The East Coast Community Fund is part of the community engagement programme for Ørsted’s Hornsea 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.
In June 2020, Ørsted amended its application criteria towards its community funds nationwide in order to make access easier to those who may have been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The successful groups from round nine are:
- St John’s Ambulance, St John Boston - Replacement Defibrillator Fund - £4,320
- North Somercotes Bowls Club, North Somercotes 60th Anniversary Celebratory Membership Drive - £1,285
- Bells and Whistles Exercise Group, St. Peter's Nature Watch and Bird-Hide - £2000
- Buglife - The Invertebrate Conservation Trust, Get Kings Lynn Buzzing for People and Pollinators! - £8,900
- Welholme Works, Heneage Ward Grimsby - Reaching our Groups and Families - £3,759
- East Riding Voluntary Action Services (ERVAS) Ltd, Bridlington Detached Youth Work Project - £15,090
- Mablethorpe Men's Shed, Mablethorpe Mens Shed - £15,516
- Sutton Bridge Community Larder, Community Larder - Railway Lane, Sutton Bridge - £19,250
- Emerge Hub CIC, Sex-workers Support Hub – Grimsby - £50,000
- Access - Supporting Migrants in East Anglia, Multi Lingual Project Worker Costs - £16,600
- Cleethorpes Town FC, Clee Town Connecting With The Community - £17,710
- The Benjamin Foundation, North West Norfolk - Youth Work – £32,376
- Citizens Advice South Lincolnshire, A Migrant Worker Helpline Advice Service for Coastal Lincolnshire - £13,320
- The Matthew Project, Bounce Back: West Norfolk Young People’s Mental Health Support - £15,000
On receiving the good news, Angela Teague, Operations Manager for Youth Services from the Benjamin Foundation said: “We are thrilled to have been successful with our application to the East Coast Community Fund. This funding will enable further development of an existing youth group in Hunstanton and will also see new provision open in the village of Dersingham. The new group was identified as a need prior to the global Covid-19 pandemic. We have liaised throughout the past year to keep the young people of West Norfolk high on our agenda. During lockdowns we have been creative in our delivery of youth provision in Hunstanton, learning along the way. We recognise it has been a difficult time for everyone but especially for children and young people. Isolation, the push to online learning and fear has had a detrimental impact on mental health and for many young people recovery and repair is a long way off. Youth Groups like these are a way for young people to meet friends or make new ones, try new activities, and learn new skills but most of all to be themselves, feel safe and have fun. This project has an added element of 1-1 support, which can be offered for a short time on an individual basis with the aim that a young person can grow in confidence to access the group sessions.”
Imran Nawaz, Stakeholder Advisor and Community Benefit Fund Manager at Ørsted, said: “This past year has been tough, so Ørsted wanted to make sure the East Coast Community Fund was more accessible than ever before. The groups chosen are nine examples of communities coming together to keep supporting each other across a wide range of areas. We are proud to be able to help our local community through projects and environment initiatives. Well done to all those who have been successful.”
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 28 July 2021.
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 247630.
ENDS
Photo:
Youth Work, The Benjamin Foundation. Credit: The Benjamin Foundation
Editors’ Notes:
Media contacts
Matt Young – GrantScape: 01908 247630 matt.young@grantscape.org.uk
Charli Parkin – Ørsted: +44 (0) 79 1 7766070 cpark@orsted.com
About Ørsted
The Ørsted vision is a world that runs entirely on green energy. Ørsted develops, constructs and operates offshore and onshore wind farms, solar farms, energy storage facilities, and bioenergy plants, and provides energy products to its customers. Globally, Ørsted is the market leader in offshore wind and it is constructing the world’s biggest offshore wind farms off the East Coast of the UK. Its UK offshore wind farms generate enough clean electricity for over three million UK homes. Ørsted ranks #1 in Corporate Knights' 2020 index of the Global 100 most sustainable corporations in the world and is recognised on the CDP Climate Change A List as a global leader on climate action. Headquartered in Denmark, Ørsted employs 6,500 people, including over 1000 in the UK. Ørsted's shares are listed on Nasdaq Copenhagen (Orsted). In 2019, the group's revenue was DKK 67.8 billion (EUR 9.1 billion). Visit orsted.co.uk or follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and Twitter.
About GrantScape
GrantScape is a grant-making charity committed to enhancing the environment and strengthening local communities through its grant programmes. GrantScape’s experience stretches back to 1997 and it has awarded grants totalling almost £90 million to deserving projects over this time.
GrantScape manages a range of community and environmental grant programmes on behalf of corporate and local authority clients. These are tailored to their individual requirements, which is the charity’s speciality. In addition, GrantScape offers a professional project management and grant process review service to groups requiring support with these activities.
For further information, please see grantscape.org.uk or follow us @GrantScape1 on Twitter.
About the Hornsea One and Race Bank Offshore Windfarms
Ørsted’s Hornsea One and Race Bank offshore windfarms are located off the Yorkshire, Lincolnshire and North Norfolk coast. Race Bank was officially opened in 2018, and having become fully operational this year, Hornsea One has become the largest offshore wind farm in the world. Combined, these two wind farms will have a combined capacity of nearly 1.8 gigawatts, making them capable of meeting the electricity needs of more than 1.5 million UK homes.
For further information on Hornsea One, please see www.hornseaprojectone.co.uk
For further information on Race Bank, please see https://orsted.co.uk/energy-solutions/Offshore-wind/Our-wind-farms
About the East Coast Community Fund
Ørsted has committed to a Community Fund worth approximately £465,000 each year for 20 years. £75,000 of the Fund each year is ring-fenced for a ‘Skills Fund’.
The Fund supports community and environmental projects along the Yorkshire, Lincolnshire and the North Norfolk coasts (as far as Wells-next-the-Sea), within a defined area. It is split equally between two annual funding rounds. There are two levels of grants available:
- Small grants between £1,000 and £5,000
- Main grants between £5,001 and £50,000
Applications to the Fund are made using an online application system via the GrantScape website grantscape.org.uk
