Community Energy Peer Mentoring programme
CEL’s Community Energy Peer Mentoring programme originally ran from November 2022 – March 2023 – concurrently to LCEF6, but due to popular demand we have extended this. There is currently no deadline but do apply as soon as possible or needed as sessions are filling up and we do have a limited budget.
The Peer Mentoring programme offers community groups and community energy groups in London, and delivering a project in London, the opportunity to benefit from free expert advice and support on a wide range of issues, from funding to renewable technologies to delivering energy advice.
‘Community energy’ encompasses projects with a range of aims such as generating energy, reducing energy use, managing energy and purchasing energy. It includes diverse activities such as installing solar panels on public buildings, working in neighbourhoods to help residents make their homes more energy efficient, and delivering energy advice cafes. Mentors might provide advice in any of these areas, but this might also include business advice covering funding and finance, working within legal and regulatory environments, working in partnership with local authorities, schools and housing developers, insurance etc.
.Delivering a community energy project can be challenging.
Mentoring can help by:
- Increasing confidence and know-how in the sector to take forward new projects.
- Providing practical advice and shared knowledge.
- Avoiding ‘reinventing the wheel’.
- Sharing successes and failures in an open and supportive environment.
A group applying for the mentoring programme, for example, might be an unincorporated group wanting to develop a rooftop solar PV system. Mentoring may help them structure their thinking and set up their organisation with good governance structures. Or, a group may have vast amounts of solar PV experience but now wants to deliver a new kind of project, such as LED retrofit, but doesn’t know how to get started.
Who are the mentors?
The following mentors are available for the programme:
You can find a detailed summary of each mentor’s community energy experience and areas of expertise on the Application Guidance document. Please note mentoring issues are not only limited to these areas of expertise; just let us know what you need!
How to apply for a 1:1 Mentor Session
To apply to the CEL Community Energy Peer mentoring programme you must first read the Application Guidance Document, found below, before submitting your application. The document contains all the necessary information about this programme and how it will work.
Priority will be given to CEL members, however any group can apply and we would encourage you to become a CEL member in the process.
CEL will review applications on a rolling fortnightly basis until all funding has been allocated. The Review Panel will match you with the mentor whose expertise best suits your needs.
Each mentoring session will run for half a day (3.5hours), the number of sessions are to be agreed by the CEL Review Panel.
Should you have any questions about the mentoring programme then please email Lorraine at [email protected].
LED Lighting Audit Training, for community energy groups
In addition to the individual mentoring sessions detailed above, Community Energy London also offered a FREE 1.5 day workshop to upskill groups in LED Lighting Audits. This workshop was delivered by mentor Nadia Smith, with the help and support of colleagues at SELCE and SE24. The training for lighting audits was split into two sessions: an in-person training day covering all practical aspects of conducting a lighting audit and a half-day afternoon online session covering finalising the audit, retrofit recommendations, and tendering projects
If you would be interested in us hosting another training session on this topic, please let us know by emailing Lorraine at [email protected].