NEWS

Beyton Middle School, winners of the Save your energy for the Blues Schools’ Competition, was invited to a training day at Ipswich Town Football Club on 26th April, courtesy of Main Sponsor E.ON.

Beyton Middle School’s winning entry comprised of the “Switch Off” campaign, a student-led initiative to reduce carbon emissions produced by the school. As part of the “Switch Off” campaign, Year 5 and Year 6 students hosted an assembly to discuss energy saving measures, put posters up throughout the school urging their fellow students to switch off electrical equipment and lights when not in use, turned down thermostats in classrooms and made sure doors were closed to prevent heat loss. As a result, Beyton saved 81 tonnes of carbon dioxide, which helped the Save your energy for the Blues project reach its carbon neutrality target on 4 May.

Ms Roberts, a teacher at Beyton, commented; “The children had an unforgettable experience at Ipswich Town Football Club. The Club made us feel very welcome and it was a great treat for the students to meet Alan Lee. The Save your energy for the Blues is a great initiative as it has helped raise the issue of climate change in the Suffolk community and has also encouraged people make changes to their everyday energy consumption.”

On the day, fifty students from Beyton had an energy efficiency chat with Jackie Fairweather, E.ON’s ‘Energy Efficiency Aunt’ and took a behind the scenes tour of Portman Road with Simon Milton, a former Ipswich Town player. Afterwards, the students took part in a football coaching session given by Ipswich Town Community Trust Staff. As an unexpected surprise, Ipswich Town’s leading goal scorer, Alan Lee, presented Beyton with an Ipswich Town home shirt, signed by the First team and also signed autographs for the lucky students.

Student Samantha Carson, aged 11; “I really enjoyed the whole day. I had a lot of fun during the football session with the Community Trust staff and I can’t believe we got to meet Alan Lee!”

Today (Friday 4 May) Ipswich Town Football Club (ITFC), with the support of their Main Sponsor E.ON, the Defra Climate Challenge Fund and CRed have announced that they have reached their target to become the UK’s First Carbon Neutral Football Club.  Having reached this target, the Club will receive a substantial five figure donation from E.ON for Jim Magilton’s player transfer budget.

To make this happen 3200 tonnes of carbon dioxide have been saved, through 3,000 Town fans making a total of nearly 14,000 energy efficiency pledges for their homes on the Save your energy for the Blues website, in return for a range of ITFC Money Can’t Buy prizes for themselves and rewards to the Club from E.ON.  It was season ticket holder, Mel St Pier‘s pledge of buying a hybrid car that took the project over the 100% target.

Derek Bowden, Chief Executive, Ipswich Town Football Club said: “Over the last six months, the Club has also worked hard to decrease its own energy consumption with the current figures showing a decrease of 20%, compared to the same period last year.  This has been done through a number of measures, including switching the Club to a green energy tariff, fitting the floodlights with low energy light bulbs, plus ensuring that catering kiosks fridges are emptied and turned off between fixtures. 

Bowden continues:  “I would also like to say a massive thank you to all the fans, schools, local businesses and project partners who have helped us reach this target.  We could not have done this without each and every one of you making these energy saving changes in your homes or schools and changing the way that you travel to Portman Road on a matchday.”

Jason De Vos, Ipswich Captain and Project Ambassador said: “It has been really inspirational to see the way the fans have embraced this scheme.  It is clear that by aligning the energy saving programme with their local football club it gave it more meaning and a focus for the fans.”

Mike Thompson, Head of Sponsorship, E.ON UK said: “We’re delighted that the Club has become Carbon Neutral in what has been a truly groundbreaking scheme.  We believe it’s vital we help change the way that people use energy and this project has been a fantastic way of doing this in the Ipswich Community.  We hope that the fans maintain these energy efficiency measures in their homes and that they reap the on-field benefits of the donation we have made to the player transfer budget.”

Dr Simon Gerrard, CRed Programme Manager, said: “The community-based activities of the fans are a valid activity which can contribute to a carbon management plan involving other elements such as demand reduction, energy efficiency and switching to renewable energy. This pioneering project paves the way for other sporting activities to reduce their carbon emissions. The CRed System builds in a success factor to each pledge so we don’t make the naïve assumption that everyone does everything they say. As two-thirds of the Club’s carbon emissions are associated with transport it’s important that the fans have been involved. They have stepped up to the mark and been counted.”

