GMCR 2025 – Community Solar Share Offer

You are here: News > GMCR 2025 – Community Solar Share Offer

Greater Manchester Community Renewables (GMCR) has launched their fifth community share offer. They’re aiming to raise £250,000 by 20 July 2025 to fund the installation of over 600 solar panels on 3 schools and a leisure centre.

Since 2016, GMCR has supported 9 schools and a local charity to go solar, saving them £190,000 on their energy bills – money that’s gone towards educating children and supporting local communities instead of boosting the profits of big energy companies.

In the first full year of operation, the four new solar arrays are expected to generate enough clean energy to make 16 million cups of tea – and prevent over 100 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions from polluting power stations.

What’s more, GMCR anticipates that the new arrays will generate a further £100,000 of grants for community projects relating to carbon reduction, energy efficiency and environmental education via their Community Fund.

GMCR relies on investments from individuals, businesses and organisations to fund the solar arrays.  Anyone who buys shares will be eligible for annual share interest of up to 5% and GMCR aims to repay the shares over 20 years (or sooner on request).

Anyone interested in using their money to make a positive difference can find the Share Offer Document and Business Plan on GMCR’s website, along with an online application form.

You can also sign up to GMCR’s newsletter, follow them on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn, or email them directly with any questions.

Key facts:

  • GMCR has launched their fifth community share offer, aiming to raise £250,000.
  • The share offer is open until Sunday 20 July 2025.
  • The money will be used to fund solar arrays on 2 special schools in Salford, a primary school in Manchester and a leisure centre in Trafford.
  • Once online, the four new solar arrays total 353 kWp (over 600 panels).
  • In the first full year of operation, we expect that the four new arrays will generate 290,000kWh of green electricity (enough to make 16 million cups of tea) and prevent 100 tonnes of carbon emissions
  • Over the next 20 years, we expect the four new arrays to deliver total energy bill savings of £125,000 and an additional £100,000 for the GMCR Community Fund to support local environmental projects
  • The community share offer is open to individuals, businesses and organisations who want to make a positive difference with their money.
  • Anyone who buys shares will be eligible for share interest of up to 5% and GMCR aims to repay the shares over the next 20 years (or sooner on request). 
  • GMCR’s surpluses are allocated to their Community Fund to support carbon reduction, energy efficiency and environmental education.
  • Anyone interested in finding out more about the Share Offer should visit the GMCR website and read the Share Offer document and the Business Plan. They can also sign up to the newsletter or contact us directly with any questions.
  • We also ask everyone to follow us on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.

    GMCR has already:
  • Installed solar panels on nine schools and one community centre across Greater Manchester
  • In 2023 we raised £350,000 of investment to fund our largest array at a secondary school in Timperley, Trafford.
  • Our solar panels have so far have:
    • Generated enough electricity to make 120 million cups of tea
    • Saved our partners over £190,000 on their energy bills
    • Prevented 800 tonnes of carbon emissions from polluting power stations.

Take action…

To make a big change, we must all take small actions. Becoming greener and making an impact is easier than you might think. We have put together a range of blogs, articles, toolkits and checklists to help you make a start.

Explore resources

Although we set out with a simple mission to reduce plastic waste, we’ve quickly realised that it’s just one piece in the sustainability puzzle. One of the biggest, but most easily attainable actions we can achieve is to look at where our goods come from and reduce the carbon footprint needed to get a product from manufacturer to consumer. Many of the products we stock are made by local, independent manufactures, who provide us with a wide range of things from reusable face wipes, wax food wraps, face coverings, soap bars, plant pots, kitchen cloths/sponges and butty bags.

Carl from Lentils and Lather

Our aim is to start changing the habits of families in Greater Manchester by getting them to ‘borrow’ rather than ‘buy’ brand new toys. We’re making sure that toys can be reused again and again by children who need and want them – and they are not just sitting in a cupboard or under someone’s bed.

