Why Donate

Donating will be giving solar panels and the electricity they produce, for free, to a state school in our local area and in a rural school in the underrepresented global south. They will catalyse behavioural change in a new model of youth empowerment and international collaboration. 

We are honoured to be finalists for the international Earth Prize - one of 10 teams chosen from 650 to potentially win $200,000: https://www.theearthprize.org/finalists 

We are really excited and hope you are too!

Overview

Back in February 2021, two students in sixth form at school in the RBWM, passionate about the environmental emergency, inspired by the BSEN, but increasingly frustrated by the lack of youth empowerment, came up with a wildly ambitious project: to fundraise for solar panels for an impoverished school in the local area and to twin it with one in rural South Africa. A year later after intense planning and pitching we are about to start fundraising with a team of local policymakers, volunteers and students.

This will be a ground-breaking project, one of the first in the UK where schools are leveraging connections and forming international networks to install solar panels, rather than projects being community led but for financial profit.

The Altwood Project

We chose Altwood Church of England School, in the outskirts of Maidenhead, with no existing photovoltaic installation and significant flat roof space, as the school in which the project could make the biggest difference. It will be decarbonising the school’s energy supply and catalysing behavioural change towards net zero, partnered with an intensive community engagement plan.

The project is twinned – the UK project will fundraise £25,000 for an 18.5kWp installation on Altwood’s sports hall roof. This JustGiving page is for the Altwood installation and working closely with the school’s parliament, we have formed a team that will lead community
engagement, fundraising and behavioural change projects in the school and local community. The Altwood project is match funded by our partner donor, so every pound raised in the UK is matched by our donor, doubling the impact of every donation we receive and funding our South African project.

The South Africa Project

The South African project, twinned with Altwood, will provide a 25kWp installation on KwaThintwa School for the Deaf, a special school for disabled students in rural KwaZulu Natal, 40km outside of Durban. KwaThintwa School for the Deaf relies heavily on visual electronic stimulus for its deaf students, and the surplus electricity would be used to power new projectors that the school hopes to invest in. It suffers critically from power outages and loses a days’ worth of teaching every week as a result. The solar installation will provide a constant education to the rural families’ children whose hopes for the future in life lie with education.

But don't take it from us...

Electricity plays a pivotal role in the functioning
of the school as a whole, it is a basic need so to say. This project if becomes successful will help alleviate the financial burden facing the school.” – Vusi Mazibuko, Deputy Head, KwaThintwa School for the Deaf

Donations go to Eton Action who transfer it directly to Altwood's fundraising bank account.

Our partners: Altwood School, KwaThintwa School for the Deaf, Ethembeni School, Kearsney College, Eton College, RBWM, Waltham Place, CBN Expert and the Berkshire Schools Eco Network.

With thanks to: Cllr Stimson, Christine, Paul, Simon, Harry, Jusleen, Yash, Pauline and Andre.