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Community grants

Our community grants help support local groups and organisations in the coastal regions where we construct and operate our offshore wind farms.

We are committed to making a positive impact in the communities where we construct and operate our offshore wind farms and other projects. Our four Community Benefit Funds — Burbo Bank Extension Community Fund, East Coast Community Fund, Walney Extension Community Fund and Hornsea 3 Community Fund — have so far awarded over £12.8 million to almost 900 local social and environmental projects along the East and West coasts.

Our funds are administered by independent grant-making charity GrantScape, with decision-making supported by local Advisory Groups made up of community specialists who benefit from a strong and deep understanding of the local community and environment.

Discover more about our funds in our latest newsletter and read the stories where community grants are making a real difference:

Read our Community Benefit Funds newsletter

Our Community Benefit Funds

Explore our Community Benefit Funds and learn how to apply for coastal community funding.

Burbo Bank Extension Community Fund

Burbo Bank Extension Community Fund

Burbo Bank Extension offshore wind farm is located in Liverpool Bay on the UK's west coast.

The fund is worth approximately £225,000 each year for the lifetime of the project and has so far awarded over 200 grants across Merseyside and North Wales.

Click here to apply for funding via the GrantScape website.

East Coast Community Fund

The East Coast Community Fund is linked to the Hornsea projects and Racebank offshore wind farms and has £465,000 available each year. Almost 300 projects have been supported so far in coastal areas of Yorkshire, Lincolnshire and North Norfolk.

More than £4 million has been awarded to community and environmental projects in the coastal areas of Yorkshire, Lincolnshire and north Norfolk since the Fund launched in 2016.

Click here to apply for funding via the GrantScape website.

Walney Extension Community Fund

The Walney Extension Community Fund is linked to the offshore wind farm around 19km off the Walney Island coast in Cumbria and has £600,000 of funding available annually. A total of £100,000 of this is ring fenced for a Skills Fund. To date, almost 300 local groups and projects have received support.

Click here to apply for funding via the GrantScape website.
Orsted supporting local communities

Hornsea 3 Community Fund

The Hornsea 3 Community Fund has been launched to support local groups and organisations in the North Norfolk and East Anglia region. With £700,000 available each year, total of £7 million will be awarded over a minimum ten-year period.

The annual fund will be divided into the Main Community Fund of £500,000, a Skills Fund of £100,000, and a Legacy Fund of £100,000 which will go to one capital green project per year.

To date, 63 projects have been supported.
Image of vessel in foreground with offshore wind turbines in background

Hornsea 3 Fisheries Fund

The Hornsea 3 Fisheries Fund aims to support the offshore wind and fishing industries successful coexistence along the Norfolk coastline.

The fund is worth £20,000 annually and will be divided into two application rounds of £10,000 each.

What is the community grant application process?
  • Where do I submit an application to the Ørsted Community Benefit Funds?
    Applications are submitted to our fund administrator GrantScape via their application portal.
  • When can I apply?
    The Community Benefit Funds are available for applications all year round, there are two funding rounds per year and therefore grants are donated twice each year. Details of the next submission deadline can be found on GrantScape’s website.
  • Will my application be eligible?
    A full list of eligibility criteria can be found on GrantScape’s website, each application received by the funding round deadline is assessed by Grant Officers at GrantScape to ensure it meets the specific criteria
  • Who determines the applications?
    All eligible applications are then presented to the relevant Advisory Group (AG) that have been established to determine successful applications and how the grants from the relevant Fund will be allocated. Each Fund has its own Advisory Group, which is formed of Ørsted, GrantScape and community representatives.
  • What is the next step?
    Recommendations from the AG are then presented to GrantScape’s Board of Trustees to make final decisions on which applications will receive grants.
  • When will I know whether I have been successful?
    GrantScape will confirm the final decision to applicants following the Fund decision date published on GrantScape’s website.
Images showing the process of how to apply for an Ørsted Community Benefit Fund
  
Community Benefits of Offshore Wind

Transforming coastal communities

Offshore wind is helping to transform UK coastal communities through investment in local facilities, the creation of high-skilled jobs and the development of competitive, export-orientated local supply chains.

Discover the benefits of offshore wind