Community Oil Buying Scheme
Cambridgeshire ACRE believes that finding a way to keep fuel costs as low as possible is particularly important in rural areas, where many households don’t have mains gas.
Our bulk-buying scheme for domestic heating oil aims to bring communities together to make the most of joint buying power so that greater savings can be made and passed on to customers.
Anyone can join the Scheme; domestic users, community groups such as village halls or even businesses. All members pay a small annual membership fee (which varies according to member type) but this is more than offset by the savings made on oil orders.
To work really efficiently, the Scheme needs to recruit volunteers as Local Co-ordinators. These are local people who collate the oil orders for syndicate members in their village once a month and pass the information on to us; and who then let the local members know the cost per litre and the delivery date once it’s been negotiated. Local Co-ordinators get free membership of the scheme. Scheme members can order as many times as they like during the year, and the price will be negotiated centrally to get the best possible deal.
The Scheme also helps to reduce the carbon footprint of the actual delivery system. Every time a tanker comes out to make a delivery, it’s using a lot of fuel – a full tanker may only get about 8 miles per gallon! So if deliveries are organised so that one tanker can reach as many customers in as small an area as possible, the fuel consumption is reduced.
Full details of how the scheme works are set out in two leaflets – one for prospective members of the scheme and one for people who might be interested in becoming a Local Co-ordinator – which can be downloaded from the Resources and Downloads box on the right of this page.
If you wish to join the scheme, either print out, complete and send us your membership form by post or fill in the online application form and submit it to us electronically.
For further enquiries, please contact Julie Weekes on 01353 860850 or email: oil@cambsacre.org.uk.