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Thanet District Council’s Ramsgate leisure centre rooftop solar story
Learn how Thanet District Council helped power Ramsgate leisure centre’s sustainable future with clean energy.
- Local Authorities
Communities thrive when they are supported, empowered, and allowed to grow. In 2025, the TotalEnergies Community Fund Competition continued its mission to do just that, awarding £6,500 to a new cohort of impactful local projects. Delivered through LASER’s Flexible Procurement Framework, the initiative highlights how strong supplier partnerships can go beyond energy procurement to deliver meaningful social value where it matters most.
All our TotalEnergies customers were invited to nominate a community initiative/project within their district, and once again, the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) at TotalEnergies had the pleasure of selecting the winners.
The Newmarket Youth Hub is a community-led initiative focused on creating a safe, welcoming space for young people in Newmarket, Suffolk. Designed to be stigma-free and inclusive, the hub offers a place where young people can socialise, build friendships, and take part in activities in a relaxed, supportive environment. By providing an alternative to gathering on the streets, the project aims to reduce antisocial behaviour while encouraging positive social interaction and personal development within the local community.
The CSR team were inspired by the way the Youth Hub team is creating a space that feels safe, welcoming, and genuinely responsive to the needs of young people.
Since receiving the fund, the Youth Hub Newmarket have purchased the following items, following discussion with the young people who attend:
The Youth Hub is also working with associated detached youth and schools, which is going really well. Offering a combination of open-access Hub sessions, targeted one-to-one mentoring and counselling, and partnership work with schools and supported living providers.
We remain very grateful for the funding that you have provided which has enabled us to establish The Hub in Newmarket. The funding enabled us to purchase equipment which young people wanted ensuring that the activities were relevant and suitable for the young people.
Stephanie Edmans
Families & Communities Officer, West Suffolk Council
Based in Kirkdale, North Liverpool, is Rotunda, an anchor charity that has served its community for over 30 years. Set within five Grade II listed Georgian houses and surrounded by stunning community gardens, they host kids and youth clubs, half-term and summer clubs, and forest school. It is their mission to lead on social regeneration.
Every week after school on a Wednesday, they host a Let’s Cook session where parents/adults/carers and children can engage in fun, interactive cooking sessions.
Ideal for learning to cook on a budget, acquiring new skills and embracing cooking your own food.
Through the award of the funding, the charity has invested in a portable hob, where in the Winter they whipped up a lovely soup using surplus ingredients. At the end of each session, they hold a ‘Communi-tea’, which is where everyone can come together to enjoy what they made earlier.
Community at its best, plus lovely, yummy food.
The Baby Box Programme was originally piloted in Scotland, following this a trial was also set up within the Barking & Dagenham local authority. Infant mortality rate in the borough is 4.1% versus 3.3% national average.
This truly thoughtful, and deeply impactful initiative is focused on helping vulnerable mothers, who may be victims of abuse, live in hidden homelessness (likely to be sleeping on a sofa), asylum seekers where they have just arrived the UK, or living in temporary or emergency accommodation for any number of reasons. Due to these circumstances, the babies might be sleeping on a bed, sofa or even being placed on the floor – the Baby Box Programme wants to provide these mothers and babies with the newborn essentials need to help keep babies safe.
Each box contains newborn essentials and comes with a mattress that can be used as a moses box type sleeping arrangement once the mother and baby are discharged from hospital.
This programme offers dignity, safety, and care to mothers and babies who are often facing incredibly difficult circumstances.
The community fund is back for its third year, with invitations going out to our customers under TotalEnergies within our framework from 22nd June, so stay tuned.
Learn how Thanet District Council helped power Ramsgate leisure centre’s sustainable future with clean energy.
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