Bovalley Community Association, Limavady, was awarded £4,000 for care packages for the elderly.
SSE Renewables is giving community groups in Co Derry/Londonderry the chance to power local change as they open the 2021 Slieve Kirk Community Fund to applications for funding to support community- based projects in the area surrounding the Slieve Kirk Wind Park, near Limavady.
Since 2012 the annual Slieve Kirk Community Fund has awarded more than £2.1m to non-profit groups in the area around the wind farm. Applications to the 2021 Community Fund are open from now and until 28 June for community-based projects within a 12-mile radius of the Co. Derry-Londonderry wind farm, with preference given to projects within three miles of the wind farm.
SSE Renewables is the leading developer and operator of renewable energy in Northern Ireland and is the power behind leading greener energy provider and sister company SSE Airtricity. Over the last two decades SSE Renewables has invested over £500m in the Northern Ireland economy through renewable energy developments. The company owns 121.5MW of operational onshore wind farms in locations across NI. These include the region’s largest wind farm, the 73MW Slieve Kirk Wind Park in County Londonderry which overlooks the City of Derry.
Through its annual Community Fund programme, SSE Renewables has awarded £3m so far to over 800 community projects in the communities closest to its wind farms. This funding has helped support local groups, sports organisations and schools among others to develop their facilities with energy efficiency, sustainability upgrades and projects that enable community development.
This year marks a change in the name of the funding programme. Previously promoted under the SSE Airtricity brand, the programme will now be known as the SSE Renewables Community Fund. The change is designed to better link annual funding award payments from SSE’s wind farms in Northern Ireland to SSE Renewables, which owns and operates each of the company’s wind farm sites.
Speaking at the launch of the Fund, Michelle Donnelly, SSE Renewables Community Investment Manager, said: “We know from our work in the areas in which we operate that local community groups are at the heart of all the good work being done to support people and improve their lives. They are also at the forefront of bringing innovation to their community to make them more sustainable. That is why the SSE Renewables Community Fund has been so successful and popular.
“We are delighted to have invested more than £2.1m in the community around Slieve Kirk, and we look forward to welcoming new applications this year and building new partnerships with the 2021 SSE Renewables Community Fund.”
One non-profit organisation which has benefitted from SSE Renewables funding from Slieve Kirk Wind Park is Bovalley Community Association, which received £4,000 in 2020 for a project which provided care packages to the vulnerable and isolating during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Speaking on the benefits the SSE Renewables Community Fund brought to Bovalley Community Association, Janice, McClay, Chairperson, said: “Most of our residents are elderly and live alone so to receive these care packages meant so much more than just food and supplies, it represented a community willing to support each other during difficult and challenging time. For this, we are all so grateful to SSE Renewables.”
The closing date for applications to the SSE Renewables Community Fund for Slieve Kirk Wind Park is 5pm on 28 June 2021. For more information on how to apply, visit our Slieve Kirk Wind Park Community Fund page or contact the Community Fund Manager via email at [email protected].