Project innovation of the year – community retrofit

Walsall Council has been working with Hillary Primary School on an innovative approach that uses the school as a catalyst for engaging with parents and carers in order to identify hard-to-treat properties in the area.

Walsall is the 25th-most-deprived local authority area; 81% of Hillary’s pupils are in the lowest decile band of deprivation and 76% do not speak English as a first language. Internet use and adult literacy levels in the area are low, making face-to-face and in-home support key. Working with community interest company Achieve Your Goals, the council delivers bespoke energy and renewable energy education packages to children within the school, with the intention that they will share this information at home, piquing their parents’ interest and opening up a channel of communication.

Word had also been spread via social media and through community institutions. Using this approach, the project has been able to identify grant-eligible homes that may otherwise have flown under the radar. To date it has facilitated £1.5m of grant-funded retrofits, generating £78,500 in energy savings. 

The judges said:

“This is such a smart intervention – creative, community-focused and deeply embedded in the place it serves. Using a primary school as the beating heart of retrofit engagement is genius”