• ANCIENT stables which Mary Queen of Scots once visited will play host to the 10th anniversary celebrations of the ScottishPower Green Energy Trust on Thursday.
• Environment Minister Michael Russell will be guest of honour at the event at Castlemilk Stables on June 5th which coincides with World Environment Day.
• Castlemilk stables block was an integral part of Castlemilk House, an impressive estate belonging to the Stuart Family, which dates back to the mid 15th century.

The stable block was used for many years by Glasgow City Council until it fell into complete disrepair in 1999. Glasgow Building and Preservation Trust restored the building at a total cost of £4 million. The ScottishPower Green Energy Trust awarded the stables a grant to install ground source heat pumps.

Alison McKean, Head of Environment at ScottishPower, said:

“Thursday is going to be a great celebration and we are delighted that the Environment Minister is able to join us - especially as it is World Environment Day.

“We have been amazed at the range – and scale – of the projects we have been able to help over the years with the Green Energy Trust and we have invited many of them to come and join in the party with us.

“We have seen everything from solar panels being installed in what is thought to be England’s oldest church to the Green Giant educational project in Pembrokeshire to a renewable heating system for one of Scotland’s last remaining outdoor swimming pools.

“I am also delighted that ScottishPower CEO José Luis del Valle will be joining us and will be making an important announcement regarding the Green Energy Trust on the day.“

The Trust, which aims to help reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and combat climate change, can provide up to 50 per cent of the renewable element of the project cost up to a maximum of £25,000.

Since the Trust was set up it has given grants to over 90 renewable energy initiatives across the UK – many of which may not have happened if it had not been for the Green Energy Trust.

For the last ten years, ScottishPower has been a leading supporter of renewable electricity and has been working with its customers to fund community based projects across the nation.
Alison continued:

“We are absolutely delighted to be able to be here celebrating ten years of the Green Energy Trust. You only have to look at the market place in 2008 to see that environmental awareness features high on the agenda of most companies these days but ScottishPower has been pioneering in the “green” arena for the last decade.

“Of all the utility companies we were actually first to the market with our green tariff and we recognised back then that we had to do our bit to be responsible for the environment.”

One group which is indebted to the Green Energy Trust is the New Cumnock Environmental Regeneration Volunteers (NERV) which runs the village’s outdoor swimming pool.

The village is proud to have one of the few remaining outdoor swimming pools in Scotland as its centerpiece.

The pool is heated by green, energy efficient heat-store air pumps, which the organisers were able to buy thanks to a £20,000 grant from the Trust.

Jimmy Carmichael, of the group, said:

“ScottishPower’s involvement has been really significant. Our bills and running costs were very high due to rises in energy costs but the grant from ScottishPower has meant that not only are we now able to run it much more effectively, we are also able to do our bit for the environment as there are less emissions.

“It means a great deal to us that a large company like ScottishPower would consider a community group as small as ourselves for grants like this. We do everything in our power each year to keep the momentum up, such as fundraising to keep the pool open, so the support from ScottishPower has made a real impact.”

Issued on behalf of ScottishPower by The BIG Partnership.

For further information on this release please contact:

Kate McCheyne on 0141 333 9585 / 07766076469
Gillian Hamilton on 0141 333 9585 / 07734656676
or Ailie Semple on 0141 333 9585 / 07870916308

Notes to editors

• The Scottish Power Green Energy Trust supports the development of new renewable energy sources in the UK. It offers grants and awards for new renewable and educational projects that will lead to an increase in the use and knowledge of renewable energy sources.
• It supports projects that advance renewable energy and that support communities through education and public engagement. Renewable technologies supported so far include small-scale hydro, wind power, biomass, landfill gas, solar energy and ground source heat pumps.
• Every year the trust generates an income of around £150,000 with between £50,000 and £60,000 available at each trustees meeting.
• To date the Fund has donated £926,860 to 91 projects across the country.
• The grant from the ScottishPower Green Energy Trust was used to install ground source heat pumps at Castlemilk Stables. The system uses renewable energy and provides all the heating for the building through radiators and under floor heating. It will reduce the cost of heating the building by 50%, which provides the trust with an estimated saving of £5,480 per annum and reduced CO2 emissions.