Broadacres has received a nationally accredited boost as part of our drive to becoming carbon neutral by 2050, a Carbon Literate Organisation bronze award from national charity ‘The Carbon Literacy Project’.

We were involved in working with the Carbon Literacy Trust to create a carbon literacy training course for social housing providers, and the course was then undertaken by 29 people at Broadacres, including the Chief Executive and Board members, which introduced them to climate change issues and how they can play their part to make a difference in their daily role and at home. They have all now been certified as ‘carbon literate’.

We have also welcomed representatives from other housing providers onto our courses, meaning that they can start to roll out carbon literacy training in their organisations.

Broadacres is one of only a handful of social housing providers in the UK to achieve an award, reinforcing our commitment to becoming a carbon neutral organisation by 2050.

Helen Ball, Broadacres’ Sustainability Manager, said: “We are delighted to formally receive this award on the back of our continued drive to becoming carbon neutral.

 “The carbon literacy training is proving to be a great way to spread the word about why sustainability and environmental issues are so important in the social housing sector.

“We are finding that by doing the training, colleagues have a better understanding of why sustainability matters so much to us at Broadacres. They are then going away and making changes to the way that they carry out their jobs and in their personal lives too.”

In 2021, we unveiled our Sustainability Strategy, which outlined a roadmap which will lead to all our homes and operations having net zero carbon emissions within the next 30 years.

Work has already begun to achieve this with the investment we are making to tackle fuel poverty by replacing old storage heaters with new energy efficient heating systems, such as air source heat pump technology, and installing only heat pumps in new build properties.

In the longer term, we will also be carrying out even more extensive work, including replacing all gas boilers with heat pumps and other renewable technology, reducing the amount of waste we produce and switching to an electric or hybrid fleet in the coming years.

We have also set up a sustainability fund which provides funding of up to £500 (£1,000 in exceptional cases) for local projects which protect or create areas for wildlife, involve tree planting, encourage or enable people in the community to grow their own fruit and/or vegetables, or protect or create an outdoor space for local communities to enjoy.

People/organisations who would like to apply for funding through the sustainability fund can do so by visiting: www.broadacres.org.uk/customer-area/getting-involved/sustainability-fund/

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