Written by Dewi Williams, the new Project Co-ordinator for the retrofit project, Cartrefi Clyd
I’ve wanted to work in the green community sector for a while, following the work of Community Energy Wales, YnNi Teg, Datblygiad Egni Gwledig and other local groups to me in Caernarfon. I’ve always been struck by the values that underlie their work – co-operation, putting people first, and working as not-for-profits.
Having the opportunity to join the Cartrefi Clyd team has come at the perfect time for me. It feels like a unique opportunity for what’s happening today. We’re seeing the energy sector developing rapidly, and the impact of fossil fuels on energy bills. We have no alternative but to be more efficient within our homes and use alternative renewable energy for everyday use. We want to see communities in Wales become more self-sufficient and less reliable on the external energy sources. Unfortunately, there isn’t much support to the average household to do this, and that’s where Cartrefi Clyd steps in.
When I saw the Cartrefi Clyd project, it felt like something that makes sense. I’m active in my local community as the chairman of our village hall committee. Many times I’ve been approached with the offer to improve the buildings through the ECO4 scheme. Unfortunately, like many others, we don’t fall under the eligibility criteria for it.
More and more of us are considering how we can reduce our carbon footprint as examples of it’s devastating effects multiply each year. But the gap in provision and advice for those of us who want to take action on decarbonising our homes has left many directionless.
This is what makes Cartrefi Clyd different. Some might have heard of past retrofit projects that haven’t shown the due care and attention that the Cartrefi Clyd approach has, and the costly damage this has had on people’s homes. Our assessors consider the whole context of the house – where it is, the climate that it’s in, how you live in it, the materials that it’s made of, and a range of other factors. They are fully qualified, and are based locally to the areas we cover – currently Caernarfon, Hermon (Pembrokeshire), Cardiff and Newtown. Our hope is to expand our service so that more of our communities can benefit from our service.
We are independent, and formed from local community organisations that people know and trust. This is why I believe that the Cartrefi Clyd service offers something different.
If you’re interested in booking a retrofit assessment for your home, get in touch with us and we’ll arrange for an assessor to contact you.