SSEN taking applications to help fund 'resilience' projects in Wiltshire

Grants of up to £10,000 are available to councils and charities

Author: Aaron HarperPublished 28th Jul 2023

Schemes across Wiltshire that could make us more resilient in the face of storms and severe weather could get up thousands of pounds in funding.

Scottish and Southern Electricity has its latest grant round open for applications - but only until Monday (31st July).

£280,000 of total funding is available to communities, councils, charities and local groups.

The grants, which range from £1,000 to £10,000, will help communities build resilience in the face of extended power outages which may happened during storms and other severe weather events.

Exceptional, multi-community requests can be offered as much as £40,000.

When applying for a grant, applicants are asked to consider the following criteria:

• Resilience for emergency events - To enhance community facilities, services and communication specifically to support the local response in the event of a significant emergency such as extended power loss.

• Vulnerability - To protect the welfare of vulnerable community members particularly during significant emergency events such as extended power loss, through enhancing their resilience and improving community participation and effectiveness.

Managing Director for SSEN Distribution, Chris Burchell, said:

“SSEN is delighted to, once more, open its Resilient Communities Fund and we look forward to welcoming applications from communities, charities and councils across our distribution areas and all manner of rural and urban areas, each with their own unique needs.

“This latest fund of £280,000 will make a huge difference to communities and the challenges they may face due to our changing weather patterns, which bring the potential for power cuts, flooding or extreme heat.

“Our Resilient Communities fund has helped hundreds of communities and vulnerable community members since it started in 2015, and we look forward to being able to support even more schemes this year; helping to build stronger communities for all of our customers living and working in central southern England.”

The scheme is now in it’s ninth year and in that time has provided £4.7 million to nearly 700 non-profit organisations.

Click here to apply for funding.

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