Paul Donnachie has volunteered to be the Eaton Community Energy Champion on behalf of Eaton Village Residents’ Association (EVRA) and Eaton Rise Residents’ Association (ERRA) with the support of OurPower.

Paul is a retired  Civil Engineer and has lived in Eaton Rise since 1999. Paul volunteered for the “Energy Champion” role, with the support of Eaton Rise Residents Association (ERRA) and Eaton Village Residents Association (EVRA) to help support both communities. Paul will be helping arrange (and attend) events and “community actions”, and signpost people to trusted advisors and resources in support of any actions. Should anyone wish to contact Paul, either to get advice/support/develop actions  by email, or perhaps attend an event they are organising, please email him at:  pauldonnachieconsultant@gmail.com

Paul will be visiting the Eaton Community Cafe at St Andrew’s Church Hall on Church Lane on the first Thursday of each month and other community locations as detailed below.

OurPower (ourpower.org.uk) is a new community-led project funded by Norwich Climate CIC, and operating under the oversight of Norwich Climate Commission. OurPower are working with trusted community members to reduce energy usage and decarbonise homes.

Norwich homes, like many in the UK, are typically poorly insulated and reliant on gas boilers. A key aim is to improve home energy efficiency across various local communities, and support them to be able to act on energy themselves.

Currently, full home retrofitting is unaffordable for many, BUT there is scope for communities to lead the way by acting collectively to save money, for example by bulk buying and using community buildings to generate energy.

OurPower’s “Neighbourhood Energy Champions Project” is focussed on training trusted members of several Norwich and Norfolk communities as “Energy Champions” , so they can meaningfully engage members of their community in one-to-one conversations and collective actions.