Save money with brilliant new community oil scheme

Wiltshire residents are invited to join the super savvy savers of Wiltshire who have between them saved almost £22,000 in the past 10 months on fuel bills.

Anyone who wants to save money on their fuel bills and help the environment too is encouraged to get involved in this innovative new scheme. Community First Wiltshire has developed CF Oil – a brilliant way to negotiate and buy oil collectively for the best price and help local communities save money on their heating fuel.

Members of the scheme in each area can have their oil delivered every month at the same time, saving on fuel miles for the lorries as well as on cash for themselves. Once it receives all the orders Community First organises bulk purchase and delivery of the oil from different suppliers at the best prices, achieving collective savings for all the members in the group.

Since starting CF Oil in October 2011 Community First has saved clients £21,688.82 on their combined fuel bills. This is an average saving of £150, with the highest saving on a single order being £499. CF Oil now wants to recruit more members and more volunteer co-ordinators all across Wiltshire to make the scheme even more economical and worthwhile.

Co-ordinators only have to volunteer for an hour or two each month. They save on the annual membership fee for the scheme, currently £20 a year for private households, £30 for community buildings and £100 for businesses, and don’t have to handle any money, since members pay for their order direct to the delivery company.

Philippa Read, Chief Executive of Community First said “Every time a tanker comes out to make a delivery, it is using a lot of diesel - a full tanker can get as little as a horrifying eight miles per gallon. If deliveries are organised so that one tanker delivers to several customers in a village at one time instead of making lots of individual deliveries, the fuel consumption is reduced and so is traffic in the village.”

To join the scheme or find out more about being a local co-ordinator please contact CF Oil at Community First, Wyndhams, St Joseph’s Place, Devizes, Wilts SN10 1DD; on tel 01380 732809 or email oil@communityfirst.org.uk