Gearing up for Westminster

After weeks of preparation, next week sees Solar for Schools' first ever Parliamentary Showcase. The event is taking place on November 11th in Portcullis House, and hosted by Feryal Clark MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.

The event promises to be an engaging showcase in the truest sense. It will bring together policymakers, educational leaders and community energy representatives to highlight the role of solar energy in enhancing sustainability education. At the centre of it all, however, will be students from around nine schools from across the UK who will be presenting their sustainability initiatives to local MPs, using demo kits, live data, video and other technologies to illustrate the impact of renewable energy solutions in their schools. The showcasing workshops are designed to spark discussion on how solar has galvanised schools and other groups to push green initiatives within their community.

Together, during the afternoon, we will be addressing the challenges in implementing solar technology, as well as celebrating the successes of sustainability and how it drives real change.

This event provides a unique opportunity for young people from around the country - and some as young as 8 years old - to hold their MPs to account, and talk do them about their priorities and their policies. Are policymakers doing enough? And how will the decisions they make today affect future generations and the leaders of tomorrow?

We're delighted too to announce a raft of f high-profile speakers taking to the floor on Monday, including Cordi O’Hara OBE - President of National Grid. National Grid has supported Solar for Schools since March 2023, with a £2.7m commitment across 5 years. Of that grant, £539,000 has been allocated already across 48 schools in areas of high deprivation. The savings expected through this support is projected to be over £12m across 25 years.

Other speakers include Bill Esterson - Chair of the Energy Security and Net Zero Committee, Lord Jim Knight - former Schools Minister, Joe Billington who leads the Department for Education's Strategy for Sustainability and Climate Change, and Robert Schimpff - our founder and CEO.

We will be sharing photos, videos and key take-aways from the event right here, so watch this space.