Significant investment confirmed for decarbonisation activity in Gwynedd

Adra, North Wales’ largest housing association and its partners have been awarded £1.45 million through the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund for four innovative and ground-breaking projects to boost decarbonisation efforts in the region.

The investments were confirmed in the most recent round of applications for Shared Prosperity Fund monies administered by Cyngor Gwynedd.

£300,000 is being awarded to support the Prosiect Sero Net Gwynedd partnership to employ of a team of Energy Advisors operating across the county to encourage residents to become more energy efficient.

£500,000 is being invested in the training facility at Ty Gwyrddfai, the brand new decarbonisation hub in Penygroes, Gwynedd.  Made up of a partnership of Adra, Grwp Llandrillo Menai and Bangor University, the hub will include a training centre to increase skills around decarbonisation and retrofitting homes.  This work is being led by Busnes@LlandrilloMenai’s specialist training team from CIST (the Centre for Infrastructure Skills and Technology).

The Shared Prosperity Fund has also allocated £400,000 towards the cost of building and creating a ‘Living Lab’ at Ty Gwyrddfai.  The lab will be used for controlled testing of construction / retrofit materials. Within the facility two chambers will be constructed to replicate internal and external environmental factors, such as extreme heat, extreme cold, rain and wind. This unique facility in Wales will play a key role in accelerating the progress towards low carbon and net zero housing design. The Living Lab will be run and managed by Bangor University.

Academi Adra, a project launched in 2021 with the aim of supporting Adra’s customers to gain new qualifications and prepare them for employment will receive £256,000 to deliver a programme of two-week courses, combining accredited training and work experience in the participants’ chosen sector of work. These will range from repairs and maintenance, construction, care/supporting people and customer services/administration. Following on from the two-week course there will be 24 paid supported employment opportunities of 24 hours a week over 16 weeks.

Iwan Trefor Jones, Adra’s Chief Executive said: “These are hugely exciting developments that will help progress our work around training opportunities for our tenants and young people, and we’re delighted that we’ve been successful in our funding bids.

Many of these projects will make a significant impact on our work around decarbonisation, as well as improving training opportunities in our region.

“We have worked with a lot of our partners to progress this work and it’s very much a partnership approach.  Exciting and innovative work has already gone on to progress these activities and the groundwork is in place. This funding would take our approach to the next level and really put us at the forefront of the training, climate change and decarbonisation agenda in North Wales.