News
Sleaford Renewable Energy Plant and Glennmont Partners, the power station owners, are once again supporting the annual North Kesteven Community Champion Awards. The Awards recognise some of the best examples of voluntary community endeavour characterising life within North Kesteven. The Awards ceremony takes place at the International Bomber Command Centre at Canwick on 9th October. Sleaford REP and Glennmont are the sponsors of the Contribution to a Better Environment category.
Every year North Kesteven District Council calls for people living and working in the District to nominate those people whose endeavours are worthy of recognition. Other award categories include Arts & Culture, Sport, Health & Wellbeing, Community Business and being a Good Neighbour. There is also a Young Achiever Award.
Councillor Richard Wright, Leader of North Kesteven the District Council has said: “These are the unsung heroes of our communities who, through their selfless motivation and quiet inspiration make an enormous difference within our District and these awards are a small but heartfelt thank-you on behalf of the District for that.”
Sleaford Renewable Energy Plant welcomed a group from the Southwell U3A on June 27th, and on the same day a group from the Lincolnshire branch of the Chartered Institute of Logistics & Transport also visited. Both groups were shown the inner workings of the power plant - seeing how the plant burns straw to generate renewable electricity for homes and businesses in the region, and how it provides free heat to a local school, sports clubs and the main office of North Kesteven District Council.
Any bona fide group, interested in visiting the Sleaford plant, should contact Paul Taylor - [email protected]
We can host a single group of no more than 12 people. Each person must be able to walk unaided. Children in Year 7 and above are welcome.
The Power station's first Community Benefit Fund, which was launched in 2013, has now closed but a new Fund, that will support a wider catchment area, will be launched later this year. Once again, it will be administered by North Kesteven District Council. Details on how local organisations and projects can apply for funding (and the criteria for funding) will be released at the time of the launch.
The first Community Benefit Fund was a main part of a Well-Being Agreement that was agreed with NKDC and which commenced in 2013. The Fund has supported a large number of local community groups and projects within the boundary areas of Sleaford Town Council and Kirkby la Thorpe Parish Council. In addition to the Fund, the Well Being Agreement also included a district heating scheme* , local apprenticeships, a footpaths & cycleways fund, the planting of 3,000 trees and shrubs, a Sustainability Fund**, a Public Arts Fund and an Urban Walks Fund.
*the district heating scheme provides free heat to the NKDC main office, William Alvey Junior School, Sleaford Swimming Pool, Sleaford Bowls Club and Sleaford Football Club.
** the Sustainability Fund has focused on renewable energy & sustainability among local schools.
In 2018, Sleaford Renewable Energy Plant hosted visits from a number of local groups and organisations, including a Young Farmers Club, engineering students from Grantham College, Sleaford Rotary Club and a local U3A branch. It was an opportunity for people to see behind-the-scenes of the power station from the start of the process, when our straw is delivered, through to the end result when the plant is generating renewable energy for local homes and businesses. The plant also provides free heat to the William Alvey junior school, Sleaford swimming pool and indoor bowls club and North Kesteven Council’s offices in the town.
If you are a member of a local group or organisation that would be interested in visiting the plant this year, please contact Paul Taylor via email: [email protected] or call him 020 8392 8250.
The small print: we host visits from bona fide groups/organisations on a monthly basis, normally during the working day. The duration of the plant tour is about two hours. Group numbers are limited to 12. School children from Year 7 and above are welcome. As there are stairs and gantries, each visitor must be able to walk unaided. Health and safety rules must be adhered to at all times; safety wear – hard hats, goggles, safety shoes etc – is provided.
We will be operating throughout the Christmas and New Year period - generating electricity into the National Grid and supplying heat to Sleaford swimming pool and other civic buildings in the town.
Given how the Christmas and New Year holiday period falls this year, we have received permission from North Kesteven District Council to allow us to deliver straw to the power station (and remove ash) on the afternoons of Saturday, 22nd December and Saturday, 29th December (2.00pm to 6.00pm). Normally on Saturdays, we deliver straw between 8.00am and 2.00pm but because of the Christmas holidays we require these extra hours for straw deliveries (and potentially ash removal). These extra hours will allow us to maintain sufficient stock of straw for normal operations across Christmas and New Year.
No deliveries of straw will be made on the public holidays (Christmas Day, Boxing Day or New Year’s Day) nor on the Sundays before and after Christmas Day (December 23rd and December 30th).
To mitigate the impact of the extra HGV traffic on the two Saturday afternoons (we estimate no more than 10 lorries per afternoon), we have asked our drivers to enter and exit the station on Boston Road via the west-bound carriageway of the A17, so avoiding Kirkby la Thorpe. This instruction is not a requirement of North Kesteven’s temporary permission that has been granted.
