Your donation has double the impact this April
The Centre for Sustainable Energy (CSE) is participating in the Big Give’s Green Match Fund (GMF) to raise money for our work supporting communities to take climate action. The climate emergency is an urgent, global problem that can feel overwhelming and too complex to solve alone. Local action offers tangible solutions that meet communities’ needs and add up to meaningful change. CSE provides bespoke support including one-to-one guidance, innovative tools and helpful resources to enable the transition to net zero.
From 18-25 April, every penny donated to CSE will be doubled. Clean energy investment company Thrive Renewables has generously pledged £5,000 alongside an additional £5,000 from The Reed Foundation. This gives us a total of £10,000 in match funding. To make the most of this, we need to raise £10,000 in individual donations. This will give us a total of £20,000 to help even more communities take climate action.

Louise Daniels, Head of External Affairs at Thrive Renewables explains why they’ve decided to support our work with communities:
As a longstanding supporter, Thrive Renewables is absolutely delighted to provide match funding for CSE. We are very keen to see more communities being given the tools and resources they need to make a difference in their area. By working together, we can reduce carbon emissions locally which will ultimately help tackle the climate emergency globally.
How CSE supports communities with climate action
For over 40 years, CSE has supported local groups to develop bespoke climate action plans specific to their neighbourhoods. Working with local people, we identify changes they can make that meet the needs and aspirations of the community.
Our mission is to provide communities with the tools, resources and support they need to make meaningful change in their area. From calculating local carbon emissions to retrofitting local buildings for more affordable energy bills to setting up social enterprises for community energy, we help communities take local action that adds up to global impact.
How your donation will make a difference
CSE’s tailored guidance is informed by years of experience and expertise meaning we’re in a unique position to help communities of all shapes, sizes and capabilities. Your donation will help us to support even more communities, as well as develop resources that can be shared widely.
And don’t forget, every donation is matched so…
- £10 becomes £20. Your donation will produce free resources to guide community groups on their climate action journey.
- £50, becomes £100. Your donation helps provide a community group with an in-depth climate action plan. This will help them to shape a more sustainable, resilient community.
- £100 becomes £200. Your donation offers a community group tailored support, helping them improve their energy efficiency, reduce emissions and save money on their energy bills. This gives them more time and money to spend on their local cause. Community groups will gain confidence to be role models and provide inspiration for more climate action in their neighbourhood.
CSE’s community work
Here are some of our recent projects and how your donation will make a difference…
The Impact Community Carbon Calculator tool helps communities understand the carbon footprint of their neighbourhood and plan meaningful action to cut emissions. It’s completely free and simple to use – enter a parish, ward, local authority or postcode to view that area’s emissions grouped by travel, housing, food, waste, goods and services. You can download detailed reports with tips for taking action such as how to engage with your community and suggestions for local activities to reduce your area’s environmental impact.
Try out the Community Carbon Calculator and explore your area’s carbon footprint. By donating to our Green Match Fund campaign, you’ll enable our community team to engage even more communities to use the tool. With your support, we can provide more bespoke guidance for local groups to help them better understand their footprint and develop action plans to improve the local community and reduce their area’s emissions.
About 15% of the UK’s carbon emissions come from home energy use. So, retrofitting – improving the energy efficiency of buildings – is vital for keeping people comfortable in their homes, reducing energy bills, and combatting climate change. Community groups can use their trusted position and local knowledge to build confidence in and promote retrofit in their area.
To help community groups get started on local retrofit projects, we’ve produced a free Community Retrofit Guide. It explores the many ways that local groups could get involved in this exciting and rapidly growing area by giving advice to households, carrying out assessments and helping to develop local supply chains.
Free resources like this provide valuable guidance.Your donation can ensure CSE keeps developing and sharing advice and support that is accessible to all, wherever they are with their climate action journey.
We have over 40 years of experience working with communities to reduce their carbon emissions and use energy more sustainably. Every group and every area are unique, so we work closely with communities to help them develop plans and projects that are right for them. Whether it’s putting on events to highlight home retrofit, installing electric vehicle charging points or setting up local renewable energy projects, we use our knowledge and practical experience to support community groups along every step of their climate action journeys. Your donation helps us provide bespoke support to even more community groups, tackling climate change one step at a time, together.
How you can donate
Donations for this campaign closed on 25 April 2024. But you can still donate to CSE here.