This work came out of a discussion with local community groups in Bristol about how to make it as easy as possible for people without much experience to set up and run activities around energy awareness, saving time on doing all the research, planning and re-inventing the wheel which a new project idea often entails.

All the projects are designed for community level delivery and can be run by individuals who are not necessarily experts in the field, to achieve effective local engagement and low carbon impact.

Some of the projects can be delivered in a day and don’t require much experience, while others are longer-term projects that might be delivered over the course of several months or a year and would be ideal for more experienced groups seeking something to get their teeth into.

As part of this work, we developed a set of kit and guidance for each project, and set about packing them into boxes and sending them out around the country to local groups who were keen to try them out.  Each box contained:

• Guidance: A set of instructions explaining exactly what was inside and providing comprehensive advice on how to use the resources, together with things like time plans, checklists, video guides and case studies.
• Resources: All the materials and equipment needed to run the project, such as demonstration materials and samples, information sheets, ready-made presentations, surveys, games and giveaways.
• Promotional materials: Template posters and flyers, press releases and material for newsletters, websites and other media.
• Evaluation support: Notes on how to measure impact, plus template feedback forms and questionnaires for relevant projects.

There were six ‘projects in a box’:

1. Draught proofing workshop: demonstrate and discuss draught proofing measures 
2. Lightbulb swap: encourage people to replace their traditional bulbs with low energy equivalents
3. Energy audit of a community building: assess current energy use and identify energy saving improvements
4. Providing energy advice in your community: a drop-in service that offers energy advice to the community
5. Improving the energy efficiency of traditional homes in your community: make energy smart changes that are sensitive to the style and fabric of the building
6. Green Open Homes: an event for visitors to see and discuss low carbon home improvements

At the moment we don’t have funding to put together and post out more boxes and the physical kit they contained (draught proofing samples, energy monitors etc.), but we are happy to share the ‘out-of-the-box’ resources and updated guidance with you if you’re thinking of running some activities in your community and want to take the sting out of the set up work.