How Community and Anchor Partnerships are supporting a Low Carbon Economy in Preston

Advancing a Shared Economy in Preston (ASEP) is a programme jointly funded by Preston City Council and Power to Change. It aims to strengthen institutional capacity to support a more democratic and collaborative local economy in Preston. From the outset, the opportunity created by the transition to a Low Carbon Economy for the development of the social economy has been a core theme. The Preston Cooperative Development Network (PCDN), a key ASEP delivery partner, has supported two community groups which are creating cooperative enterprises rooted in Preston’s communities and focussed on the green transition.

One of these groups is Spaceplace, a well-respected charity which operates the Soundskills community centre in Brookfield, a large estate of private and social housing in one of the most deprived parts of Preston. Spaceplace identified local concern about youth unemployment and fuel poverty and in response has been working with a group of residents, a local building company and the PCDN to establish a new cooperative enterprise, Retrofit+. The cooperative aims to improve the energy efficiency of homes and other buildings on the estate and to create new employment and training opportunities for young people. The long-term aim is to grow a local ‘retrofit workforce’ to carry out contract work on Brookfield and across the wider Preston area.