Corriemoillie wind farm funding deadlines for Contin, Strathpeffer and Marybank, Scatwell & Strathconon and Garve and Lochbroom revealed
OVER £610,000 has been awarded to community groups and individuals in Ross-shire over the last seven years, thanks to EDF Renewables Corriemoillie Wind Farm Funds, managed by Foundation Scotland.
The deadlines for the next round of applications have now been revealed.
The EDF Corriemoillie Wind Farm provides several community benefit funds in the Corriemoillie area, as well as offering an Education and Training Fund bursary scheme.
Volunteer panels of local people make decisions about the distribution of community nenefit funds, which operate in the areas of Contin, Strathpeffer and Marybank, Scatwell & Strathconon. These are supported by Foundation Scotland, who also administers the Education and Training Fund, which also covers Garve and Lochbroom.
In the past year, 79 awards were made totalling £100,000, with around half (£49,000) awarded through the Education and Training Fund programme.
The maximum education and training bursary available to individuals is for £1500 for renewable and STEM-related training, and several awards were made in the most recent funding round at this level.
The awards covered a range of courses such as degrees in engineering, and electrician and construction modern apprenticeships. The smallest bursary awarded was for £200 to fund fees for a Paddlesports Touring Leader Award.
The Education & Training Fund also supports local businesses with training costs. Ullapool Community Trust received an award of £3000 for a pilot project to deliver accredited hospitality skills training to local residents and create a bank of hospitality staff for the area.
The aim of the project was to help address a staffing crisis for the local hospitality sector by creating a pool of trained workers already qualified in areas such as food hygiene, customer services, health and safety and first aid.
Ullapool Community Trust’s project coordinator said: “To have the support of the EDF Corriemoillie Fund was invaluable because it meant that we knew we could offer training to those people who wanted to work but needed essential qualifications.
“Overall, it would also mean that whether or not the pilot trial was deemed a success and worth continuing, this funding would ensure that we would be adding to the pool of trained people to the benefit of the whole community.”
A diverse array of community projects have also been supported through community benefit funds – from community archaeology projects in Contin, to support for a community zero waste shop in Strathpeffer.
Community awards in the most recent funding round ranged in scale from £600 to deliver interactive story and activity sessions for pre-school children to improve literacy, parenting and bring families together, to £5320 to contribute to cost of residential outdoor activity trips for all senior pupils at Marybank and Strathconon Primary Schools.
These trips aimed to help pupils to develop new skills and confidence, and support connections between children from different areas.
EDF Renewables UK, director of asset operations, Piero Maggio said: “As always, we are delighted to see how communities around our windfarms benefit in such diverse ways beyond our work towards a low carbon future. Congratulations to all involved in these projects.”
Strathpeffer Panel Chair, Ron McAulay, said: “While the funds we have available to us in Strathpeffer are relatively low and regularly oversubscribed, they are used to very good effect. We are able to provide small amounts of £1000 to £3000 to groups within the community. In some cases, this level of funding has a significant positive impact on a project or group and in other cases, the groups will use these funds to attract match funding or to use the funds to pay for works that will help prepare their project for its next stage.”
EDF Renewables provides funding for several community benefit funds in the Corriemoillie Wind Farm area.
Groups working to benefit people in the Contin Community Council area can apply for grants of up to £3000 from the Contin Fund.
The next application deadline is August 26. Full details are available on the Foundation Scotland website https://www.foundationscotland.org.uk/apply-for-funding/funding-available/corriemoillie-contin
The next deadline for the Marybank, Scatwell and Strathconon Fund is August 19, with awards of £5000 available. More information is available at https://www.foundationscotland.org.uk/apply-for-funding/funding-available/corriemoillie-marybank-scatwell-strathconon
The Strathpeffer Fund deadline is September 11, and grants of up to £3000 are available. More information is available at https://www.foundationscotland.org.uk/apply-for-funding/funding-available/corriemoillie-strathpeffer
