Over £360,000 has been awarded to community groups by Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN), supporting their efforts to look after one another during the coronavirus pandemic.
Now SSEN has published a report, detailing how SSEN’s grants have helped 178 emergency projects across northern Scotland and central southern England during the pandemic, providing funding to support a wide range of locally-based projects and initiatives, including 91 projects providing food for those most vulnerable across local communities, 30 projects providing Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to keep people safe and 10 befriending services to support those in isolation.
On the Isle of Wight, £6,500 was donated; £3,000 to Freshwater Parish Council, £2,000 to Niton & Whitwell Parish Council and £1,500 to Wootton Parish Council.
When the national lockdown was announced on 23 March, SSEN consulted stakeholders including the Scottish Government and British Red Cross, keen to establish how best its Resilient Communities Fund could add value to government and philanthropic responses to the coronavirus pandemic. SSEN’s experience and relationships with locally-elected bodies, including community and parish councils, were recognised as giving the network operator a strong position to support grassroot community responses.
SSEN opened an emergency Resilient Communities Fund on 31st March to provide grants of up to £3,000 to Community, Town, Parish and Borough Councils, and within 7 weeks of the lockdown starting, SSEN made awards of £363,848 to 178 communities.
Lyndsey Stainton, Head of Stakeholder Engagement at SSEN, said:
“Reading through this year’s Resilient Communities Fund Annual Report, the number one thing that stood out is how local community groups have shown a real determination to look out for those who need extra help.
“From Orkney to the Isle of Wight, communities have rallied round and put their heads and hearts together to support those most vulnerable, so I’m pleased our repurposed Resilient Communities Fund has been able to deliver a quick and timely helping hand.”
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To learn more about this year’s repurposed Resilient Communities Fund, click here.
Paying my bill won’t seem so painful now.