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A Buckinghamshire community rugby club is celebrating a great result off the pitch after completing its second solar-powered season.
As part of a long-term environmental and financial sustainability drive, Olney Rugby Football Club installed a solar energy and battery storage system at its East Street clubhouse after securing joint project funding from Milton Keynes City Council and the community fund linked to renewable energy firm OnPath Energy’s nearby Milton Keynes Wind Farm.
Since coming online in September 2024, the new system has enabled the club to both halve its energy use and reduce its monthly energy bills by around £600, which has in turn freed up more capital for investment in playing and training resources.
The project’s success has also led the club’s committee to rethink the way in which energy can be used and saved around the venue, including timer switches being fitted to the fridges behind the bar and securing sponsorship to have new double glazing added.
It is also now looking at investing in more batteries and the heating/hot water systems to save even more money on future energy bills.
Olney RFC is run by a team of dedicated volunteers, for which it was awarded the Queen’s award for Voluntary Service in 2020.The Club has four senior men’s teams, as well as ladies, colts, vets and walking rugby teams. It also has over 400 mini and junior players on its books, with teams at every age group from U6s to U18s
This is a brilliant example of a forward-thinking community sports club taking a long-term view of its future and taking steps to make it a sustainable one.
Will Smeeton, partnerships and community manager at OnPath Energy.
The Club’s men’s 1st XV competes in the Regional 2 Midlands East league, while its colts team won the 2026 RFU Nation U18s National Cup, beating Wilmslow RUFC Colts in the final at the Sixways Stadium in Worcester.
Marcus Trott, chair of the sponsorship & fundraising committee at Olney RFC, says: “We replaced our old floodlights four years ago with a more energy efficient system and the cost and consumption savings that this brought about got us thinking about how we could operate more sustainably, from both an environmental and a financial point of view.
“Energy has always been one of our biggest expenses and the severe price rises that everyone has experienced over the last few years were becoming a real issue for a small club like ours with many other running costs to cover.
“Investing in a solar energy generation and storage system was the obvious way to address this and we saw an immediate and significant benefit to our finances once it came online, which has freed up money for investing in other areas of the club.
“We’ve also had a lot of interest from members in what we’ve done and it’s encouraged us to make other changes in our energy use around the clubhouse which are all adding up to make a substantial difference.
“The funding that Milton Keynes City Council and OnPath Energy provided made this project possible and will have a massive positive impact on both our finances and our environmental impact for years to come.”
OnPath Energy’s Milton Keynes Wind Farm generated more than 31,200MWh of green electricity during 2024, which is enough to meet the average annual electricity needs of almost 10,800 homes
Will Smeeton, partnerships and community manager at OnPath Energy, adds: “This is a brilliant example of a forward-thinking community sports club taking a long-term view of its future and taking steps to make it a sustainable one.
“We’re very pleased to be part of this impressive project and hope the club continues to get great results both on and off the pitch.”
OnPath Energy recently relaunched the Milton Keynes Wind Farm community benefits fund and directs around £7,000 of the revenues generated by the wind farm into it every year, with around £40,000 currently held within it for which local groups can apply.
MK Community Foundation is managing the fund and assessing applications, with priority being given to projects relating to green energy, sustainability and the environment.
Community projects in the vicinity of the Milton Keynes Wind Farm which are interested in applying for funding should first email applications@mkcommunityfoundation.co.uk for further information on the application process.
