CEE news
Empowerment through Membership
16 October 2024
Joining CEE isn’t just about affiliation; it’s about becoming part of a nationwide network of people and organisations who share a vision of a fairer, zero carbon energy system shaped by communities and in which they have tangible ownership and influence.
Joining CEE as a member opens up opportunities for all your organisation’s employees, volunteers, and affiliates to get involved and engage with our membership network, becoming part of and benefiting from our nationwide community.
Making an Impact
By sharing resources, knowledge, and expertise, CEE members can leverage their strength to tackle challenges and create opportunities in the rapidly changing community energy sector. Whether it’s advocating for supportive policies or sharing best practices, the collective voice of Community Energy England members demonstrates the strength of the movement.
Networking and Collaboration
At the heart of the Community Energy England membership network lies a vibrant community of community energy organisations and key sector stakeholders, with wide variation but all united by passion about driving and growing the community energy sector.
We know that finding volunteers and identifying business models are two of the top barriers to community energy organisations’ growth – being part of our network is a direct way you can learn from others’ experiences and help others overcome challenges. Through networking events, online forums, and knowledge sharing, members have excellent opportunities to connect, learn from each other, and create valuable connections that can help drive the work of their organisations and projects forward. We encourage everyone at your organisation to be a part of gaining from and giving to this community.
What can you engage with as part of your organisation’s membership of Community Energy England?
As part of your organisation’s membership with Community Energy England, all your employees and volunteers can engage with our network by:
- Attending CEE events: CEE organises events throughout the year, including member calls, regional forums, and the Community Energy Awards. These events provide opportunities to connect with other members, learn, collaborate, and network.
- Joining our online member forums: The CEE forums are designed to facilitate direct communication and collaboration among members, allowing them to ask questions, share experiences, and offer assistance. One forum is for all members, while the other is restricted to community members, allowing for fully open discussion. All of your staff, volunteers and directors can join the all-member forum and, if your organisation is a community member, the practitioner-only forum too.
- Receiving CEE and important sector news: By signing up to our member mailing list, you’ll receive our fortnightly member newsletter, which is full of CEE and sector news, including share offers, job roles, events, and funding opportunities. We also communicate on social media (LinkedIn & X) but we encourage you to spread the word about our member mailing list so as many people associated with your organisation benefit from sector news and hear about our events as possible.
- Getting involved with our Policy and Advocacy work: Your employees and volunteers can feed your barriers and ideas into our policy and advocacy team, helping us understand what you and other members need as well as contributing expertise to shape supportive policies for community energy initiatives.
We want you to feel part of and engage with the CEE membership network and to make our collective voice stronger. Please share this information with your colleagues and volunteers so they are aware of how they too can benefit from and become part of our community.
To help new members get started with their CEE membership, we’re excited to announce our first quarterly New Member Introduction Meeting on Wednesday 11 December, at 10am. This session aims to extend a warm welcome to new members of the CEE network. We will provide an opportunity for new members to gain a better understanding of how to engage with the CEE network and make the most of their membership. Long-term CEE members are also encouraged to participate, especially those from member organisations who would like to learn more about how to get involved with their CEE membership
If you have any questions, our membership and operations officer, Lisa West, will be happy to answer them.