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July 2015 Newsletter 

Lewisham & Bromley FREE Energy Events Tackling Fuel Poverty research SELCE at Chalton Community Day

South East London Community Energy has teamed up with Lewisham Council to hold free one-to-one advice sessions and group workshops to help residents in Lewisham and Bromley save money on energy bills and make their homes warmer.

Want to spend less on energy than your neighbour? Thinking about getting involved in a school or community energy scheme? Want to learn about helping people, planet and your pocket? Interested in finding out about funding available to cut the costs of insulation? Want a taste of what The Guardian said is 1 of the top 20 most promising soluatios to climate change?

We are running six Energy Advice Cafés and two Green Energy Streets sessions that are designed to help reduce their energy usage and make their homes more energy efficient. 

SELCE’s pop up energy advice café is where people can sit down with a friendly, experienced energy advisor and find out how they can save energy and money via a 121 chat. People receive impartial information that they can either get assistance to act on there and then if they want to, there is no pressure, or they can take the information away to think about or research further before they choose to act on it, or not! We have a person-centric approach to achieving behaviour change for achieving benefits for people, their pockets and the planet.

SELCE is also facilitating a session called Green Energy Streets which a values-based, energy-saving workshop where people can find out how to pay less for their energy than their neighbours- and keep their homes warmer while exploring the issues for themselves. The three-hour sessions will feature content from the acclaimed Carbon Conversations programme which was described in The Guardian as "one of the twenty most promising solutions to climate change...".

LEWISHAM All Saints Community Centre, 105 New Cross Road SE14 5DJ on: Energy cafe 29th 5-8pm, 31th July 1-4pm and 7th August 1-4pm Green Energy Streets 5th August 2015 1-4pm For more information on the free activities in Lewisham click here

BROMLEY Ripley Arts Centre, 24 Sundridge Avenue, Bromley BR1 2PX on: Energy Cafe 30 July 1-4pm and 1st 10am-1pm, 4th 1-4pm , Green Energy Streets 6th August 1-4pm 2015 For more information on the free activities in Bromley click here

Other event supporters: Demand Energy Equality, Groundwork London, London Fire Brigade - South East Area Community Safety Team, Dr Bike, London Sustainability Exchange and Osborne Energy.

Drop-in to our fun, practical workshops and advice sessions to get information on how you can heat your home more easily and in an affordable way. Alternatively if you want to book a 121 advice session in the SELCE energy cafe just phone 02082694880 and ask for energy sessions booking or email alex@selce.org.uk

Best wishes, The SELCE team

[SELCE and CIED successful in winning research grant

Dr Mari Martiskainen](http://www.sussex.ac.uk/profiles/197918) from the Centre on Innovation and Energy Demand (CIED), together with our Dr Giovanna Speciale have received a grant from The Chesshire Lehmann Fund to investigate the effectiveness of the ‘energy shop’ model, as a response to fuel poverty. This new research will help researchers, policy makers and the third sector to understand how community groups can reach the vulnerable and what potential impact local activities could have. Despite repeated government pledges to banish fuel poverty once and for all, it is a persistent issue affecting an estimated 2.35 million households in the UK, with several thousand people dying every year because they cannot afford to heat their homes. However, thanks to community responses, such as SELCE, new ways are emerging to address fuel poverty.

We note four emminent Doctors: Dr Giovanna Speciale from SELCE, Dr Brenda Boardman and Dr Anne Feltham, trustees of Chesshire Lehmann Fund, and Dr Mari Martiskainen, from CIED. Image by Nora Blascsok. Link to original article about the research on the University of Sussex's website.

Did you know that there are grants of up to £7,200 available for Bromley, Bexley and Lewisham homeowners, landlords or tenants (with the landlords agreement) but the scheme is closing soon so act quickly! Read about it here or come along to the free energy events to find out more.

Charlton Community Day SELCE have been attending various community events such as Lewisham People's Day as part of their extra engaging with the community work. On Sunday 19th July SELCE attended the Charlton Community Day in the grounds of Charlton House. The event was organised by Global Fusion Music & Arts. 

There were free workshops in drumming, dance, mask making, jewellery making, juggling, massage and yoga. Plus SELCE's Alex joined in with the Tai Chi flashmob. SELCE wholly support GFMA's ethos of using creativity to build confidence. During the day we were asking the public what they thought about sustainable energy and what they thought SELCE's priorities should be regards the share offer and resulting profits. The findings will contribute to a wider consultation that SELCE is carrying out in the community. Please get in touch if you are involved with any local events that we could come along to.We will be attending more community events like Party in the Park in Deptford on the 5th September.

www.SELCE.org.uk