Dr Matthew Ling, Head of Environment Strategy at Ipswich Borough Council said: “Climate change is a big issue for Ipswich and the region, and this project has shown how important it is for the football club and their fans.  This achievement demonstrates the importance of involving businesses, community organisations and individuals in raising awareness of climate change and tackling the causes.  This project has been a fun and innovative way of engaging people with a difficult and complex area but has demonstrated that Ipswich leads the way again.”

Today, Ipswich Town Football Club (ITFC), in association with Main Sponsor E.ON, is over 80% towards the goal of becoming the UK’s first Carbon Neutral Football Club. To make this happen over 2600 tonnes of carbon dioxide have been saved, through Town fans making a total of over 12,400 energy efficiency pledges  for their homes on the Save your energy for the Blues website.

Since the launch at the end of October, the initiative has received strong support from fans, local businesses and now primary schools have made their contribution through the Save your energy for the Blues Schools Competition. The standard of entries was high with young students incorporating the idea of energy efficiency into everyday school life and introducing measures at their schools such as turning thermostats down, installing energy efficient lightbulbs and turning equipment off standby. The energy efficiency pledges made by the schools saved nearly 250 tonnes, improving the overall amount saved to over 2600 tonnes of carbon dioxide.

Beyton Middle School of Bury St. Edmunds was awarded First Prize, followed by St. Peter & St. Paul CEVAP from Eye and Sidegate Primary School from Ipswich in Second and Third Place respectively. Beyton Middle School students will enjoy a training day at Portman Road, which will include a behind the scenes tour of the ground and a football coaching session given by Ipswich Town Community Trust staff.

Jason De Vos, ITFC Captain and Save your energy for the Blues Ambassador said: “The goal of making Ipswich Town Football Club the UK’s first Carbon Neutral Club is very close to becoming a reality with fans, local businesses and primary schools each doing their bit to support the campaign. It has been encouraging to see what the children have been doing in their schools to reduce their energy consumption and help tackle climate change.”

Today, Ipswich Town Football Club (ITFC), in association with Main Sponsor E.ON, is half way to the goal of becoming the UK 's First Carbon Neutral Football Club. To make this happen 1610 tonnes of carbon dioxide have been saved, through 1600 Town fans making a total of over 8,000 energy efficiency pledges for their homes on the Save your energy for the Blues website. This carbon saving is the equivalent to the annual mileage of 500 cars.

To celebrate this achievement, five additional energy or carbon saving pledges have been added to the website, which will allow people to pledge if they are buying new A rated white goods, changing their boiler to a more energy efficient version, catching a train to Town home games, as well as if they have bought a hybrid car or switch off mobile phone chargers when they have finished charging. Currently the most popular pledges are to install energy efficient lightbulbs, only boil the water that is needed and turn electrical equipment off standby. Plus, every person who has made a pledge has been entered into a monthly prize draw for a range of ITFC Money-Can't-Buy prizes. So far there have been over 130 winners.

Local primary school children will also be able to get involved in the Save your energy for the Blues project through a classroom based competition that is launching on xx. The competition will ask each school to introduce energy saving measures at their school and then illustrate what they have done through a photo gallery, picture board, video or poster.

Jason De Vos, ITFC Captain and Save your energy for the Blues Ambassador said: "This project clearly shows the power that football has in helping to increase people's awareness of the environment and to encourage people to reduce their own carbon emissions by making changes in their lives. By making pledges on the Save your energy for the Blues website, fans can save money on their electricity bills but also help the environment too and that is a very strong message. The scheme is also proving to be of national interest having been shortlisted for the Football League Awards plus the Carbon Trust Daily Telegraph Innovation Awards."

Thanks to your support of Save your energy for the Blues, we are not only nearly half way towards our goal becoming the UK's first Carbon Neutral Football Club but we have also been recognised by the environmental and football industries for our groundbreaking initiative.

In addition to receiving a nomination for Best Club Sponsorship at the Football League Awards, it was announced last week that the project has also been short-listed for the Daily Telegraph Carbon Trust Innovation Awards.

Ipswich Town is one of three clubs in the running for the Best Club Sponsorship category at the Football League Awards. Over 130 entries were received from clubs across all three divisions. The ceremony will take place on 4 March at London's Grosvenor Hotel.

