Members of 15 local households dropped in to our ‘Come and find out more about the ACT Now programme’ last night at WOCA, and signed up to participate in the new programme starting this October.

As well as exploring the ins and outs of what the programme consists of and some of the other work LCWO is currently doing (e.g. in schools, with children and with parents), we also discussed ideas for tree planting, lobbying rental agencies with houses in the area, linking more with public health (and stressing the associated co-benefits of our work), and apporaching the Westgate about the low-cost parking at the shopping centre, which has yet again increased traffic on the Botley Road.

For those curious to know more about the programme, here is a brief overview, as described last night.  You can also find a list of FAQs here.

• We currently have 17 homes signed up to the programme, and are hopeful that we will have a good few more in time for programme kick-off in October – if you’d like to sign up, you can do so here.
• The programme is open to all West Oxford residents living within the LCWO membership boundaries (map here), and those living nearby – unlike previous programmes, this programme is open to a wider audience.  The only difference for those from outside the LCWO charity membership area is that they will not be eligible for the £100 grant.  We are currently confirming that the free energy assessment which is part of the programme can be open to all who sign up.
• The first workshop will take place on October the 5th, and be followed by a series of optional monthly workshops on Saturday mornings through to spring 2020.
• Each workshop will explore a different area of personal responsibility and potential action (drawn from the most recent IPCC report, and based on our ‘5 things’ campaign), offering clear information about effective action to take to both reduce your own personal carbon footprint in this area of your life, and also allowing a good chunk of time to explore how we ‘amplify‘ and create change at a deeper level, moving beyond individual responsbility to collective action and systme change.  If you’re curious to read more about the different levels of engagement, and what we mean by moving beyond personal lifestyle changes to take more powerful action, read a blog post about that here.
• As well as the series of workshops, additional activities and events will pop up through the year, and we hope that some clear ideas for collective action will emerge from programme participants as we go along.
• Each participant will conduct a carbon footprint using LCWO’s Quicksilver Carbon Footprint calculator at the start and the end of the programme – this will look at the different areas of people’s lives and offer participants insights into areas for potential carbon savings.  The footprint results will not be shared, and the point is not to shame (!) – the information is really for the participant, to give you a clearer understanding of what activity leads to what emissions.
• A free one-to-two-hour energy assessment with an expert will be available for each household (for those outside the LCWO boundaries, we are just confirming whether this will be free for you too – the rest of the programme is!), during which the energy assessors will implement small measures (e.g. radiator panels, lightbulbs etc) and identify opportunities for larger measures.
• Grants will be available for participants within the LCWO boundaries, and signposting to other grants will be available to all.
• There will be additional activities to support energy literacy, including optional participation in the Meter research programme at the University of Oxford.
• We’ll be collaborating with a range of other local groups and experts, to enable participants to take effective and powerful group action, and identify their areas of maximum leverage.

If last night is anything to go by, this programme is going to be great fun – so come join! Sign up now here.

Download and share the eflyer here.

Check out the FAQs here.