Windfarm fund boosts LIVES and newsletter

Twelve key projects at the heart of their communities will share an almost £115,000 windfall, thanks to the first ever grants made by a community fund set up by the company due to begin work on electrical infrastructure which will link up to a windfarm off the Lincolnshire coast.
Katie Best and Richard Brown, Level 3 Community First Responders with LIVES. EMN-190124-174925001Katie Best and Richard Brown, Level 3 Community First Responders with LIVES. EMN-190124-174925001
Katie Best and Richard Brown, Level 3 Community First Responders with LIVES. EMN-190124-174925001

The volunteer-led LIVES First Responders charity along with a project providing a village newsletter are among the recipients of the new, locally-targeted fund.

The first Triton Knoll awards are from the £500,000 Construction Fund which operates during the two years of construction of the onshore electrical system running from the coast to a substation at Bicker Fen on the border with North Kesteven.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The fund officially opened in August 2018 and aims to support locally important projects. It is part of the wider Triton Knoll Community Fund which will deliver a total of £1.5m into communities closest to the project’s onshore construction works and infrastructure.

Triton Knoll project director Julian Garnsey said: “We always aimed to ensure the fund delivered maximum benefit to our closest neighbouring communities, and that’s exactly what this first round has done.”

All applications are reviewed and determined by a panel of local people.

Sue Fortune, of Sleaford-based Lincolnshire Community Foundation, which administers the fund, said: “The level of interest we received demonstrates that there is definitely a strong local need for this type and level of local grant support, especially where groups find it difficult to access appropriate and flexible support elsewhere.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“It’s been great to see such a range of really impactful projects coming forward during this first round and which can make a real difference right across our local communities. We’re already talking with other groups about the next round of funding, and we’d really like to encourage even more communities to think about how this flexible funding can be best used to support them.”

The next closing date for new applications is May 1, 2019. Visit www.lincolnshirecf.co.uk or www.tritonknoll.co.uk

LIVES (Lincolnshire Integrated Voluntary Emergency Service) will receive a £15,000 grant, which will recruit, train and equip 25 new volunteer Community First Responders in 2019, from communities local to the cable route. These new volunteers will attend local medical emergencies at the request of the ambulance service and, over five years, would likely benefit 3,420 people, according to the charity.

Chief Executive Nikki Silver said: “The generous support of Innogy Renewables is of vital importance and will increase the number of people we can support.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Great Hale Newsletter is to get £1,200. It was established around 16 years ago as four simple typed sheets and has now expanded to a 28-page colour booklet put out by volunteers to every home in the village. The money will fund its quarterly publication for a year.

Secretary Audrey Barclay said: “It covers village activities such as the church, parish council, police and village hall, as well as historical articles and others that people submit, and local advertisements.

“We felt it was something the village needed. We have raised money by doing open gardens and vintage teas to keep it going.”

She said it is still valued by the community and several people wrote letters of support.