Kendal College is helping to reduce road emissions with the installation of two electric vehicle chargepoints at its Milnthorpe Road campus.

The chargepoints are available for members of the public to use, and are located in the college’s small car park off Vicarage Drive.

They have been installed in partnership with Charge My Street, a community benefit society, with funding from the Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV), through Innovate UK, the UK’s innovation agency. The installation enhances Kendal College’s drive for sustainability, and the college is planning an extensive campaign to educate its staff and students, as well as the wider community about the new charge point stations to encourage more electric vehicle users.

As part of a £200,000 development of the college’s automotive facilities, the college has also purchased two electric and hybrid cars and specialist equipment, to enable the college to train the next generation of automotive students and local employers in new hybrid and electrical transport technology. This new equipment will see hybrid and electric automotive courses start from September 2020.

Principal Kelvin Nash said: “Adding these charging stations, and investing in electric and hybrid specialist equipment for our automotive department, not only positions us as a leader in sustainability, but also ensures we are preparing our students for the future.”

The project is part of a government-funded programme to install chargepoints in locations that commercial providers would not be interested in.

Daniel Heery, Charge my Street director said: “We are delighted to have collaborated with Kendal College to install our first community chargepoints in Kendal and it's fantastic that community investment from local people has helped make this happen”.

The project is being delivered in Cumbria in partnership with South Lakeland District Council and Carlisle City Council, as well as other local partners, including Cumbria Action for Sustainability.

Councillor Dyan Jones, SLDC's Portfolio Holder for Climate Emergency and Localism, said: “We are delighted to be one of the delivery partners on this exciting and forward-looking project.

"Everybody can make a difference, no matter how small, to reduce their carbon emissions and help address the impact of climate change. Increasing the number of chargepoints in the district is an important, key factor in making the use of electric vehicles more accessible.”