Thirteen organisations are celebrating their share of a massive £118,000 windfall, as Burbo Bank Extension Community Fund announces its latest round of funding. They join a growing list of groups supported by the Fund that has now reached an impressive 200.
Imran Nawaz, Senior Advisor & Community Benefit Fund Manager for Ørsted, said: “Ørsted are proud to start this new year hitting this amazing milestone. The fund will celebrate its seventh birthday this year and to support 200 different groups is remarkable. We appreciate all the hard work the groups put in to helping their communities and our planet. Applications are open for our next round, and we’d love to hear from you.”
One of the groups celebrating are the Our Dee Estuary Project team at Cheshire Wildlife Trust. Their project ‘Coastal Recreation and Wildlife Disturbance on the Dee Estuary’ looks to educate and inform recreational users of the estuary to change behaviour and reduce the negative impacts humans can have on local wildlife.
Hannah Phillips, Our Dee Estuary Project Manager at Cheshire Wildlife Trust, said: “The Dee Estuary is a place of international importance for the upwards of 120,000 migratory waders and waterfowl that visit each year, in addition to the resident population of Grey seals that can be seen off of Hilbre island. These species are frequently misunderstood and often victims of unintended disturbance by recreational activities. Our project aims to reconnect local people with this amazing wildlife and empower them to become responsible recreation ambassadors within their communities. This fund will enable us to launch an estuary wide education and awareness building campaign, to help people find better ways to access and enjoy the estuary without having a negative impact on its wildlife and their habitats.
On hearing the news that they are to receive £16,751 to fund a Playworker for 12-months to oversee Forest Play sessions at their base in Bootle, Kate Jameson, CEO at Community by Nature (formerly Bootle and Sefton Play Council), said: “We are delighted to have received this funding. This project will make a huge difference to the children and young people in our community enabling us to facilitate a forest play project all year round providing warm, nutritious healthy meals together with a range of environmental forest-play activities helping to alleviate food poverty whilst providing a safe space for our children and young people to play”.
The full list of organisations awarded grants under the latest round of the Burbo Bank Extension Community Benefit Fund are as follows:
The Fund is being managed 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 closing date for the next funding round is 27 March 2024.
Each year for the expected 25-year lifetime of the Burbo Bank Extension offshore wind farm, approximately £225,000 will be made available for community projects, which will benefit the local area.
Ørsted’s Burbo Bank Extension offshore wind farm was officially opened in May 2017 and is capable of meeting the electricity demand of well over 230,000 homes. It was the first offshore wind farm in the world to commercially demonstrate the massive 8MW MHI Vestas turbines which stand at a staggering 195m, tall from sea-level to tip.