SNUG eco-homes on the way as part of Home-made Lockleaze

October 02 2019
SNUG eco-homes on the way as part of Home-made Lockleaze

There's something exciting happening up at the Wordsworth Centre here in Lockleaze. What for a long time has been an unused space has been reopened by Bristol social enterprise Ecomotive to build the first ever SNUG eco-home.

And they want you to be involved! The SNUG is designed to be an affordable home with low energy use, low bills and low carbon. It is part of the Lockleaze Loves Homes initiative run by the Neighbourhood Trust and part of a wider UK movement rethinking and redesigning how and where we live.

Home-Made Lockleaze is a programme of fun and informative events based at the Wordsworth Centre, and other local venues which aim to get the local community thinking about, and involved in, how Lockleaze homes, both new and old, can become good for people and the planet. 

Homes are the places that sustain us and give us security, therefore the homes we live in play a big part in our wellbeing.  The cost of running them, and the cost of renting or buying them have a big impact on our lives. So how we create them and live in them really matters, and it is possible to do things in new ways that better serve our needs.

If you would like to know more about how to create a home, you can volunteer to help build the UK's first SNUG home here in Lockleaze. Or if you simply want to skill up a bit to make your own home more energy efficient, or to find out more about community led housing in Lockleaze and beyond, to talk about what we can do at home to tackle climate change, and many other topics please come along. No previous experience or skills necessary.  

Details of all the events can be found at www.ecomotive.org and the programme can be downloaded from the Ecomotive and Lockleaze Hub website and local facebook pages. This project has been supported by Bristol Community Energy Fund and other partners such as The C.H.E.E.S.E Project, Tiny Homes Community Bristol, Bristol Energy Network and others. Home-Made Lockleaze leads into a Lockleaze housing festival on 26th October and the Bristol Housing Festival that runs through late October. 

Bristol already hosts fantastic examples of housing projects delivered by residents and community organisations, so it is possible to do things differently to the standard, expensive housebuilding.  Bristol also has a wealth of people with experience and skills in different areas that can help community-led housing projects happen. Starting with people's real needs, then bringing together land, finance, skills and experience with  your enthusiasm and interest, we can create more people-led housing projects that strengthen communities. 

The activities and events over the next couple of months, are a taster of how the Wordsworth space can be a resource for Lockleaze, and can be used to help develop a new kind of housing for the local area, as well as Bristol and beyond.