A Shipley social enterprise that supports people with learning disabilities has been granted £20,000 for solar panels and battery storage.

Northcliffe Environmental Enterprises Team (NEET) received the sum from Northern Powergrid Foundation, the charitable arm of the electricity network operator.

The funds will go towards solar panels and battery storage at Northcliffe Nurseries, where NEET operates, enabling the social enterprise to continue serving the community in the event of a power cut.

NEET offers practical learning opportunities, in a working environment, for those with learning disabilities.

Horticulture, cookery, and woodwork are some of the skills it teaches.

The social enterprise practices sustainability by growing its own produce and repurposing goods.

Cost savings anticipated as a result of the new solar panels and battery storage will be reinvested into further services for the community.

Suzanne Longley, business manager at NEET, said: "At NEET we are extremely grateful to Northern Powergrid Foundation for the opportunity to develop our site with a renewable energy source, incorporating our sustainability goals.

"The support from Northern Powergrid Foundation through the application process and afterwards has been excellent, and their commitment to understanding and engaging with communities facing real energy challenges is genuine and makes a difference."

David Wilkin, Northern Powergrid Foundation trustee, said: "Northern Powergrid Foundation is proud to support NEET in its bid to improve resilience and to provide stability to a community group that really needs it.

"For the Foundation, supporting this project was more than just about resilience.

"It was about empowering a community that can be left in the dark, not always from a power cut sense, but from a sense that their needs have not been met or that they have been left to fend for themselves.

"With so many challenges facing communities across our diverse region, the Foundation is looking forward to empowering communities even more so than ever."

Northern Powergrid Foundation has so far helped more than 70 organisations and community projects that are working to overcome energy-related challenges.

For more information about NEET, visit https://neetpeople.org/

For more information about Northern Powergrid Foundation, visit https://www.northernpowergridfoundation.com/