MCS Charitable Foundation

MCS Charitable Foundation is an independent charity established in 2016 with a mission to accelerate widespread adoption of renewable energy and low carbon technologies, driving the transition to a net zero carbon economy through education, environmental protection, and sustainable energy deployment. Core values emphasize evidence-led action, collaboration across sectors, innovation, inclusivity, and just transition principles, believing systemic change arises from removing barriers in skills, finance, markets, and engagement via strategic partnerships with government, industry, and civil society. Their grantmaking philosophy prioritizes replicable, system-wide impact through practical enablers, capacity building, and policy-influencing activities that catalyze national-scale decarbonisation.

Thematic priorities center on domestic retrofit and energy efficiency measures, renewable heating solutions including heat pump installations and technician apprenticeships, innovative finance mechanisms for low carbon upgrades, public engagement and behaviour change campaigns promoting household adoption, workforce skills development and supply chain growth for green jobs, and applied research informing best practices and scaling retrofit programmes. They support demonstration projects showcasing retrofit methodologies, community-led renewable adoption schemes, pioneering training like the UK's first heat pump apprenticeship standards, environmental NGO initiatives raising retrofit awareness, and academic research on engagement strategies and finance innovation. Beneficiaries include households pursuing carbon-free homes, vulnerable low-income communities facing energy poverty, professionals building green skills, and local groups enabling coordinated energy upgrades, with outcomes focused on increased low carbon technology uptake, enhanced public action, expanded skills capacity, and scalable decarbonisation pathways addressing climate change root causes through preventative, community-empowered interventions.

Exclusions encompass routine installations, refurbishments, transport projects, core operational costs, one-off localized initiatives, or activities lacking national scalability or evidence potential. Distinctive for exclusive renewable/low carbon focus, integration of grantmaking with advocacy and sector leadership, and commitment to just transition ensuring accessibility for low-income households, they prioritize charities, academics, and community groups as innovators and system catalysts demonstrating replicable impact, evidence-based practice, and multi-sector collaboration for greener futures.