Great Green Upgrade

Tue, 11 Mar 2025 15:56:33 Z

Thousands of Curo customers will be getting upgrades to their homes to make them warmer and cheaper to run, thanks to a £18million investment.

It was announced that today (11 March 2025) that the Bath-based housing association has been awarded £5million from the Government’s Warm Homes scheme, and Curo will be adding an extra £13million.

The project, known at the Great Green Upgrade, will run for three-and-a-half years, and will see around 1,066 households across Bath and Bristol getting improvements to their homes, which could include solar panels, improved insulation, new windows and doors, and upgraded heating systems.

Curo’s Director of Procurement and Asset Management, Matt Steele, said: “We’re delighted that we’ve been awarded this funding. which will allow us to make energy-saving upgrades to these homes.

“We know that rising energy bills are a concern for many of our customers, so it’s brilliant that we’re going to be able to make these improvements.

“Customers have also told us that sustainability is important to them, and these changes will also make the homes greener and reduce their carbon footprint.

“All homes need to have an energy efficiency rating of at least EPC C by 2030, and the Great Green Upgrade is part of our work to make sure that we can achieve this.”

Curo completed its first energy-saving home improvement project last summer, with 22 homes in Pensford and Compton Dando benefiting from a range of upgrades which saw their energy efficiency rating improving from D to B. The estimated reduction of carbon emissions across all the homes every year is roughly equivalent to the amount that would be produced from driving around the world more than10 times, or leaving a 100W light bulb on for 275 years.

The project was featured on ITV’s Tonight programme in November 2024, with Curo customers Robin and Lucy White talking about the difference the improvements had made to their lives . Robin told the show that since the work had been completed their electricity bill had almost halved. He told the show: “I can say quite categorically that our house is much warmer than it was two years ago. And the money that we have saved on those electricity bills has helped enormously.”

A second project involving 74 homes in Bath and Bristol is currently underway and due to be completed next month.

It’s hoped that the first phase of this latest project will be completed by the summer.

Find out more about the work we're doing to make our homes more energy efficient on this web page.

Winter tree planting 2025

Tue, 11 Mar 2025 11:55:19 Z

More than 1,500 small trees and shrubs have been planted on Curo land in Bath this winter.

Curo once again partnered with More Trees BANES to create mini-forests and hedgerows on two green spaces in the city.

Representatives from Curo and More Trees BANES were joined by councillors and community volunteers at four planting days at Holcombe Green and Oval Park on 25 and 26 February and 5 and 6 March.

Volunteers helped with the planting

All of the trees and shrubs are British native species that have been grown from seeds collected in or around Bath, and include a mix of flowers, fruit-, and nut-producing plants which will provide food and shelter for insects, animals and birds.

Community groups, schools and volunteers with the support of More Trees BANES, cultivated the seeds into saplings which could then be planted outdoors.

Curo’s Senior Arboriculturalist and Contracts Manager, Gordon Stuart, said: “This work is an important part of Curo’s commitment to sustainability. It’s so important for us to plant trees as they provide a myriad of environmental improvements for us as humans, and for animals.

“Most importantly, trees provide oxygen. They also help to limit the fluctuations in climate which is vital as we see more and more effects of global warming.

“These mini forests will provide habitats for native wildlife, as well as green corridors which allow animals to safely move around the city.

“We’ll be closely monitoring the new plantings until they are well established, and then there will be a management plan in place to make sure that they are well maintained and can continue to provide benefit into the future.

“We are very grateful for the support from More Trees BANES to help us improve our green spaces. Working as part of community is very important to everyone at Curo, and the tree plantings are a great example of successful community collaborations.”

Curo's Senior Arboriculturalist and Contracts Manager, with Richard Higgs, Director of More Trees BANES

Richard Higgs, Director of More Trees BANES, said: “At More Trees BANES we like to plant in places where our trees are going to have the biggest impact. We are very pleased to be able to work with Curo to put trees in areas that we think will benefit the community by providing places to connect with nature.

“The trees will blossom in spring, provide shade in the summer and become a beautiful colour in autumn. They bear fruit, and are home to wildlife. Trees are a part of everyone’s life, and we believe that by creating little woodlands like these, we’re improving people’s lives. Life is better with trees.”

Curo has more than 8,500 trees across its communal estate areas. In addition to these planting sessions, another 130 larger trees have been planted as part of our planting programme.

The planting at Oval Park builds on the success of last year, when the first stage of the mini forest was planted.

Holcombe Green is a new planting site. When choosing areas to become mini-forests we take into account many different factors, including making sure that communities still have access to open green spaces. At Holcombe Green, there are other Curo-owned grassed areas nearby – further down Holcombe Green and along Eastfield Avenue/Brookfield Park – that will continue to be available for outdoor sport and community use.

All the planting has been set back from the road to make sure that it doesn’t impact visibility for traffic, and plenty of space has been left for the path that runs across the area.

All our tree shelters and mulch mats are fully bio-degradable and our woodchip has been sourced locally from other works on the wider Curo Estate.

All planting projects will continue to be managed following our estate standard guidelines and our tree procedure, promoting good establishment and benefit into the future.

If you have any questions about our planting schemes, please contact the Estates team on estates@curo-group.co.u k.

Curo News

Great Green Upgrade

Winter tree planting 2025