more energy efficient, this grant has been used to install radiant heat emitters in smaller rooms in the building, so that the whole floor of central heating doesn’t have to be switched on if there is just one small room being occupied. 

Holmfirth Tech Limited: another well-used community building in the centre of Holmfirth, the Tech is continuing its building improvement works by replacing some of the old single-glazed windows with new double-glazed ones. 

River Holme Connections: this community group has now planted 94,429 trees in the Holme Valley which will fix nearly 19 tonnes of CO2. This grant will go towards community tree/hedge scheme maintenance days which involve weeding, the removal of plastic guards, and the replacement of any dead trees. 

Holme Valley Climate Action Partnership: building on the success of their foil recycling scheme, HVCAP will use these funds to research and deliver information on additional recycling opportunities in the local area for items not accepted by household green bin collections. Currently you can recycle aluminium foil at the Holmfirth Coop. 

Mike Williams, from HoTTWind@Longley remarked “The grants given out have a big impact in terms of making green projects happen in the Holme Valley. Where grants only go part way to funding a project, they can be instrumental in getting further funds from other sources.”

Hayley Austin from Once Community said: "The Bright Green Community Trust is a fantastic example of how local partnerships can drive real environmental change. Through the funding generated by the HoTTwind@Longley turbine, these grants are empowering grassroots organisations to take meaningful action on carbon reduction, sustainability, and community education. At One Community, we are proud to administer this fund and support the incredible work happening across the Holme Valley. These projects not only reduce emissions but also inspire long-term change, helping to create a greener and more sustainable future for everyone."

For more information on how to apply for funds visit https://one-community.org.uk/how-to-apply-for-funding-grants-available/

Sian Taylor from Holme Valley Climate Action Partnership (HVCAP) receives a plaque from Hayley Austin at One Community

Bill Crossland from Cartworth Moor Cricket Club receives a plaque from Hayley Austin at One Community

Ama Chaney from Grow to School receives a plaque from Hayley Austin at One Community