Cambridgeshire care provider Askham Village Community has upped its sustainability efforts by installing electric charging points.
The new initiative forms part of the community’s continued push to reduce its carbon footprint and promote green energy. Located in the village of Doddington, Askham already harnesses energy from its own solar farm located in a field adjacent to its care and rehab centres.
Since its installation in 2021, Askham’s 150kW Solar Photovoltaic System has enabled it to offset a large proportion of its daytime electrical consumption — with the care community projected to save as much as 800,000 kg/CO2 over the next 20 years.
The provider has embarked on a transition to LED lighting, while also reviewing all of its suppliers to ensure green credentials are given due consideration.
Askham director Aliyyah-Begum Nasser said: “Installing the electric car charging ports was an obvious next step at Askham as we can see how important it is for us to play our part in encouraging more drivers to opt for electric vehicles. It’s important that we support the use of carbon conscious transport and demonstrate to those visiting that we have a genuine commitment to being more sustainable. This commitment is also evidenced by the solar farm that sits next to our care centre, which allows us to significantly reduce our imported energy consumption and utilise the latest sustainable technologies.
“There is something very rewarding about generating your own renewable energy and given the soaring costs of energy, this has been a particularly valuable asset over the past few months. The environmental impact of social care is significant, with all the PPE and packaging we are responsible for using. Therefore, it's important we offset this in whatever way we can — it really is a shared responsibility and something we simply cannot ignore. Something as simple as remembering to switch off lights and limiting wasted water use can have a huge impact over time and this is a mindset we all need to adopt if real progress is going to be made.”
