Communities in the north of Scotland and central southern England are being urged to apply for grant-funding of up to £20,000 to improve their resilience from its Resilient Communities Fund before the closing date next week on Tuesday 15 May.
Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) opened the 2018 round of its Resilient Communities Fund earlier this year, with £440,000 available for non-profit making organisations, community groups and charities working in the area covered by SSEN's distribution and transmission networks in the north of Scotland and central southern England.
SSEN is keen to make sure as many eligible groups as possible apply, with the deadline date of 15 May fast approaching. Applications of up to £20,000 will be considered with an independent panel deciding which projects are to receive grants from this round of funding.
SSEN's Resilient Communities Fund supports local projects that:
- Protect the welfare of vulnerable community members through enhancing their resilience and improving community participation and effectiveness
- Enhance community facilities, services and communication - particularly to support local response to a significant emergency event.
The first three rounds of the fund were highly competitive, with successful grants totalling over £1.5 million, funding projects to: improve community flood defences; enhance facilities in local emergency centres; purchase emergency vehicles for remote locations and testing new ways to build the personal resilience of those most vulnerable in SSEN's communities.
Lisa Doogan, Director of Customer Relationship Management at SSEN, said:
"Our Resilient Communities Fund gives us a great opportunity to help our communities prepare for winter weather and emergency situations, boosting their resilience to prepare for any challenges they may face."
"We are committed to supporting our local communities all year round, particularly during power cuts and extreme weather events, but we also want to help customers living in our cities, towns and villages build their own local resilience too."
Initially run as a pilot, SSEN pledged to extend the fund to 2023 using a proportion of the income it receives from the industry regulator Ofgem in relation to its stakeholder engagement performance, allowing funding in the region of £2m to be distributed to community-led groups and charities in the north of Scotland. To find out more about the SSEN Resilient Communities Fund, or to download an application form, visit: ssen.co.uk/resiliencefund.
To check who your network operator is to see if you would be eligible for funding, please visit: ssen.co.uk/whoismynetworkoperator.
Picture by Christopher Puddephatt.