Ben Ainslie unveils first community renewables project funded by PURE using donations from British Airways’ passengers.

Team GB athlete Ben Ainslie has unveiled the first project to be funded by carbon reduction charity PURE the Clean Planet Trust using donations from British Airways passengers to BA’s One Destination Carbon Fund. The donations paid for the installation of solar PV panels on the Osprey Leisure Centre in Portland, Weymouth, close to the National Sailing Academy.

Osprey Leisure Centre is an ex-Navy building which was taken over by South Dorset Community Sports Trust in 2007 to provide recreation and sports facilities for the local community. The project received funding to erect a 10kWp array of PV panels to help it both reduce carbon dioxide emissions and make money from the generation of renewable energy.

According to Nigel Williams, Osprey General Manager, at current energy prices, the panels will generate around £125,000 of energy savings and feed-in tariff payments over the next 25 years.

Mr. Williams said:

“When we opened in 2007, around a third of income went straight out of the door again to pay utility bills. We initially worked with an independent energy auditor to identify energy efficiency savings and reduce energy demand, then received funding through PURE to install the solar panels, further reducing our energy demand from the grid and allowing the centre to benefit from regular Feed-in Tariff payments. This will reduce running costs and help us to maintain facilities for all.”

“Launched last September, the One Destination Carbon Fund is a voluntary scheme aimed at British Airways passengers. Every passenger booking a flight through ba.com is given the opportunity to donate to the One Destination Carbon Fund. Each quarter 100% of the donations are gifted to PURE who provide low interest loans to eligible community organisations to install renewable energy technologies that would be difficult for them to finance themselves.”

Robert Rabinowitz, PURE’s Company Secretary, ‘Projects like Osprey are a great example of how companies, communities and individuals can work together to reduce the UK’s carbon emissions while generating new revenues to support the crucial work of local community organisations like Osprey. And, since Osprey will use a portion of the feed-in tariff payments to repay some of the funding, we will be recycling this money in the coming months to help other communities, making passenger donations work harder.”

The carbon reductions achieved by all community renewable projects receiving support from the One Destination Carbon Fund will be calculated using the UK Carbon Reduction Framework, which was developed by BRE in collaboration with British Airways, Forum for the Future and Deloitte- www.ukcarbonreporting.org – which enables PURE to measure the carbon savings and other associated benefits from these projects and ensure that they are consistently reported.’
For further information contact Linda McKeown, tel 01923 664569, email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it