WWF Company Secretary Annette Heslop – in the 2018 Queen’s Birthday Honours List
It’s great to see our Company Secretary and Energy4All’s Annette Heslop featuring in the 2018 Queen’s Birthday Honours List. Annette has worked incredibly hard on behalf of the community energy movement for over 20 years and has been instrumental in the creation of 23 renewable energy co-ops.
Since 2004 Annette has been a Finance Director of Energy4All, which now has a large family of co-ops incorporating wind, solar, hydro and biomass technologies. It all started when Annette became involved in renewable energy in 1998 and went on to become a Board Member in 1999 of the first community owned wind farm in the UK, Baywind Energy Co-op in Cumbria.
Annette says:
“I was thrilled to receive the MBE. When the envelope arrived through my door I didn’t quite believe it, what a lovely but totally unexpected surprise. I would like to thank the person or persons who nominated me.”
“During my time working in the community energy sector we have faced many hurdles, but with the involvement of local communities and the wider renewable energy community we have been able to create ground breaking projects, including the creation of Rumbling Bridge Community Hydro Co-operative the largest community owned hydro project, and the repowering of the original Baywind wind farm.”
“Over recent months I have worked on the acquisition of Mean Moor Wind Farm. I believe this was the first time a commercially owned wind farm had been purchased outright by a community”“Energy4All gives the power back to the people, allowing them to own a stake in locally generated renewable energy. This, I believe is the way forward for our energy market”.
“As a Director of Energy4All it is a privilege to work alongside these groups and help them to develop and educate the next generation about the importance of renewable energy and climate change.”
“I would like to thank my fellow directors and staff past and present at Energy4All for all their hard work and dedication. We have a number of exciting projects in the pipeline and are continually working hard to increase the community energy sector in the UK despite the many barriers that we have to overcome. “
Congratulations to Annette from all at Energy4All and on behalf of all the co-ops we work with.
Annette Heslop at Mean Moor Wind Farm with members of High Winds Community Energy Society
