This announcement means that since the Fund was launched in 2016 over £1M has now been committed to community and environmental projects located in coastal communities near to the Walney Extension offshore wind farm in Cumbria.
The full list of organisations awarded grants from Round 4 are as follows:
Over Wyre Social and Activity Club £1,000
Cumbria Alcohol Drug Advisory Service £5,000
Lancaster Tennis Club £2,800
Urban Extreme £5,000
Friends of Kents Bank Station & Foreshore £2,650
Ireleth Temperance Hall £5,000
Furness Music Centre £5,000
Kirksanton Village Hall £25,000
The Birchall Trust £40,000
Pilling Memorial Hall £29,425
Women's Community Matters £31,500
Barrow AFC Community Sports £20,000
Barrow & District Disability Association £35,000
Barrow Domestic Appliances CIC £10,557
The Lancashire Wildlife Trust £9,108
The Growing Club CIC £26,560
Humphrey Laidlaw, Ørsted Policy Analyst, said: “The Community Fund gives us a great outlet to support the hard work of many local organisations and we are delighted to announce the latest round of funding. The region plays a significant role in our offshore wind operations and it’s important to us to try to make a lasting and positive impact locally.”
Jane Keith from Urban Extreme, one of the successful groups said: “The grant means so much to everyone at Urban. After a long 12 months of planning and applying for grants we can now finally go ahead with the Pump track. It is going to be a wicked summer for the kids."
The Fund is made possible by Ørsted (formerly DONG Energy) which is currently constructing the new offshore wind farm off the Walney Island coast in Cumbria. Each year, approximately £600,000 will be made available for community projects for the expected 25 year lifetime of the wind farm, which will become the world’s largest offshore wind farm on completion later this year.
The sixteen groups above join a list of 43 other community groups that have already benefitted from the Fund.
The fifth round of the Fund is now open to applications. The Fund is being administered by national grant-making charity GrantScape and more details can be found at GrantScape’s website www.grantscape.org.uk or by calling 01908 247634. The next closing date for applications is 4 July 2018.