The team behind a £5 million redevelopment scheme at Cheadle Mosque has announced plans for an electric vehicle charging hub. The Mosque based in Heald Green, Stockport, is being transformed into a purpose-built building to cater for the growing community.
The ambitious redevelopment which will provide a spiritual hub for the Muslim community, will also expand on the Mosque's growing educational, charitable and cohesion activities. The Mosque's activities span intergenerational and caters for those of other or no faith; it is regarded as a beacon of community activism. The Cheadle Muslim Association (CMA) has partnered with Manchester firm Be.EV to install electric vehicle charging points and connect the new facility to the largest public EV charging network in the region. The Be.EV chargers will be provided and installed at no cost to Cheadle Mosque.
Farooq Rafiq, a trustee at CMA, said: “As a popular community hub and mosque we welcome hundreds of people from across Greater Manchester each week. The original building, formerly St Columbus Church, has served the local community very well for a number of years, but we’ve outgrown it.
“We have worshippers spilling out into the car park because there isn’t enough room, and our classrooms are far from suitable to give the best teaching experience. The new purpose-built centre will change all that. We will have an expanded car park to serve the new building.”
Mr Rafiq added: “As our community grows we recognise that many will have electric vehicles and we want to make sure they can charge their vehicles while using the centre.
“We chose to work with Be.EV as they provided a competitive arrangement on a network widely recognised with drivers in the area. Above all, they recognised our commitment to do the best to protect the environment and we are confident their solution will deliver this, including continuity of service by taking care of ongoing maintenance.”
Asif Ghafoor, CEO of Be.EV, said: “We’re delighted to be working with CMA to deliver an electric charging hub at the new Masjid.
“We’re committed to providing EV charging where our communities need and want them, to build an ever-denser regional network that makes it easy for people to go electric. We help local groups and communities like the CMA to offer reliable, easy-to-use charging facilities that are part of our fast-growing network in the region.
“We urge more organisations to come forward and let us help them make EV charging accessible to their members, customers or local communities.”
Be.EV is the largest public EV charging network in Greater Manchester and is expanding at pace across the North of England.
Part of the funding to grow the network of chargers has come from FCA regulated crowdfunding platform, Abundance Investment, whose investors have raised more than £7m for the parent company, Iduna across two separate investment offers. The latest is still open to investors having raised more than £3.5m of its £6.5m target in 2022. As with any investment your capital is at risk.
With 140 charging points in place and a growing pipeline of new sites secured, Be.EV is looking to secure enough sites in 2022 to create a 1,000-strong network. The EV chargers and their installation are free.
Own, rent or know of a suitable site? Contact the Be.EV team to let them know or to find out more here.
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About Be.EV
Be.EV is a public electric vehicle (EV) charging provider. We operate, refresh, expand and maintain local networks of public EV charging infrastructure across the north of England. We’re a local business, working with suppliers from the region to deliver EV charging with a difference: local, simple, effortless.
For example, we grow and look after the largest network of public EV chargers in Greater Manchester. It consists of 140 charge-points today. By the end of 2022, we aim to have secured sites to build a 1,000-strong network across the north of England. Our membership scheme has over 8,800 members who can access our chargers alongside pay-as-you-go users.
Be.EV works closely with public and private sector organisations to make electric vehicle use accessible to local communities. We can deliver both publicly and privately funded public chargers, on public sector sites and on those owned by commercial partners. With the help of data analytics, we put the right chargers in the right places – and ensure people find them when they need them.
The Be.EV team is based in Manchester and is part of technology-led infrastructure, mobility and clean energy group Iduna, which specialises in the development and operation of sustainable future infrastructure that delivers a positive social impact.