The first venture to be supported by the Community Shares Fund is also the first renewable energy generating co-operative in an urban setting and the first church in the UK to fit community-owned solar panels.
From April to June 2012 the residents of Old Trafford in Manchester were able to buy shares in St John’s Sunshine, an industrial and provident society set up to generate electricity from photovoltaic (PV) panels sited on the roof of St John’s Church and to use the savings and income to benefit the local community.
The PV panels generate electricity for the nearby St John’s Centre and any surplus is sold to the national grid. The society aims to use the money generated from Feed-in-Tariff to provide ‘Sunshine Grants’ to local projects. All the people who have invested, or subscribed as a member, in St John’s Sunshine will have a democratic say in choosing which proposals will receive grants.
Following our endorsement, the community share issue easily raised the money required. So great was the good will, even in these hard times, that around 50% of investors also waived any future interest so it can be used to support SJS’s charitable goals.
Investor and local resident Francoise Ladam said: “As soon as I heard about St John’s Sunshine I thought, what a good idea, both for the environment and the Old Trafford community.”
Ibrahim Shah, another investor, said: “It’s great to see a wonderful idea put together successfully to make it actually happen, I am proud to be part of this.”
Plans for this innovative community investment were well advanced when the government announced large cuts
to the Feed-in-Tariff for solar power. The retrospective nature of the government’s proposals was subject to a successful legal challenge but St John’s Sunshine had to act quickly to survive. The PV panels had to be installed before the changes came into effect in March 2012, and this would be before the community share issue could take place.
The Community Shares Fund made an advance of one third of the investment target for the share issue and this, together with personal loans and donations from other supporters, enabled a 3.75kw array of 18 panels to be installed in February 2012.
Ian Rothwell of Co-operative & Community Finance said: “It’s very appropriate that St John’s Sunshine is the first venture to be supported by the Community Shares Fund. It combines co-operative values, community cohesion and renewable energy. It’s a great start for the new fund.”
The Rev John Hughes of St John’s Church and a founding director of St John’s Sunshine said: “We did it the hard way. We could have explored other ways to raise the money such as bank loans or an energy supply company but then the returns wouldn’t have benefited our community.
“We want to take something generated locally and invest it in our people and our community. This isn’t investment simply for personal gain. It is investment for community gain.”
Fiona Nicholls of Sustainable Change another of the founding directors of St John’s Sunshine said: “I have a real passion for co-operatives and I’m also an environmentalist so the opportunity to combine the two was one not to be missed.”
“We wanted people to feel like they could make a difference and be part of something really good. The share offer is exciting and very unusual.”
Gavin Wood from visionarystep.com also a founding director said: "I've been involved with developing community organisations and social enterprises for years and here we are breaking new ground, with strong partnerships, to give people real power to make money and vote on what to do with it. This is a true opportunity to lead the way and prove sustainability, through co-operation, can work for those with few resources."
HOW WE HELPED:
- We conducted a due diligence assessment of the proposal.
- We concluded that it was a viable and worthwhile investment.
- We made an advance payment of one third of the share issue target to enable the installation
of the PV panels before a critical deadline.
Ian Rothwell of Co-operative & Community Finance said: “It’s very appropriate that St John’s Sunshine is the first venture to be supported by the Community Shares Fund. It combines co-operative values, community cohesion and renewable energy. It’s a great start for the new fund.”
St John’s Sunshine has attracted support from a large number of community and professional organisations. These include co-operative and environmental organisations including The Co-operative Enterprise Hub, Co-operative & Community Finance, Co-operatives UK, Carbon Coop and Sustainable Change; not to mention the continued support of St John's PCC and St John's Centre of Old Trafford, Manchester Diocese, visionarystep.com; and a special thanks to Old Trafford Community Grants and Jacobs Eco Energy, who proved a sympathetic installer. Without all St John's Sunshine Ltd would not be a successful community venture.
For more information please visit www.stjohnssunshine.org.uk |
