CLEAN ENERGY NEWS

The future is looking bright for Holly Hedge Animal Sanctuary

When you are making every penny of charitable funding work hard, investing in renewable energy might remain reluctantly low on the agenda.  An animal sanctuary in Bristol, however, is seeing their investment in solar and ambition for energy self-sufficiency produce an unexpected return. 

Holly Hedge Animal Sanctuary, based in Barrow Burney in Bristol, is inundated with unwanted, abandoned and often mistreated cats and dogs and is completely reliant on charitable funding. It launched over 30 years ago and now houses some 100 plus animals at any one time and can take in 800 across the year thanks to its successful rehoming project. It also has a stunning reputation for its care (be it veterinary care, individual attention for elderly pets, or support from a behaviourist to help animals recover from trauma and prepare for a new home) but faces an energy bill of around £30,000 a year to keep its shelter and laundry going for its animals.

When their team started to look at options in the face of rising energy costs they called in Bristol-based Solarsense who advised on the optimum solar package for their operation. It initially included solar panels on their roof (now in place) but a solar thermal system for the centre’s hard-working laundry and air source heat pumps to supply under floor heating in the centre’s kennels are now planned for phase 2 and 3 of the project.

“The outlay for the initial panels was £25k but we were immediately looking at knocking up to 6k a year off our energy bill,” says Richard Baker who works as a volunteer to support corporate engagement at the sanctuary. “Charities like ours don’t make a profit, but we have to think like a business and investments like this one show what’s possible.”

However, the very nature of the project and its ambitions for sustaining what the charity do attracted corporate donations, so far to the tune of £16k, says Baker. “That includes a 5k grant from Bristol Airport (part of their Local Community Fund to mitigate the impact its operations) and a 5k donation from St James’s Place Charitable Foundation,” he says. “This has made an enormous difference and we now see a future where we could be completely energy self-sufficient thanks to renewable energy.”

“We are thrilled at the results we are seeing here and how we’ve been able to develop the initial idea for solar panels to support their environmental ambitions,” says Solarsense’s managing director Stephen Barrett, who explains the charity was initially looking at a short three to seven-year payback for the solar panels they installed but this will be significantly reduced with the support and donations they’ve received.

“The solar panels are likely to last for more than thirty years, protecting the charity from potential energy price hikes coming down the road,” says Barrett. “I know that gives them real confidence for their future.”