Community owned football club is working hard to reduce their energy use
Merthyr Town FC, a community-owned football club in Merthyr Tydfil who engage people from all walks of life through sport and other events, came to Egin for some help with their energy bills, which are currently over £30,000 a year. After receiving an energy audit through Egin partners Severn Wye, they went ahead to successfully apply for the Sustainable Steps Wales: Egin Grants from The National Lottery Community Fund, which they will use in conjunction with a grant they have applied for to the Football Foundation to switch their halogen floodlights to LEDs.
Merthyr Town FC is a community mutual owned and ran on a voluntary basis by its members, who were originally founded in 1908 but have been fan-owned since 2010. The club has no benefactors – funds have to be raised by the fans themselves, be that through sponsorship or running events: as well as football, the club host events such as weddings, baby showers and gigs.
The club has already been working hard to reduce their energy bills and reduce their carbon footprint – they already partnered with EGNI Co-op to install solar panels to the roof of the grandstand last year and have installed motion sensors so that the electricity only powers on when rooms are being used. However, with the energy crisis that has been unfolding in recent months, they are still looking at an “eye-watering” energy bill of £25-30k a year.
They approached Egin with the aim of reducing their costs and working towards decarbonisation. The Club was connected with Jamie Grundy, Egin Facilitator for the area, who talked to them about their sustainability goals and arranged for them to have an energy audit from Severn Wye Energy Agency, partners in delivering Egin. An energy audit involves a visit to the building so that the assessor can see all the ways in which energy is being wasted or lost, and results in a detailed report that gives advice on no cost, low cost and higher cost things that a group can do.
The Energy Audit was carried out by Peter Draper, who estimated that the Football Club’s energy consumption is equivalent to annual carbon emissions of 56 tonnes of CO2e. Peter was able to identify where the club could save at least 10 tonnes of CO2e and save over £6,200 a year on their bills, from no cost measures such as initiating a cleaning schedule for extractor fans, low cost measures such as insulating hot water pipes, and higher cost measures such as switching their halogen floodlights to LEDs and installing wind turbines on their roofs.
Merthyr Town FC successfully applied for their Sustainable Steps Wales: Egin grant from The National Lottery Community Fund to install new LED floodlights as match funding for a grant that they have applied for from the Football Foundation. Together, the money will enable the club to move towards their sustainability goals and to achieve an estimated 23% of savings on their energy bills.
Going forward, the club also hopes to install small wind turbines on their roof to take advantage of the windy weather, as well as to install EV charging points in their car park. They are also looking for other opportunities to work with funders and advisors to help them become a truly “green” sports club, which they hope will inspire other sports clubs and communities.
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