www.vassallcentre.org

Weatherman Switches on Sunshine Project for Bristol Charity

8th June 2009

BBC weather reporter, Richard Angwin, will try to turn on the sunshine for a city charity this year! A new environmental project by The Vassall Centre Trust has engaged his wholehearted support. At 2.15pm on 17th June he will launch the South West’s largest array of solar panels which have been installed on the Vassall Centre building in Fishponds.

Using funds supplied by both the Barclaycard Breathe Project and the Low Carbon Buildings Programme, the Bristol based company Solarsense, installed 70 photovoltaic panels on the roof of the Vassall Centre, thereby saving energy, reducing the utility costs to the Charity and adding to VCT’s green credentials.

The Vassall Centre Trust, which is well known for the transformation of a former hospital building into barrier-free office space for disability organisations, is also committed to helping the environment. “We have already put many recycling and energy saving processes into place in our Centre.  We are absolutely delighted to have this photovoltaic project installed and soon to be successfully working on our roof. Even on dull days we will be able to produce a significant amount of electricity. We will even be able sell some back to the National Grid which will support our continued fundraising activity”, so said Sue McMullen, chair of the Vassall Centre Trust.

“The electricity supplied by the array of PV panels will be enough to supply all the communal areas in the Vassall Centre and more,” said David Outtram, the Vassall Centres’ Buildings Manager. “To put this energy saving into perspective; you could make 126,000 cups of tea in a year with the energy made by our solar panels!”

For more information about the project, contact the Vassall Centre Trust on 0117 9651707 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Barclaycard Breathe is the only credit card in the UK that funds projects that tackle climate change. It helps customers help the environment just by spending as they would normally.  Barclaycard donates 0.5% of the amount customers spend on the card to Pure, the Clean Planet Trust (Registered Charity No. 1112249), to fund government approved environmental projects. To find out more about Barclaycard Breathe and the projects it supports visit http://www.barclaycard.co.uk/personal-home/cards/breathe/index.html