Ørsted’s East Coast Community Fund awards over £1.5 million to worthy causes

Over 120 local projects, community groups and charities have been awarded a share of over £1.5 million from the Ørsted East Coast Community Fund.

This comes as eleven deserving local organisations are celebrating the news that they have been awarded grants from the seventh round of Ørsted’s East Coast Community Fund.

The East Coast Community Fund is part of the community engagement programme for Ørsted’s Hornsea One and Race Bank offshore wind farms. Each year, until 2037, approximately £390,000 will be available from the main fund to support a wide range of community and environmental projects.

An additional £75,000 per year is ring-fenced for a skills fund, designed to support a range of educational and training initiatives.

The community groups will each receive a share of the windfall, which is available every six months through an open application process.

The successful groups from the seventh round are:

• St Andrew’s Hospice, St Andrew’s Hospice Refurbishment Project - £37,944
  
  
• Cleethorpes Community Sports and Education, Community Trin Renovation - £27,735
  
  
• Cruse Bereavement Care, King’s Lynn and West Norfolk – expanding bereavement support provision - £36,073
  
  
• Grimsby in Bloom, Garden Café - £5,000
  
  
• A Walk in the Park, A Walk in the Park - £13,613
  
  
• Oasis Community Hub Wintringham, Oasis Family Learning and Support – Zero Waste Project - £17,136
  
  
• Hornsea Inshore Rescue, Hornsea Rescue Seasafe Training Project - £8,000
  
  
• Asthma Relief, Asthma Relief at Work on the East Coast - £4,940
  
  
• Sussex Bowling Club, Rescue the Sussex Bowling Club - £5,000
  
  
• The Equality Practice Ltd, ME – Training - £5,000
  
  
• The Long Sutton Men’s Shed, Extension and Conversion of Shed 3 - £5,000

On receiving the good news, Dave Penham, Founder and Honorary Member of Asthma Relief said: “We are delighted by such welcome news! Amidst the Coronavirus (COVID 19) outbreak & increased demand for our help, your kind grant will enable us to get Nebulisers to NHS healthcare professionals on the front line; our approach to this pandemic is twofold - to utilise machines to enable as many patients as possible to use them at home and keep them out of acute care, thereby (i) freeing up as many NHS beds as possible plus (ii) reducing the numbers of vulnerable patients potentially being exposed to infection.”

Imran Nawaz, Stakeholder Advisor and Community Benefit Fund Manager at Ørsted, said: “It’s so rewarding to be able to see what a difference this one and a half million pounds has made to the many deserving causes in the local area. The communities surrounding the sites we operate from are extremely important to us and we’re pleased to be able to help where we can.” 

The Fund was launched by Ørsted in December 2016 and, across both the main fund and skills fund, has so far donated over £1.5 million to more than 120 projects. In total, over the twenty years, up to £9.3 million will be made available for community and environmental projects in coastal areas of Yorkshire, Lincolnshire and North Norfolk.

There are two application rounds each year for groups to apply to, and the next closing date is 29 July 2020.

The Fund is being administered by national charity GrantScape. For further details of how you can apply to the next round, please visit GrantScape’s website www.grantscape.org.uk or call 01908 247634.