CREW Energy was founded in 2014 as Community Renewable Energy Wandsworth (as long-time fans will know). Some members of Wandsworth Friends of the Earth were looking for a new project to take on, one that would go beyond environmental activism and allow us to take action ourselves. Seeing the success of Brixton Energy, we decided to take on the challenge of bringing community energy to Wandsworth!

June was a very busy month for CREW and the many strings to our bow. We took part in Community Energy Fortnight, Coop Fortnight, Virtual Lobbying of MP for Putney, Southfields and Roehampton - Fleur Anderson (pictured above) - and part one of London Climate Action Week. This community movement across the capital and country was just another display of how being apart has only brought us closer together!

This Community Energy Fortnight (and every week) we have been tweeting a lot about community energy. In fact, the UK Community Energy body, Community Energy England even kindly asked us to run their very first Twitter takeover on Monday to kick off Community Energy Fortnight. Not too shabby for a group of green folk from Wandsworth!

Many people will know about solar panels and the renewable energy they generate due to their prevalence on residential buildings, as well as recent news stories. It’s a technology used by community energy groups at both a small and very large scale. You may well have heard about 'PV' in the news recently, especially in light of COVID-19 where we have seen clearer skies and reduced air pollution, meaning much stronger sunlight is reaching the ground.

To mark Mental Health Awareness Week, we wanted to take a look at a mental health issue that is on the rise – climate anxiety – and the things we can do to combat it, including taking action to counteract climate change! In the words of Greta Thunberg, 'no-one is too small to make a difference'! You only need to take the first steps...

The UK lockdown came on so quickly that, consequently, all our planned workshops and energy cafés had to stop, almost without warning, as our usual venues closed their doors. ​The particular challenge with COVID-19 is that, as a nation, we are spending more time in our homes and, as a result, more money on bills. So, while we physically cannot get out to share our advice, people actually need it now more than ever!

One of the few benefits of the COVID-19 lockdown has been the reduction in pollution and the perceived improvement in air quality. Yet things may not have improved as much as we hoped. This recent report in the Guardian suggests that particulate matter (PM) remains stubbornly high, partly due to the start of the farming season but also due to flue emissions from our gas boilers. These gas flues pump out PM, nitrogen oxides and carbon monoxide, that seriously impact our air quality.