The campaign has also been short-listed for the Daily Telegraph's Carbon Trust Innovation Awards in the Energy Efficiency - Private Sector category. The Carbon Trust Awards is a major national awards scheme aimed at identifying those individuals and organisations whose innovative approach is making a significant contribution to reducing the UK's carbon emissions.

Winners for both awards will be announced in the next few months so watch this space!

Richard Owen from Swanley in Kent who made the 7000 th pledge on the Save your energy for the Blues website was invited down to Portman Road to be presented with a personalised and signed Ipswich Town away shirt from ITFC Captain Jason De Vos.

Richard, who has been a Town fan since he was three years old, made nine energy efficiency pledges, which has saved nearly three tonnes of carbon dioxide. This will certainly help Ipswich Town FC with their goal of becoming the UK's first Carbon Neutral Football Club.

Richard commented: "I think it is great what Ipswich Town and E.ON are doing to make us more aware about climate change and energy efficiency. I have supported Ipswich Town for a long time and it is great to see how the Club has embraced this truly groundbreaking concept and I was very keen to support the scheme in anyway that I could. I was therefore absolutely delighted to be invited down to the Club to meet Jason and to receive my shirt, which I will really treasure."

To find out more about the project and for your chance to win some great ITFC prizes, log onto www.saveyourenergyfortheblues.co.uk.

Ipswich Town Football Club and Save your energy for the Blues Ambassador, Jason de Vos had an NHER (National Home Energy Report) site survey undertaken at his house on Friday 20 October from E.ON Energy Efficiency Private Homes Manager Rob Marjoram. The site survey assessed how energy efficient Jason’s house was and gauged the carbon emissions and anticipated fuel costs that his house generates.

The survey highlighted that Jason's house is in fact reasonably energy efficient with insulated walls, substantial loft insulation and thermostatic radiator valves as well as a number of energy efficient lightbulbs already in place. The survey though did highlight that Jason's boiler was not very efficient and replacing it would significantly decrease carbon emissions. Having assessed the house Rob supplied Jason with an energy efficient kettle and an E.ON PowerDown computer multi plug to help provide him with additional energy efficiency measures.

Jason de Vos said; "I try to be as environmentally friendly as possible so it was disappointing to find out that my house is not as energy efficient as it could be. I plan to look into getting a new boiler as well as installing more energy efficient lightbulbs throughout the house, which would make such a difference not only to the energy efficiency of my house but also to my energy bills."

E.ON is ITFC's Main Sponsor. For further information on E.ON's insulation offers call 0800 479 0162 (quoting ITFC) or for general advice on the energy efficiency, please telephone 0500 20 10 00.

Jeremy Crawley, from Brightlingsea in Essex, who made the 6,000th pledge on the Save your energy for the Blues website was invited down to Portman Road on 16 January to watch The FA Cup Round 3 replay match between Ipswich Town and Chester City, with three of his friends. As an added treat, Jeremy was given the chance to have his picture taken with The FA Cup trophy.

Jeremy made five energy efficiency pledges, which included installing three low energy lightbulbs, taking the bus to the game rather than driving, as well as not leaving equipment on standby and turning the thermostat down by one degree.

Jeremy said: "I was really chuffed when I got invited to the game, all because I had made the 6,000 th pledge on the Save your energy for the Blues website. We had a great evening which none of us will forget in a hurry. It was a fantastic to see The FA Cup trophy and to watch Ipswich win the game against Chester . Thanks to E.ON and the Club for their hospitality."

On the 18th January 2007, the Government announced their intention to establish a code of best practice for carbon offsetting schemes in the UK. The code is designed to give consumers clarity and confidence when they choose offset schemes.

These guidelines are not intended for the community focused activity of the Save your energy for the Blues project, in which  no charges are made for participation.

As part of E.ON and Ipswich Town Football Club's ongoing Carbon Neutral project, Save your energy for the Blues, Stoke High had the opportunity to take part in a Richard Naylor Masterclass football coaching session at the Ipswich Town Football Club Training Ground on 8 January.

(Stoke High students with Richard Naylor and Gerard Nash)

Elizabeth Combes of Ipswich won the Richard Naylor Masterclass after making several energy efficiency pledges on the Save your energy for the Blues website such as installing energy efficient lightbulbs and turning the thermostat down by one degree. Elizabeth donated the prize to Stoke High as she is the Vice Chair of Governors at the school.

