Warwick hospice to adopt more environmentally-friendly technology thanks to funding boost

A hospice in Warwick will be able to adopt more environmentally-friendly technology thanks to a funding boost.

The Myton Hospice has been given by Warwickshire County Council's Green Shoots Community Climate Change Fund.

Green Shoots is a £1million fund, allocated by the council to support small, community-powered initiatives across the county in addressing climate change. The hospice has been given £4,700 from the fund.

Myton will use the funding to install two twin-head electric vehicle (EV) car charging points at the site; and upgrade to energy efficient, LED lighting at the Hospice’s Wood Street charity shop in Stratford.

The Myton Hospice recently successful in a bid to secure three new all-electric vehicles for use by their Myton at Home staff who provide end-of-life care to patients in their own homes as well as an adapted community transport vehicle.

The EV charging points will be used for the new vehicles and will also be available for staff and local community use.

There will be a small charge for staff and visitors to the Hospice site in Warwick to use the EV charging point and a slightly increased charge if it is used by members of the local community.

These charges will be used to cover the costs of the charity charging its own vehicles and provide a potential income stream for the charity.

Use by local residents will be restricted to overnight and non-peak times, but with plans to increase the number of charging points, they will be able to assess and adjust capacity for wider community use.

Anna-Marie Varnham, trusts officer at The Myton Hospices, said: “We are delighted to have been awarded £4,700 from the Warwickshire County Council Green Shoots Community Climate Change Fund and would like to say a huge thank you to the council.

“This money will help us with our commitment to continuously improve the environmental performance of our buildings, equipment and processes, and the electric vehicle charging points will also provide a valuable service for the local community.”

Cllr Heather Timms, portfolio holder for environment, climate and culture, said: “If we are to successfully face the challenges of the climate emergency and our planet’s rapidly changing climate, this cannot be done by Governments, local or national, alone.

“The solutions must come from everyone, private individuals, businesses, the third and health sectors looking at what they currently do and asking: ‘how can we do this in a better, more environmentally-conscious way that reduces our impact on the planet and its climate.’

"At its core, this is what the Green Shoots Fund is about, helping Warwickshire’s Community and Voluntary Sectors to find the answers that work for them to this question.”

“Although the money provided to The Myton Hospices is one of the smaller grants within the scheme, the environmental return on that investment is huge.

"We know one of the biggest barriers to electric vehicle ownership is a perceived (and often actual) lack of charging infrastructure.

“This is something that we, as a council, have been investing in and will be spending much more on over the coming years, so it’s always heartening when other organisations step forward and make a commitment to doing their bit to improving the provision of electric vehicle charging points, allowing us to move a step closer to a best Warwickshire that is sustainable now and for future generations.”