This week’s Big Energy Race Newsletter comes to you with lots of helpful hints and terrific tips about the race and making the most out of it!

Solar Cities Scotland has been great with the use of social media, active on Facebook and Twitter and are really engaged with the BER message. They share our advice and tips with their wider network to spread the word about Big Energy Race.

Kingswood Sparks is super at writing articles. They have reviewed challenges a lot and shared their tips too! What is noticeable about them is that their articles read a lot more like stories - maybe that’s why they’ve also been great at getting new member on board!

Of all the winning Teams of the Week, the one that stands out is H.Energy Hat Throwers. They used local press to promote us and their website has Big Energy Race all over it. They’ve written a record numbers of articles, have been engaged, active and are racking up points for challenges!

Go teams!

They say you have to do something 21 times before it becomes a habit which can be hard when enthusiasm starts to wane. To help maintain momentum we’ve come up with some handy steps to keep you, and others, motivated!

• Develop a trigger action plan – this is a clear, concrete trigger which is followed by an action. Example: ‘When I get up to go to bed, I will turn the TV off at the plug.’ Simple to remember and easy to do!
• Make time to check-in – it’s really important to recognise when you have done well and make time to reflect on the improvements that you’ve made, no matter what they are. Why not mark your progress with a celebration? Instagram gold, that is!
• Knock down the barriers – is there something stopping you from adopting a particular behaviour? Have a think and identify the barriers that might be hindering you. When you find what they are, you’ll be surprised how easy it can be to watch them crumble as you tackle them head-on! We make no apologies for a hurdle joke.
• Announce it to the world! - Share your successes! What’s better than giving yourself a pat on the back? Having someone else do it for you. Sharing all your successes and positive changes will certainly attract encouragement and congratulations to keep you going that bit extra and make sure your changes stick! You might even inspire others to make changes too! Tweet, Facebook and blog all your good work and earn bonus points at the same time!

5 Top Tips!

We’ve had some questions come in about how to gain the title of Team of the Week. There are lots of factors we take into account, but we thought we’d give you a rundown of the TOP 5 things you can do to gain big points and be in with the chance of winning Team of the Week!

Team Members and individuals affiliated to a team can gain points and fight for the title of Team of the Week by sending an email to friends and family and asking them to follow these simple instructions.

I’m taking part in the Big Energy Race in support of [your team name]. We’re taking action to save energy, which could win our team energy saving prizes and the chance for £20,000 towards an energy saving project in our local community. It would be great if you could help our team:

• Click here to sign-up choosing [TEAM NAME] in the “Group name” box.
• Look out for an email from donotreply@bigenergyrace.org, with your race instructions
• Log in to the Big Energy Race website and pick energy saving challenges you can do at home.
• That’s it! If you have any problems along the way, contact enquiries@bigenergyrace.org. 

Just by taking part you’ll help to show how easy it can be to save energy.

Until next time!