Twenty Stoke High students, aged 12-13, had an exclusive training session with Ipswich Town star Richard Naylor and Academy coach Gerard Nash, which included a lengthy skills session and a match.

Gareth Craze, Head of Physical Education at Stoke High, said, "The kids have really enjoyed themselves. Richard and Gerard have shown them some great new skills, which I am sure they will want to try out! Thanks to E.ON and Elizabeth Combes for making this happen."

Khiana Barrett Dyer said; "I loved playing football with Richard and the match we played was really fun - I took my first-ever penalty and scored!"

Elizabeth Combes commented; "I support Save your energy for the Blues because I want to do my bit to help the Club and also help save the environment."

At the end of October, Ipswich Town Football Club launched a bid to become the UK's first ever Carbon Neutral Club. The season long initiative which aims to help tackle the issue of climate change, is asking ITFC fans and the wider Suffolk community to make energy efficiency pledges in return for ITFC Money Can't Buy rewards for themselves and rewards to the Club from Main Sponsor E.ON. When the Club reaches the point of carbon neutrality, they will receive a substantial five figure donation from E.ON, which will go towards Manager Jim Magilton's player transfer budget. So far the Club is nearly 39% towards its target, with 6420 pledges and 1264 tonnes of carbon dioxide.

Melvyn Crossland, the ITFC season ticket holder who made the pledge on the Save your energy for the Blues website that took the project over the 1,000th tonne of carbon dioxide saved level, came down to Portman Road on 4 January to meet ITFC Captain and Project Ambassador Jason de Vos. As well as receiving a signed Eco kettle and additional energy efficiency products, Melvyn was also given a behind the scenes tour of the Stadium with his family.

Melvyn, a local postman, pledged to install cavity wall insulation, install draught stripping around doors and windows and loft insulation at his property in Woodbridge, which will result in a carbon dioxide saving of 2.158 tonnes, which is the equivalent to driving 6486 miles.

Melvyn said: “As a Town fan I wanted to help the Club with their goal of becoming the UK’s first Carbon Neutral football Club, so I made my pledges on the Save your energy for the Blues website. I was then absolutely delighted to be invited down to the Club, with my family, to meet Jason and see areas of the Stadium that the public can’t normally visit. We had a great afternoon. It is a great project and I hope other ITFC fans get behind the campaign – you could end up meeting Jason too.”

The Club and Save your energy for the Blues Project Ambassador Jason de Vos is asking ITFC fans to pledge climate change and energy saving measures such as fitting three energy efficient light bulbs in their house or pledging to catch a bus or car share to a football game, in return for ITFC Money Can’t Buy rewards for themselves and rewards to the club from E.ON. When the Club reaches the point of carbon neutrality, they will receive a substantial contribution of money from the Club’s Main Sponsor E.ON, which will go towards Manager Jim Magilton’s player transfer budget.

Just two months after the launch of their groundbreaking new carbon reduction project Save your energy for the Blues, Ipswich Town has reached 35% of it’s target to becoming the UK’s first ever Carbon Neutral football Club and to securing the five-figure donation from Main Sponsor E.ON towards Jim Magilton’s player transfer budget

So far there have been over 5747 energy efficiency pledges on www.saveyourenergyfortheblues.co.uk, which has resulted in a saving of 1139 tonnes of carbon dioxide, which equates to the total energy consumption for 200 homes (heating, hot water and electricity) or the emissions generated by nearly 500 cars. This is well over a third of the way towards neutralising the target of 3,220 tonnes of carbon dioxide emitted by the Club each year.

The most popular pledges that people have made include only boiling the amount of water needed, ensuring that all electrical equipment is off standby and installing at least three energy efficiency lightbulbs.

Ipswich Town Football Club Captain and Save your energy for the Blues Ambassador Jason de Vos commented: “The fans response has been fantastic and it is great news that we are 35% towards our target of becoming the UK’s first ever Carbon Neutral Football Club. I do ask though that all fans and their families make an energy efficiency pledge – if everyone did that we would be significantly closer to our target and also to getting the donation from E.ON. Perhaps if you have already pledged you could think about switching to a renewable energy source or insulating the loft, all of which will save you money in the long run.”