The Sleaford Renewable Energy Plant is supporting the 2019 Live Earth Competition for Year 5 pupils in Sleaford which will take place from February to April 2019. The competition will give the pupils a better understanding of the global causes and impacts of climate change and provide them with an opportunity to use their writing skills to make their voice heard by local, national and global governments.
The competition, open to just six schools, is organised by Global Sleaford and is also supported by North Kesteven District Council and Christian Aid.
School children will be asked to write a letter to Cllr Richard Wright, Leader of North Kesteven Council and Dr Caroline Johnson, the MP for Sleaford & North Hykeham, telling them about their concerns for the planet and asking them to do all they can to ensure that the world is a good place for all people to live in.
The shortlisted pupils will have an opportunity to read their letters in public at a prize-giving event to which Cllr Wright and Dr Johnson will be invited to attend.
Also, a teacher (provided by Christian Aid) will provide an interactive workshop which will stimulate the children and encourage them to research further information about climate change.
Two teachers from each school that has entered the Live Earth Competition will have the opportunity to tour the Sleaford Renewable Energy Plant where they will be provided with a box of resources from the Plant to take back to school for further activities.
Schools wishing to enter the competition should contact Les Parker at [email protected] .
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As part of our regular visitor programme to explain how our renewable power station operates, members of the Boston branch of the University of the Third Age, better known as U3A, visited the power station on October 31st.
The U3A movement in this country aims to encourage groups of people in their "third age" to come together and continue their enjoyment of learning in subjects of interest to them. The guiding principles are to promote lifelong learning through self-help interest groups covering a wide range of topics and activities as chosen by their members. The "third age" is defined by a time in a person's life (not necessarily chronological) where they have the opportunity to undertake learning for its own sake, and who perhaps are no longer in full-time employment or no longer raising a family.
Sleaford Renewable Energy Plant aims to host visits from local groups on a monthly basis. We can host 12 people at a time, and each tour lasts approximately two hours. For further information, please email us or call 020 8392 8250.
During the course of this year, Sleaford Renewable Energy Plant has hosted visits from a number of local groups and organisations, including a Young Farmers Club, engineering students from Grantham College and Sleaford Rotary Club. It's an opportunity for people to see behind-the-scenes of the power station from the start of the process, when our straw is delivered, through to the end result when the plant is generating renewable energy for local homes and businesses. The plant also provides free heat to the William Alvey junior school, Sleaford swimming pool and indoor bowls club and North Kesteven Council's offices in the town.
If your group would be interested in visiting the plant next year, please contact Paul Taylor via email: [email protected] or call him 020 8392 8250.
The small print: we host visits from bona fide groups/organisations on a monthly basis, normally during the working day. The duration of the plant tour is about two hours. Group numbers are limited to 12. School children from Year 7 and above are welcome. As there are stairs and gantries, each visitor must be able to walk unaided. Health and safety rules must be adhered to at all times; safety wear - hard hats, goggles, safety shoes etc - is provided.
Tracey Stevenson of Hedgelina's Home for Hedgehogs was this year's winner of the Contribution to a Better Environment category of the 2018 North Kesteven Community Champions Awards, held on October 10th at the International Bomber Command Centre. Tracey and her team of volunteers rescue sick, injured and orhpaned hedgehogs.
The Contribution to a Better Environment award was once again sponsored by Glennmont Partners, the owners of the Sleaford Renewable Energy Plant.
Murray Paterson, General Manger for UK Biomass at Glennmont Partners said: "The NK Awards are fantastic and really recognise the outstanding nature and contributions of all the nominees, across all the categories. Many congratulations to Tracey Stevenson but also to the other shortlisted entrants for the Better Environment Award: Rachel Shaw of Branson Junior Academy and Ian Callaghan from Skellingthorpe and a volunteer for the Cycletrack64 project."
Pictured with Tracey Stevenson are Murray Paterson (right) and John Cole, General Manager of the Sleaford REP.
NK Community Champion Awards 2018, organised by North Kesteven District Council, held at the International Bomber Command Centre.
Picture: Chris Vaughan Photography for NKDC
Date: October 10, 2018
Sleaford Renewable Energy Plant and its owners, Glennmont Partners, have once again been a sponsor of the NK Community Champions Awards. Organised by North Kesteven District Council and supported by a number of local businesses, the Awards recognise and celebrate the very best of North Kesteven.
This year, Sleaford REP and Glennmont sponsored the Contribution to a Better Environment Award. Other categories include Young Achiever, Community Spirit, Contribution to Arts & Culture and Community Business of the Year.
The Awards winners will be announced on October 10th.
