Over the last 5 years The Camphill Foundation UK & Ireland has provided grants and loans to Esk Valley Camphill Community (EVCC) to help them with a variety of community projects – in the more recent years, a grant towards their Homefield Project and this year, a grant towards their electrical vehicle charging project.
Electric vehicle charging project – 2022/23
The EVCC is committed to removing the carbon emissions from their vehicles by 2028. More walking and cycling will be done by those who can and electric bikes and scooters for those who need a little extra help.
The main source of their carbon emissions is their car share scheme. Over the last 5 years, they have been replacing their petrol / diesel run vehicles with electric cars and now have 5 vehicles and 1 scooter in their electric scheme. They currently only have one charging point within the community and an essential step in achieving their goal is to increase the number of charging points to 5.
The Camphill Foundation UK & Ireland has provided a grant to fund half of the project and EVCC are seeking donations to help raise the remaining £10,000.
Homefield Project – 2019/20
Homefield Garden is a biodynamic community garden which gives members of the EVCC the opportunity to care for and be responsible for nature and their environment. The daily work in the garden enables everyone to gain new skills and grow in confidence. The garden provides fresh biodynamic produce which is also sold through a local health shop. In addition to the vegetables, the pasture raised hens provide enough eggs for the whole community whilst fertilising the soil.
The grant provided by the Camphill Foundation UK & Ireland helped EVCC to set up the Homefield project and primarily the market garden.