With every energy efficiency pledge made on the website automatically entered into a monthly prize draw to win a range of exciting ITFC prizes, fans have already been reaping the rewards. Last month’s prize draw saw Town fan James Hambling win the use of the E.ON Hospitality box for ITFC vs. Leicester City on 10 February. Alison Clarke, Paul McCabe and Nicholas Baraclough have all won tickets for ITFC vs. Colchester United (20 January) and Alan Buxton won a signed limited edition black away shirt. Simon Williams also won the match ball sponsorship for the ITFC vs. Leeds game for his company Orchard Industrial.

The 1^st of January is normally a day to make your resolutions for the forthcoming year. Why not make this year’s resolution to be as energy efficient as possible and to help Ipswich Town Football Club become the UK’s first Carbon Neutral football Club.

The 1^st of January is normally a day to make your resolutions for the forthcoming year. Why not make this year’s resolution to be as energy efficient as possible and to help Ipswich Town Football Club become the UK’s first Carbon Neutral football Club.

Even though you have pledged before, why not make another pledge? Just by installing energy efficient lightbulbs in your house, turning off all electrical equipment from standby or switching to GreenPlan electricity you will be helping the Club on it’s way to becoming carbon neutral.

There are also some great prizes up for grabs when you make an energy efficient pledge on the Save your energy for the Blues website. The next prize draw is on 8^th January 2007 with prizes including tickets for ITFC vs. Leicester, as well as a mascot appearance at that game, signed ITFC shirts including the limited edition black away shirt, as well as an exclusive Richard Naylor masterclass coaching session. So all you need to do to enter the draw is make your energy efficiency pledges on www.saveyourenergyfortheblues.co.uk.

Last month’s prize draw saw Town fan James Hambling win the use of the E.ON Hospitality box for ITFC vs. Leicester. Alison Clarke, Paul McCabe and Nicholas Baraclough all won tickets for ITFC vs. Colchester United and Alan Buxton won a signed limited edition black away shirt. Simon Williams also won the match ball sponsorship for the ITFC vs. Leeds game for his company Orchard Industrial.

We thank you for all of your support and we wish you all the best in 2007.

Jason de Vos
ITFC Captain and Ambassador for Save your energy for the Blues

Less than one month after the launch of their groundbreaking new carbon reduction project Save your energy for the Blues, Ipswich Town Football Club has reached 25% of it’s target to become the UK’s first ever Carbon Neutral Football Club and to securing the five-figure donation from Main Sponsor E.ON towards Manager Jim Magilton’s player transfer budget.

Since the project was launched to Blues fans at the end of October this year there has been a steady flow of over 160 energy efficiency pledges per day on the new project website www.saveyourenergyfortheblues.co.uk . This has resulted in over 4 , 449 pledges, saving 885 tonnes of CO2 - well over a quarter of the way towards neutralising the target of 3,220 tonnes of CO2, emitted by the Club each year.

Ipswich Town Football Club Captain and Save your energy for the Blues Project Ambassador Jason De Vos commented, “The response from the Club's fans and the wider community towards this new initiative has exceeded all our original expectations. Having already reached over 25% of our target savings in under a month, I am confident that with the fans continued support we will have no problem in reaching our goal of becoming the UK's first ever Carbon Neutral Football Club before the end of this season. If all the fans at our next home game made just one energy saving pledge each we would be even closer to achieving our goal and helping the team with E.ON's donation to Jim's transfer budget.”

With every energy efficiency pledge made on the website automatically entered into a monthly prize draw to win a range of exciting ITFC and energy saving prizes, fans have already been reaping the rewards . Following of pledging their support to the project after the first prize draw, made in early November, fans have won gave away the use of the E.ON Hospitality Box and the chance to be a Match Day Mascot at Ipswich Town's biggest game of the year against Norwich last Sunday 19 November.

Three weeks after the successful launch of Save your energy for the Blues, Ipswich Town Football Club (ITFC) is already over 17% towards the goal of becoming the UK's first Carbon Neutral club! So far we have had 3,234 pledges, saving 606 tonnes of carbon dioxide.

In the third week alone there were 143 new individual website signups that made 643 new pledges between them.

