Energy Efficiency Sharematch

With the climate crisis and high fuel costs, community businesses are seeking ways to decarbonise their operations and reduce spending. The new Energy Efficiency Sharematch fund has been launched to support with this. 

The £250,000 pilot fund supports co-operative and community benefit societies in England to raise capital via community shares to pay for measures that reduce their energy bills and carbon footprint.  

Energy efficiency measures 

Examples of eligible measures include: 

• Installing solar panels or heat pumps
• Insulation
• LED lighting
• Double glazing
• Draft proofing
• Purchasing energy efficient equipment and transport

Community shares could be a more affordable way to pay for these measures than loan finance. They also offer an opportunity to engage the local community in the climate crisis.

Eligibility criteria

1. Community businesses applying for the scheme must be a: 

• Co-operative society
• Community benefit society
• Charitable community benefit society 

2. Applicants would need to use the Crowdfunder platform to run their share offer before March 2025. 

Organisations raising investment in community shares for a wider project could be eligible for any energy efficiency measures being installed.  

Next steps

• Read the full eligibility criteria
• Complete the Expression of Interest form

The fund will provide grant funding to match money raised from community investors. It is administered by Crowdfunder, working with Co-operatives UK. The scheme is funded by Access – The Foundation for Social Investment using funds from the Dormant Assets Scheme, which redirects money from forgotten accounts to good causes.