This is a story about a working group, a shared objective, and an intern who turned out to be exactly the fresh eyes it needed.

Earlier this year, Natasha Bridge at Sussex Energy pulled together a communications working group for community energy organisations across our region, OVESCO included. What came out of those conversations was something most of us already knew but rarely said out loud: we’re all stretched thin, short on time, and painstakingly reinventing the same wheel every time we try to tell the ‘community energy’ story. Shared content, we realised, could help us tell that story once, tell it well, let everyone use it and amplify one another.

That’s where Bruno came in. Natasha brought him on through the University of Sussex’s internship programme, and it turned out, not for the first time, as you’ll see below, that a fresh pair of eyes was exactly what the project needed. Over six weeks, he built the toolkit our sector had been talking about for a while. We asked him to tell that story himself. Over to him.

Guest blog by Bruno D’Orta

Coming into the role, I was interested in the environment but knew very little about community energy, or the work already being done across Sussex. That made the experience particularly eye-opening.

Building Something for Everyone

My main task was to create a non-branded communications toolkit that organisations across Sussex could use to talk about energy and climate action. The idea was a library of ready-made content, adaptable for websites, newsletters and social media, so it’s easier for organisations to reach their own audiences without starting from scratch each time.

I produced the first pack, focused on community energy. You can find it here: Ready-made energy communications content.

Joined-Up Thinking

Researching the sector and speaking with people from community energy organisations across the region taught me how much is already happening in Sussex, large scale projects creating positive change without many people knowing about it.

What stayed with me most was knowing the toolkit wasn’t for one campaign or one organisation. It was for many different partners at once, so instead of each group solving the same communications problem alone, they’d have a shared starting point. That felt like the real point of the project: not a single message handed down, but a shared one, built together.

What I’m Taking With Me

Working alongside Natasha Bridge and the wider team was a highlight. I was given real ownership of the work, with support close by when I needed it, and that balance helped me grow in confidence.

Knowing the toolkit will keep being used by organisations across Sussex, long after my six weeks ended, is what I’m proudest of.

Want to hear more about Bruno’s experience?

This article gives more insight into the project, and especially Bruno’s role, what he learnt during his internship and how the communications resources were developed. Scroll down to see Bruno’s video!

Back to OVESCO

We worry a lot, in this industry, about what we’re handing the next generation: not just a climate under strain, but a system that still needs to work fairly for everyone, not just a few. That worry is starting to feel urgent.

So it means something to see a young person like Bruno not just learning about community energy, but helping to fix one of its oldest problems: that we’re all telling the same story slightly differently, and it’s costing us. A shared toolkit, built by someone six weeks into understanding the sector, is exactly the kind of unglamorous, behind-the-scenes work that holds this whole movement together.

It’s also exactly why we’ve loved hosting interns of our own. If you enjoyed this, you might like hearing from Rob and Syafira, who each wrote about their own time with us. Different organisations, same generation asking good questions. We’re glad they’re asking them.