Credit: iStock
New partnership will see E.ON provide bespoke energy saving advice and funding to England's grassroots football clubs
E.ON UK is teaming up with the Football Association (FA) to help grassroots clubs across England become "greener and more sustainable", as part of a new energy saving initiative announced yesterday.
Under the partnership, the European energy giant plans to introduce a new decarbonisation programme that will see it provide support and advice to amateur junior and adult football clubs across England to help them slash their energy costs and emissions.
As well as providing bespoke energy saving advice and educational resources, E.ON said a number of clubs would also benefit from investment in energy efficiency upgrades and green energy solutions as part of the programme, with further details about the support on offer to be announced soon.
"Creating the more sustainable country we all want and need will take all of us working together - in our homes and businesses and across entire communities," said E.ON chief executive, Chris Norbury.
"Whether the focus is saving money, fighting the climate crisis or creating new jobs and skills, it's important to look at the small actions that can add up to a big impact, which is why we're so excited to be working with one of the biggest networks of community organisations anywhere in the world - the FA's grassroots football network."
Football's climate and environmental impact has increasingly fallen under the spotlight in recent years, with top flight clubs in particular facing pressure to limit their use of private jet travel and use their reach and influence to promote more sustainable actions and behaviours.
Last week the Premier League and all 20 clubs in the division collectively agreed to a set of new green measures, including a commitment for each club to develop their own robust environmental sustainability policy and assess and greenhouse gas emissions across their operations and wider value chains.
FA chief executive Mark Bullingham said the partnership with E.ON was aimed at helping grassroots football clubs across the country "become more sustainable in future", while also helping to inspire communities to embrace green behaviours.
"This includes working with clubs so that they can make a positive environmental impact in the communities they serve, as well as helping them to save money by identifying new energy-efficient ways to run their clubs," he said.
"We're delighted to be working with E.ON on this important area of our game, and we look forward to sharing further details with grassroots clubs in the coming months around our new support programme, including infrastructure upgrades and educational resources that will be on offer to them."
Don't forget to get your entries in for this year's UK Green Business Awards ahead of the March 1st deadline.