So far the most popular energy efficient pledges amongst ITFC fans have been: ‘not overfilling the kettle’ (15 tonnes CO2 saving), ‘turning equipment off standby’ (12 tonnes CO2 saving) and ‘installing energy efficient light bulbs’ (17 tonnes CO2 saving). Alternatively, the top two carbon savers are ‘loft installation’ with 23 tonnes CO2 savings and ‘turning the thermostat down by 1°C’ with 18 tonnes CO2 saving.

Fans are already reaping the rewards of making energy efficient pledges. Craig Bishop from Ipswich won the use of E.ON’s hospitality box for the biggest derby match of the year – ITFC vs Norwich City, while Roger Sparkes’ son, Ian, got the opportunity to serve as a mascot at the same match. Other great prizes have also been won including signed kit, balls and tickets.

The next big prize draw is on 4 December and includes the use of E.ON’s hospitality box at ITFC vs Leicester City, a Kids Birthday party in E.ON’s hospitality box and a Richard Naylor masterclass, as well as the limited edition black away shirt signed by first team squad.

Derek Bowden, ITFC Chief Executive, says: “The fans response to the initiative has been extremely encouraging and we hope it will continue to go from strength to strength. Our goal is to become the UK’s first Carbon Neutral Football Club and judging by the interest already shown, we are also optimistic about receiving a significant five figure sum from E.ON towards Jim Magilton’s player transfer budget as a reward to both the Club and our fans.”

Image: 14 year-old Blues fan Ian Sparks enjoys his experience as the E.ON mascot with ITFC defender Richard Naylor at the Club's biggest derby match of the year against Norwich, last Sunday 19 November. Ian’s father Roger Sparks won him the chance to be the mascot after making an energy efficiency pledge on www.saveyourenergyfortheblues.co.uk

Youngsters at the Winning Post Study Support Centre in Newmarket have been learning all about how they can save energy and support their favourite football club.

For the last week youngsters at the Winning Post have been playing power detectives. Each room at the centre was set up with various ways that we waste power, much like they would find in their own homes. These included things such as lights being left on when no one is in the room, TV’s and computers left on standby, mobile phone chargers plugged in and normal light bulbs. Each child had a clue sheet to take around the room with them on which they had to identify the wastage and record.

At the end of the search the group came together to discuss their findings and think about ways in which they could save energy around their homes. They were then given the task of creating a poster to promote saving energy from a child's perspective.

The winners were Emma Thomas of St Andrews Primary School, Soham, Howard Middleton of St Andrews Primary School, Soham and Beth Sadler and Alicia Perez of Riverside Middle School, Mildenhall. They were each presented with family tickets to watch Ipswich Town’s v Leeds United on Saturday 16th December and each school received energy saving lightbulbs by Ipswich Town legend Simon Milton and Jackie Fairweather from E.ON.

You can view the posters here

For further information on how you could save energy around your home please log on to www.saveyoureneryfortheblues.co.uk

Ipswich Town Football Club's bid to become the UK's first ever carbon neutral club is off to a great start. Following the successful press and supporters launch, 2,289 energy efficiency pledges have already been made, which has amounted to a total saving of 435 tonnes of carbon dioxide - over 13% of the 3,220 tonnes target to make ITFC the UK's first ever carbon neutral Football Club.

Ipswich Town Football Club Captain and Save your energy for the Blues Project Ambassador Jason De Vos says, "It's great to see the fans getting behind the Club and supporting this initiative. Every pledge makes a difference and brings us closer to our goal of carbon neutrality."

Dr. Simon Gerrard of CRed says, "The initial response to the programme has been very encouraging and it is great to see Ipswich Town fans and the wider Suffolk community supporting the Club by making these positive steps to neutralise carbon emissions and tackle climate change."

The overall aim of the project is that Ipswich Town Football Club fans will make energy efficiency and carbon reduction pledges on www.saveyourenergyfortheblues.co.uk to neutralise the carbon emissions made by the club over the course of a season. Then to reward the fans for these pledges, once the Club has become Carbon Neutral, Main Sponsor E.ON will donate a significant five-figure sum of money to Jim Magilton's player transfer budget.

What's more each pledge is entered into a monthly prize draw to win a range of prizes including signed footballs and shirts, the use of the E.ON hospitality box at Portman Road, a training masterclass with Richard Naylor as well as free electricity and gas for a year, energy efficient light bulbs and free loft insulation.

