Support decarbonisation as a Charge my Street volunteer

We are seeing more and more electric vehicles on our streets, but one of the challenges to owning an electric vehicle is finding a chargepoint, and indeed the lack of chargeoints is seen by many as a barrier to moving to an electric vehicle.

Charge my Street is a community benefit society that hopes to change that. They install and operate community public electric vehicle chargepoints, raising money through community shares. They have already successfully demonstrated that community investment can provide chargepoints and stimulate demand for electric vehicles in areas without off-street parking by installing chargepoints nationally.

Working alongside local authorities such as Lancaster City Council, Carlisle City Council, Durham County Council, and many more, their vision is for every home to be within a 5-minute walk of a chargepoint, giving residents without off-street parking the opportunity to switch to an electric vehicle.

One of the key benefits of driving electric vehicles is their lack of tailpipe emissions, helping to make the local environment much cleaner. Air pollution from petrol and diesel vehicles can contribute to a higher risk of death from cardiopulmonary causes, as well as adverse effects on pregnancies, to name just two negative impacts of transport pollution.

As they continue the roll out of electric vehicle chargepoints in Lancashire, Cumbria & Nationally, they want to recruit volunteers to take calls from electric vehicle drivers on their support phoneline. Phoneline volunteers will be there for drivers when they feel they have no one else to turn to.

Charge my Street volunteers can work remotely, up to 4 hours each week, to help get charging sessions started, answer payment queries, and unlock cables that are trapped in chargepoints. This new volunteering opportunity offers a chance to learn valuable new skills, be part of a friendly team, and support the decarbonisation of the transport sector.

Signing up to be a Charge my Street volunteer is a big commitment and requires training, so if you are interested, please bear in mind that you will be asked to stay in the role for a minimum of one year. You can check the Lancaster District CVS website for more information, or email [email protected].