St Andrew’s Hospice has recently been awarded funding from the Scottish Government’s Community and Renewable Energy Scheme (CARES) and guidance from Business Gateway helped secure over £9,000 from North Lanarkshire Council’s Business Growth Fund to install solar panels on the hospice site.

John Heron, Facilities Manager at St Andrew’s Hospice said: “Here at the Hospice, we are always looking for ways to be more sustainable.

“The installation of solar panels will not only reduce our electricity costs by at least £20,000 per year and our reliance on fossil-generated electricity, but we will also be returning any surplus energy to the National Grid.

“St Andrew’s Hospice is already a huge recycler of donated items. Everything from clothing to furniture is kindly donated to our shops by the generous people of Lanarkshire. Not only does this save items from landfill, it gives them a second lease of life as well as helping to generate the vital funds required to deliver specialist palliative and end of life care and support services to our patients and their loved ones.

“We already operate a number of processes within the hospice to improve our environmental sustainability including minimising food waste and segregating waste at source however, we recognise we can always do more to be a sustainable neighbour and reduce our carbon footprint.

“We are grateful to our contractors GMG for their consideration and cooperation during the install to minimise disruption to our patients.”

Chris Morris, Local Energy Scotland Manager, said: “Local Energy Scotland is pleased to see communities across Scotland, such as St Andrew’s Hospice, making full use of the support available through CARES to improve the sustainability of their buildings. We commend St Andrew’s Hospice for taking positive action to advance its sustainability mission.”

Through one-to-one support from Business Gateway senior business adviser, John McAndrew, the hospice received guidance to navigate the funding application process and identify additional expert support to strengthen the project.

Business Gateway also arranged fully funded consultancy support from net zero specialist Zoe Stirton, who conducted a detailed energy audit of the hospice site. The audit identified several opportunities to further reduce energy consumption and highlighted potential eligibility for a further grant to support the future purchase of an electric vehicle.

John McAndrew, Senior Business Adviser at Business Gateway, said: “St Andrew’s Hospice is doing vital work in the community, and it has been a privilege to support the team with this project. From helping secure grant funding to connecting the hospice with specialist net zero expertise, this support has helped unlock opportunities that will benefit the organisation for years to come.”