The latest round of funding awards sees Ørsted’s Walney Extension Community Fund soar through the major milestone of awarding over £4million in grant funding.
Some 230 individual projects in coastal communities in Cumbria and Lancashire have shared a massive £4,121,760 through the main Walney Extension Community Fund and it’s dedicated Skills Fund.
Imran Nawaz, Senior Advisor & Community Benefit Fund Manager for Ørsted, said: “This is an exciting milestone to reach. Over the last seven years, we have awarded over £4million, with another 18 years to go. Each of the 230 organisations and charities are great examples of the fantastic community drive in the area. In these challenging times, we are even more grateful to the groups who apply for the funding, to help them deliver their important projects. We’re so proud to support each one.”
Marking this achievement, fund donor Ørsted is keen to ensure the fund plays its part in protecting the environment and is encouraging groups to be ‘Inspired by Green’.
Organisations applying to the Walney Extension Community Fund are being asked to reflect on how their project may impact the environment and to look for opportunities to make their project environmentally sustainable.
Through the grant application process, groups are asked if they are taking steps to minimise the carbon footprint of the project they are seeking funding support for, and whether the project will make a positive impact on the environment – in other words, is the project ‘Inspired by Green’? New judging criteria for the fund is giving greater weighting to the answers to these questions.
Eighteen organisations have been awarded funding in the latest round of funding sharing over £253,000. Two of the projects that were ‘Inspired by Green’ were the Dalton Leisure Centre project and the Marsh Street Arches & Gardens CIC project.
On hearing they had been awarded £8,124 to replace their defunct pool cover,
Dalton Leisure Centre Manager, Bernard McPeake, said: “Fantastic news - this grant is so important to continue the essential provision of swimming lessons to hundreds of school children and a broad spectrum of other users from young babies right through to the more senior members of the community. The new pool cover is a great way to save energy in several ways, and keeping running costs down is essential for the efficiency of the swimming pool. A big "thank you" to Ørsted from everyone at Dalton Leisure Centre!”
Adam Bearpark, Project Manager at Marsh Street Arches & Gardens CIC, said: “This grant will propel Green Heart Den into 2023 with great vigour. The wider benefits to the community will be massive and will promote strong wellbeing and improve emotional resilience for all those who access our services.” Their project, titled ‘Green Space Education - From Earth to Table Activities’, will expand the staffed opening times of the community gardens, helping them teach more people to grow and eat their own food, saving money and helping the planet.
The full list of organisations awarded grants from the latest round of funding are as follows:
Wise Up Workshops CIC, Lancaster - £5,000
Positive Futures Well Being Services CIO, Lancaster - £25,438
Tara Project Lancaster CIC - £8,640
Counselling in the Community, Fleetwood - £24,000
Storey’s of Lancaster Football Club - £24,850
Walney Churches Scout Group - £4,000
Carnforth Cricket Club - £20,000
Dalton and Ireleth with Askam PCC, Church Community Centre - £32,247
The Ruslands Horizon Trust, Barrow - £5,000
Fleetwood Sea Cadets - £4,700
Cruse Bereavement Support, Cumbria & Lancaster - £24,916
Dignity in Dementia CIC, Lancaster - £15,000
The Brathay Trust, Barrow - £16,000
Morecambe Community Riso Press - £5,000
Ford Park Community Group - £7,360
1st Thornton Cleveleys Scout Group - £1,050
The Dalton-in-Furness District Recreational Charity Trust, Leisure Centre - £8,124
Marsh Street Arches & Gardens CIC - £22,600
The fund is made possible by Ørsted, the global leader in offshore wind, which has constructed one of the world’s largest operational offshore wind farms, Walney Extension, 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.
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 21 June 2023.