Kim from That Toy Thing

The best part of upcycling is that old furniture is often better made than the equivalent flat-packed furniture we get today and with a little bit of time, love and care, you can create a completely unique piece of furniture for your home that no one else will have. I also love that these pieces of furniture have a history of their own and through transforming and updating them we can breathe a new lease of life into them.

Hannah from Tread Softly

The Green Recovery Challenge Fund is providing a further boost to the ambitions of the Great Manchester Wetlands Partnership to create a thriving, inspirational and connected landscape. It supports the recovery of wildlife through habitat creation and improvement as well as community recovery through providing opportunities for local people to develop skills, knowledge and beneficial connections to their local natural environment.

Jo Kennedy, Coordinator of the Great Manchester Wetlands Partnership

The reason I signed up to the Green Homes Grant scheme was two-fold, selfishly the measures will add value to the properties and make them more valuable in the future. But more importantly it benefits the tenants, keeping them warmer and prevents problems like damp and condensation. Ultimately measures like external wall insulations should keep tenants happier and ensure they remain in the house for longer.

Neil, Rochdale property owner

We used to think we didn’t have enough time to shop on our local market because we were working; how wrong we were?  We discovered it is an amazing place to shop for plastic free. We swapped tea bags for tea leaves and coffee jars for beans which we buy from The Market Grounds on Ashton Market – well worth a visit as the homemade cakes are delicious. All the stall holders have been amazing, not one of them minds us taking our containers to be filled with meat from the butchers. We get our bread, cheese, fruit and veg from the market too.

Julie from Ashton-under-Lyne

Kat Mulhall, Events Manager at Victoria Baths Trust in Manchester

Although becoming carbon neutral is important to our organisation, it’s a lot of work for a small team to put the measures into place. The Journey to Net Zero course has given me practical, step-by-step advice that has made it easy for me to lay the foundations for our organisation to be able to take action and achieve our goal of becoming carbon neutral.

Kat Mulhall, Events Manager at Victoria Baths Trust in Manchester

Kat Mulhall, Events Manager at Victoria Baths Trust in Manchester

The Business Growth Hub has given us focus and extra knowledge. They’ve helped us form the base to grow sustainably and work efficiently as a team while making us conscious of our environmental impact as a business.

 

Ollie Birchall, Founder of Nutri Bar

I’ve not really been a cyclist throughout my life, more of a runner to be honest. And certainly not commuted. But I just thought if I’m going to change, surely now is the moment to change. I’m feeling the personal benefits of doing it. You just feel better when you come into work. It clears your head. There are benefits of cutting congestion, cleaning up the air. Everyone benefits when people cycle.

Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester

We think our water fountain is INCREDIBLE, it’s the perfect place for people to ‘refill’ and help themselves to any of the free edibles we’ve got growing in Market Place. We’re so grateful to all the organisations that helped make this happen. Alongside the plastic free motion that was passed by council and helped us achieve our first Surfers Against Sewage objective and in turn our Plastic Free Community status, it shows real commitment in reducing plastic waste and supporting our community.

 

Pete Fillery, Plastic Free Rammy and Incredible Edible Ramsbottom

I guess I’ve always been what you would call a conscious consumer. I’ve always detested plastic bags, all of my skin care products at home are plastic-free, vegan, and sustainable. My toothbrush is made of bamboo, there’s no plastic anywhere in the house. Everything in the salon has to be vegan – that was the first rule for me. We started with one brand of haircare products that was vegan, organic, and Fairtrade, but the distributor in the UK was wrapping all of the deliveries in plastic, and it felt really needless, so we ditched them.

 

Rachael, Gronn eco-salon in Bury

Although becoming carbon neutral is important to our organisation, it’s a lot of work for a small team to put the measures into place. The Journey to Net Zero course has given me practical, step-by-step advice that has made it easy for me to lay the foundations for our organisation to be able to take action and achieve our goal of becoming carbon neutral.

 

Kat Mulhall, Victoria Baths Trust, Manchester

GM Green City Logo