Burnley Eco Warriors

Organisation behind the project

One of East Lancashire’s oldest youth charities, Burnley Boys and Girls Club aims to promote and support young people through education, recreation and wellbeing. The club has around 360 members, who come together to play sports, get creative in the art studio, enjoy drama workshops and more.

Background and detailed description of the project

This project set out to develop the knowledge and skills of young people at Burnley Boys and Girls Club to help them learn how to reduce their carbon footprint and give them the confidence to engage with others. By promoting the key messages of carbon emissions reduction and energy efficiency, the club members have become eco warriors in their community.

As part of the Eco Warriors project, the club first revamped its facilities to become more environmentally friendly by installing state-of-the-art eco lights for its indoor playing area and replacing its heating system with a new energy-efficient boiler.

The second part of the project was to develop the knowledge and skills of the young club members to provide them with an understanding of the importance of reducing carbon emissions and to help them take control of their own carbon footprint. This was achieved through a programme of training sessions and workshops. Role play sessions helped give them confidence to act as eco warriors so they could share that knowledge with family and friends, local businesses and the wider community.

The club members became such committed eco warriors that they decided to sell their minibus to reduce their carbon footprint and use the £10,000 proceeds to co-fund the new project.

Graham Vernon, the club’s manager believes the new facilities have had an extremely positive impact on the club members and the community. The benefits from the project were also demonstrated by recording data from the installation of the new eco-friendly lights and heating, which showed an £800 reduction in the club’s annual energy bills.

We have now granted the club an additional 12 months funding which will allow the club to continue its work and share eco warrior best practice with other clubs and communities across the region.

Project partners

To deliver the Eco Warriors project, Burnley Boys and Girls Club worked with a number of partners including a local energy supplier and carbon trust partner and two youth workers.

Where to go for further information

For more information on our community and local energy strategy visit our strategy page or to find out more about Burnley Boys and Girls Club visit their website.