Breaking News – March 2026
The recently installed 4 battery storage system for the solar panels has reduced our winter electricity cost considerably. Reducing our night time usage (floodlights, heating and general lighting) from 75p/unit (imported) to just 15p/unit (what we would have received for export instead of storing it). This has resulted in us receiving a much larger cheque from British Gas as we generate more power than we use!
Recycling update, new product introduced – Butterfly Boxes!
Garden version, more decorative!
More about our energy project
Our ‘Energy’ Project includes to key areas:
- Generation to support the club operate and effective usage of the resources we use.
- Recycling what we can.
- Reducing travel, sharing lifts, experience improvement.
Generation to support the club operate and effective usage of the resources we use.
As part of our Going Green activities we have installed Phase 1 of our 27kWp Solar Panel Programme. 66 Solar Edge panels have been installed on our Covered Shooting Area.
With a total outlay of £34,000, Gloucestershire County Council and thanks to the Severn Wye Energy Agency, the European Union Development Fund combined to cover almost 2/3 of the total costs. Due to the conditions of the grants we opted not to install batteries but to export all unused electricity to the grid until we were in a position to fund storage.
The net result is that we generate far more electricity than we use and that we actually generate a positive annual income to support our environmental projects. We also installed LED lighting and other energy efficient mechanisms., including water saving measures.
2025 progress!
We recognised that our ‘Extension Project’ would increase our night-time usage of electricity (off-set by the reduction in travel to externally hired club practice session venues), so prompted and supported by Tewkesbury Borough Council we successfully applied for a grant from the UKSPF and REPF Community Capital Grant Scheme. In March 2025 we installed 4 batteries to allow us to store over 40kWh’s, some of the electricity we currently export at 15p per unit (and buy back in the evenings at 75P per unit) saving an absolute fortune in the winter!
Recycling what we can.
Recycling has also become a general practice, refurbishing our bosses and using the waste/used items to create field course safety backstops, using recycled stone and wood to maintain our field course. Also repairing target faces, loaning used bow and general archery equipment free of charge, making arrow pens from damaged arrows, manning our own leather tabs to list just a few of our initiatives.
Our Men-in-Sheds team work with our neighbours who recycle building and waste materials to resource as many maintenance and development materials as we can.
Bird boxes installed, pathways created to keep some areas pedestrian free.
In-addition to producing literally 100s of bird, bat and insect boxes, we have completed some very impressive structures including a woodland storage shed (made entirely of pallet wood) and have a shooting tower incorporating a badger-set hide and a composting toilet under construction!
Entirely made of pallet wood, storing mainly recycled wood!
Reducing travel, sharing lifts, experience improvement.
Through our focused social activities we create friendships and trust where members are happy to share lifts to away events, practice sessions etc.
We run numerous record status events allowing our members and those of local clubs to stay local and not travel. We provide top quality facilities that are much more affordable and reduce members needs to travel further afield.
Combining sport, social and recreation we enable parents and archers to volunteer when they visit the site , so adding a little something to the Club during their visit! Using our environmental stewardship credentials to influence visitors/members to transfer some of what we do to other aspects of their lives!