We have cut the cost of our public tours that we host six times a year to our ecohomes. This is thanks to an EnviroGrant for £990 from Veolia (Nottinghamshire County Council’s waste contractors),

The tours are a unique opportunity to visit a co-housing development that has shown zero carbon housing is not only possible, but also desirable. A resident takes visitors on a walk around the 15 acre site to look at how we manage our needs in terms of food, energy, water and transport. The highlight is a visit to one of the five private ecohomes on the development where you will see, and feel, the difference of the homes’ design. It uses the warmth of the sun and the fabric of the building to maintain a comfortable temperature year-round, whilst also maximising sunlight and providing flexible living space.

Tickets have been reduced to £5 for people outside the local area, and remain £2.50 for NG25 residents and free for our close neighbours in Hockerton. The next tour is on 4 November 2017. The fund will support tours up to September 2018, and places are limited so please book your place now.

The EnviroGrant Scheme is run by Veolia and offers a helping hand to a wide range of grassroots community, voluntary and grassroots projects. Over the years support has been granted for a range of projects such as providing outside classrooms, supporting forest schools, enabling recyclable material and updcycling workshops to take place, providing recycling bins at a youth centre; and assisting in the creation of numerous school gardens and biodiversity projects.

We remain on the lookout for ways to support schools and universities with the costs of visits, please let us know if you are aware of any such funding.