Loganair provides lift-off for north-east community renewables projects

Loganair, the UK’s largest regional airline, has given out £10,000 to progress local renewables projects in the Tyne and Wear region as part of its groundbreaking GreenSkies Community Fund.

Linskill and North Tyneside Community Development Trust and Northumbria Gliding Club each secured £5,000, making the north-east the biggest regional winner in the funding initiative which was open to Loganair’s domestic network.

Northumbria Gliding Club, a volunteer-run community amateur sports club (CASC), established in 1962 and based at Currock Hill airfield, 10 miles west of Newcastle, is using its funding to install solar PV panels and a battery storage system.

The technology will not only boost the club’s sustainability credentials, but it will also help to safeguard its existence by securing cheaper energy and allowing it to keep fees as low as possible for the local community.

Jamie McGregor, chair, Northumbria Gliding Club, said: “This is a brilliant boost to our efforts in maintaining gliding as a low carbon form of aviation.  As an accredited Community Amateur Sports Club (CASC) run by volunteers, it’s also essential that our costs are kept to a minimum, ensuring grassroots aviation remains accessible to as many people as possible in our community.”

Linskill and North Tyneside Community Development Trust, founded to create thriving communities across North Tyneside, won £5,000 to provide a twin EV charging point at the Linskill Centre, a leading North Shields community hub which is home to 30 tenant organisations serving particularly disadvantaged groups, local groups, and a range of community outreach programmes designed and delivered by Linskill staff.

The EV charging points will build on measures previously introduced to reduce the centre’s carbon footprint and improve its energy efficiency, including installing double glazing, improved heating systems, LED lighting and investment in plumbing works. Simeon Ripley, CEO, Linskill and North Tyneside Community Development Trust, said:

“Loganair’s funding will help us take the next step in our environmental strategy and encourage our centre users to consider their own environmental impact. Offering EV charging will allow us to support the community’s transition to electric vehicles.”

The GreenSkies Community Fund is part of Loganair’s environmental programme, which includes measures ranging from carbon offsetting to investing in future flight technologies to help achieve the airline’s ambitious target of becoming net zero by 2040.

Jonathan Hinkles, CEO, Loganair, said: “Congratulations to each of our very worthy northeast GreenSkies Community Fund winners. Linskill and North Tyneside Community Development Trust is an incredibly important source of services for disadvantaged groups in the local community and we were all really impressed by its ongoing programme of measures to make its operations as sustainable as possible.”

In total, just over £27,500 was awarded by Loganair’s GreenSkies Community Fund to six local organisations spanning the length and breadth of the UK from Unst, Shetland, to the New Forest, on the south coast. The latest investment brings to £57,500 the amount Loganair has granted through the scheme to date.

By Mark Adair – Correspondent, Bdaily

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