Interactive Energy Workshops

Dozens of school children have taken part in fun and interactive energy workshops as part of our Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF) project.

Our contractor, Morgan Sindall Property Services (MSPS), has been hosting various sessions in schools across the areas in which we’re carrying out SHDF work.

The contract requires MSPS to deliver social value as well as carrying out the improvement works to our homes and the first education sessions have now taken place.

Three classes of year 3 and 4 pupils at Asquith Primary School in Mansfield recently took part in an Energy Detectives session, which aims to develop understanding of how energy is produced and the small steps we can all take to reduce usage and help lower our carbon footprint.

Each child was given a factsheet to take home and a thermometer to check the temperature in the home and make sure it was at the right temperature.

Staff at the school said the sessions were enlightening for everyone involved and that they’d hopefully spark a change in behaviour.

Jo-ann Stother, SHDF Programme Manager, said: “Social value is very important to us here at Longhurst Group and, while the SHDF project is primarily about improving the energy efficiency of our homes and saving our customers money on their energy bills, it’s a great opportunity to deliver that wider social value.

“Morgan Sindall Property Services has a great range of educational programmes that they’re delivering across several schools and it’s great to see younger people really getting involved and learning about energy, the environment and how to reduce carbon footprints.

“I’m looking forward to seeing further sessions take place and more children being inspired to make changes to save energy and the environment.”

Further sessions are planned to take place in SEND schools in Nottingham and Peterborough, as well as primary schools in King’s Lynn and Northamptonshire.

Donna Shaw, Senior Social Value Officer at Morgan Sindall Property Services, has been leading the sessions.

She said: “I thoroughly enjoyed spending the day with the pupils at Asquith Primary School and working on our Energy Detectives workshop. They were very enthusiastic and wanted to learn more about where energy comes from and what they can do to help protect the environment by taking small steps both at home and at school.

“The school runs ecological projects, and this session fully supports what the school is aiming to achieve by making the pupils and their families aware of the impact they can have on the environment and how they can reduce harmful impact to preserve it for future generations.”