Exeter charity given green light to make energy efficiency improvements

Staff, volunteers and patients at the city’s hospice were celebrating after being awarded £2,000 from the E.ON Energy Action Fund towards the cost of replacement lighting throughout the building.

In a bid to improve its energy efficiency, charity Hospiscare has now begun fitting LED lighting in its day care and in-patient units, education facilities and staff offices.

Hospiscare expects the new, high efficiency lighting to reduce its electricity use by more than 60%, with resulting savings to the charity of around £5,000 a year. The donation from E.ON covered the cost of improved lighting in the charity staff’s offices, and work here has now been completed.

Kate Jenkins works in business development for E.ON, based in Devon, and visited the hospice to see how the building’s energy efficient upgrade is progressing. Kate said: “Through our Energy Action Fund we’ve given cash to projects undertaken by community groups and charities which either result in a reduction in the amount of energy being used, or energy being generated from a renewable source.

“We see many deserving applications for funding, but can’t support them all, so it’s really gratifying to be able to get out and see for ourselves how the Energy Action Fund is actually being used and the benefit it can bring to the community. Living in Exeter, I was already aware of the work of Hospiscare, but it’s been humbling today to learn more about how this charity works to support people with life-threatening illnesses.”

Hospiscare’s Head of Fundraising Katie Chantler was on hand to show Kate around the site. She said: “We see around 9,500 people coming into the hospice each year, as patients, their family and friends, people attending our training sessions as well as our volunteers and staff, and all will benefit from the better lighting once it is completed everywhere.

“The real significance of our new lighting though is that we expect it’ll save at least £5,000 each year in running costs, putting money back into the charity. Hospiscare is the only provider of specialist palliative care to a population of 372,000 in east and mid Devon and the city of Exeter, and we need to ensure donations go as far as possible, as we seek to provide the best possible care for people approaching the end of their lives.” 

Since 2013, the E.ON Energy Action Fund has given more than £80,000 to 50 community groups and charities in England, Scotland and Wales. Recently funded projects include loft insulation for an ecocentre near Tiverton, double glazing for a community hall in South Brent and an energy workshop at a Barnstaple school.