April 2025 Edition
 Booking are set to open this week for the chance to book a short ride on the Coventry Very Light Rail vehicle in the city centre. The vehicle will be able to carry up to 60 people but for the test rides we can take 17 people seated plus a space for wheelchair and pushchair users.
Battery-powered and with no overhead cables, Coventry Very Light Rail will provide an alternative to the car, complementing existing public transport, and helping to improve air quality while reducing congestion. See Cllr Jim O'Boyle's video on how it is being installed in the city.
 As part of our Coventry Grows programme, funded by E.ON through the Council’s Strategic Energy Partnership, we have been doing lots of exciting work with our partner Grapevine building new constituted community groups in Hillfields and Stoke Heath who will be taking on new community gardens in their neighbourhoods.
Recently a group of local people visited Garden Organic, to tour their demonstration garden and get inspired with ideas to take back for their community gardens. The group had a great time learning about methods of composting, making organic fertilisers, creating spaces for wildlife and much more.
 As a result of a new partnership between Coventry City Council and The Outdoor Guide, Go Walks has been created to provide a series of walks around the city to help families get to know their area, improve their wellbeing and build stronger communities. The walks will be available online and on paper copies available from Family Hubs. Each walk is around 5,000 steps in length.
The walks link the Hubs with the green spaces in their areas. Showing local families the amazing facilities right on their doorstep – from parks and woodland to social supermarkets, food banks, drop-in centres, places of worship, medical centres and primary schools. This initiative delivers on our pledge to children and young people to help them be and feel healthy as part of Child Friendly Cov.
 A Year 6 pupil at Aldermoor Farm Primary School, Fredrica, had her design chosen as part of a series of workshops previously run by E.ON across Coventry. The workshops were aimed at educating and inspiring pupils about sustainability, renewable energy and the initiatives happening in their city to promote new types of energy, cleaner air and green jobs and skills.
The eye-catching design, which features a bold message to ‘save energy’, will adorn two E.ON Next vans as shown in the image above. These vans are tasked with transporting their engineers as they work to deliver net zero by installing a variety of sustainable energy solutions, as part of E.ON’s pioneering 15-year partnership with Coventry City Council.
Earlier this week members of the Strategic Energy Partnership spent an afternoon volunteering in Hillfields, after a morning of planning how they can support the city’s journey to net zero.
The 25 strong team – made up of Council and E.ON colleagues - were able to split up and focus on a range of areas to support the local community, including helping young people with interview techniques at Positive Youth Foundation, litter picking with ward councillors and residents, and helping Year 4 children at St Mary St Benedict Roman Catholic school to read and also plant a wildflower garden.
Garden Organic are celebrating International Compost Awareness Week this 4-10 May. This year is focused on 'Sustainable Communities Begin with Compost' and they will be hosting two free webinars: Introduction to home composting and Composting in Action.
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Subscriptions for garden waste collections for 2025-26 open on 1 May for your brown-lidded (garden waste) bin to be collected.
Visit our webpage for more information, including terms and conditions, your questions answered, and where to get further support.
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The Radio Teleswitch Service that some home electricity meters use is being turned off on 30 June. If residents have an electricity meter that uses this technology, it could mean their heating and hot water may stop or not work correctly.
Anyone with this type of meter should have been contacted by their electricity supplier, to arrange a replacement meter. However, anyone that hasn’t heard from their supplier should contact their electric supplier as soon as possible. Meter replacement is free unless it needs to be moved.
Act on Energy can be contacted about these issues on 0800 988 2881. Citizens Advice also has a helpful guide if you are not sure about what kind of meter you have and what to do if you need to swap your meter, which you can find by clicking the link below.
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 Early this May, Birmingham Voluntary Service Council (BVSC) is looking for volunteers from St Michael’s, Foleshill, Longford and Radford to take part in events they are hosting to talk about climate risks. The purpose of these events is to collect an understanding throughout the West Midlands of community perspectives of climate risk, climate adaptation and the lived experiences of severe and extreme weather.
The events, which they are badged as ‘World Cafes’, are half-day sessions with lunch provided. If you are a resident from any of the wards mentioned and are interested in participating at an event, or have any questions, get in touch with wmadapt@bvsc.org
Businesses, supply chain and communities are invited to join a host of free opportunities during Retrofit Action Week 2025, taking place 10-18 May. Activities include webinars, 'Open Doors', Carbon Disclosure Project (CPD) training, workshops, podcasts, site visits, drop-in sessions and community days.
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On 14 May, Small99’s People, Planet, Pint™ Sustainability Meetup will take place at the Cottage, Earlsdon.
It is sponsored by Krystal, an award-winning, 100% renewably powered web hosting provider, which means the first 10 drinks are on Krystal at every event.
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 Grab one of the few tickets left for Bike Kitchen's 'Learn to Fix' sessions at Coventry Cycle Centre on Tuesday 6 May. This session will teach participants how to replace gear cables and adjust the gears and chain. Participants can bring their own bike but is optional.
For regular updates subscribe to our newsletter. To get in touch with the Council regarding climate change and sustainability, including featuring in an article in a future newsletter, please email us at Climatechange@Coventry.gov.uk
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