The draw for the first of these great prizes will be made on Monday 13 November where the E.ON hospitality box for the Ipswich v Norwich local Derby will be up for grabs.

This project is supported by the Defra Climate Challenge Fund and CRed Suffolk.

For further information please contact Anna Robertson at 01483 209862 or at arobertson@brand-rapport.com / Nick Hayes at 01483 209822 or at nhayes@brand-rapport.com

Ipswich Town Football Club (ITFC), with the support of their Main Sponsor E.ON, the Defra Climate Challenge Fund, and CRed have today (Thursday 26 October) launched the 'Save your energy for the Blues' carbon reduction programme which aims to help tackle the issue of climate change, one of the biggest challenges we face today. The season long initiative is the first project of its kind anywhere in the UK which aims to help the Club, Ipswich Town fans and the wider Suffolk Community to understand and tackle climate change through informing, challenging and changing people's attitudes.

The Club and Save your energy for the Blues Project Ambassador Jason de Vos (ITFC Captain) is asking ITFC fans to pledge climate change and energy saving measures such as fitting three energy efficient light bulbs in their house or pledging to catch a bus or car share to a football game, in return for ITFC Money Can’t Buy rewards for themselves and rewards to the club from E.ON. When the Club reaches the point of carbon neutrality, they will receive a substantial contribution of money from the Club’s Main Sponsor E.ON, which will go towards Manager Jim Magilton’s player transfer budget.

The overall aim of the project is that ITFC fans will realise the importance of climate change in their daily lives and as a result make energy efficiency and carbon reduction pledges on www.saveyourenergyfortheblues.co.uk to neutralise the 3,200 tonnes of carbon dioxide that the Club generates over the course of a season. These carbon emissions are generated through all match related activity, which include running the stadium, the training ground, as well as player and supporter transport to and from games.

When the fans make a pledge they will be entered into a prize draw to win a range of prizes including signed footballs and shirts, the use of the E.ON hospitality box at Portman Road, a training masterclass with Richard Naylor as well as free electricity and gas for a year, energy efficient light bulbs and free loft insulation. Progress will be monitored and evaluated using the CRed system and through questionnaire surveys before and after the campaign.

Derek Bowden, Chief Executive, Ipswich Town Football Club commented: “This is the first initiative of its kind anywhere in the UK and it is really exciting to think that we will be the first Carbon Neutral football Club in the UK. With the help of E.ON, we have been working hard to decrease the carbon emissions that the Club produces over the course of a season. We have run a series of energy efficiency tests, which have reduced our energy consumption by over 17% and we have now switched the Club onto Green Tariff, as well as introducing an energy management system across the stadium and the training ground.”

Save your energy for the Blues Ambassador, Jason de Vos said: “I really hope that the fans get behind this project by pledging energy and carbon saving measures such as turning their TV off standby or fitting energy efficient light bulbs, which will not only benefit the environment, but will also benefit the Club and themselves. Everyone’s efforts large or small will help us reach our target – overall it is a win, win project for all involved."

Helen Merrick, Director of Brand Strategy and Communications, E.ON said: “As a leading UK energy company we want to help change the way in which we all use energy – and Save your energy for the Blues is a groundbreaking way of doing this through the fans meeting their pledges and the club in using its energy more efficiently. As the Club’s Main Sponsor, we hope that our energy advice, incentives for fans and the donation towards Manager Jim Magilton’s player transfer budget will all contribute to a great season.”

Dr Matthew Ling, Head of Environment Strategy at Ipswich Borough Council for CRed Suffolk commented: “This is a really exciting project and it has our full support. It is very important that steps are taken now to make people aware of how important climate change is and in turn enable them to decrease the amount of carbon emissions that are generated to reduce the threat of climate change. This is why we need to address this issue now and why projects such as this are so important. Everyone can do something to help however small it seems.”

Secretary of State for the Environment, David Milliband said: "Climate change is the biggest challenge we face and raising awareness and understanding is first step we need to take. It's exciting that organisations such as Ipswich Borough Council and Ipswich Town FC are taking on the challenge in such a positive way so people will feel empowered to act. My Department recognises that effort through the Climate Challenge fund, which is supporting organisations such as these in their attempts to change people’s attitudes. I welcome the steps Ipswich Town FC has taken to reduce its energy consumption and in recognising the important role that their fans can play as we strive to address climate change."