SSEN funding boosts community resilience in central southern England

Twenty-six local community groups in central southern England are benefiting from the latest round of funding, distributed by Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN), to help them build their resilience in emergency situations and adverse weather.

The SSEN Resilient Communities Fund is awarding nearly £200,000 to the groups across its network area in central southern England, with individual awards of up to £20,000 for projects that will help protect the welfare of those most vulnerable, enhance community facilities or improve communication during an emergency weather event.

Decisions for funding awards are made by a panel of representatives from the Environment Agency, British Red Cross and National Energy Action. In this latest round, community groups from areas including Berkshire, Hampshire, Wiltshire and Isle of Wight have all received awards from the fund.

The awards are selected to represent the specific needs of individual communities; used for a wide variety of equipment and training to increase resilience locally, funding will also enhance the work of local emergency response teams from Berkshire, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Oxfordshire, Wessex and Wiltshire by helping them purchase life-saving equipment.

Lisa Doogan, Director of Customer Relationship Management for SSEN said: "Since the inception of the fund four years ago, I've been thrilled to see the diverse nature of the applications that we receive and the determination of the recipients of the awards to improve the lives of those who live and work in their communities."

"At SSEN, we work all year round to ensure we're prepared for the high winds, snow, flooding and lightning that our weather can bring and one of our key aims is to help our customers and communities prepare for these possibilities and strengthen their resilience too."

"By making these funding awards to communities, SSEN is empowering them to equip themselves and prepare for adverse weather events; reflecting our own message that we are always prepared and there to help our customers."

Anna Lovell, Head of Corporate Partnerships from British Red Cross said: "At the British Red Cross, we believe in helping communities to better prepare for, respond to and recover from emergencies. It's great to see that SSEN's funding will go a long way to helping local communities to become more resilient when facing severe weather events and respond locally when needed."

Set up in 2014 as a two-year pilot scheme, SSEN has 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. Based on 2015/16 figures, this would allow funding in the region of £2m to be distributed to community-led groups and charities in central southern England over the six-year period.

In addition to the Resilient Communities Fund, SSEN has been working closely with local communities in the south east of England, helping them create resilience plans for emergencies, such as adverse weather and possible power disruption during winter storms.

SSEN's Resilient Communities Fund will re-open for applications in the spring of 2019. To find out more about the fund, please visit the website: www.ssen.co.uk/Resiliencefund/

A full list of recipients form this latest round of funding can be seen in the table below.