£1 million available to boost Highland community resilience
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Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks is urging communities across the north of Scotland to submit their applications for the latest round of its Resilient Communities Fund before the closing date of Friday, May 13.
The aim of the fund is to help communities become more resilient in the face of severe weather events and prolonged power interruptions and, following the severe storms which battered the country this winter, SSEN has increased the total amount available in the north of Scotland in 2022 to £1 million.
"Grants are available from £1,000 up to £20,000, although in exceptional cases multi-year and multi-community funding up to a maximum of £50,000 will be considered," a spokesperson explained.
The fund aims to support projects in two categories:
1. 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.
2. 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.
In previous rounds the Highland Senior Citizens Network received £19,941 to build the resilience of older people within harder to reach communities, better connecting those most at risk during emergency events.
The panel will review applications and determine which projects should receive funding, with successful applications to be awarded this summer.
Mark Rough, SSEN’s director of customer operations (North), said: “The storms which battered the north of Scotland this winter brought with them an unprecedented level of damage across our infrastructure, and as our teams worked tirelessly to restore customers’ supplies, I was greatly impressed by the resilience shown by the communities whose power supplies had been impacted.
“The additional £500,000 contribution we have made to this year’s Resilient Communities Fund in the north of Scotland, increasing our total commitment to £1million, is recognition of the important role community resilience has played in the recent storms. Since its inception in 2015, the fund has done a great deal to improve community resilience, and we look forward to being able to support our communities even further through the additional funding available to applicants this year.”
To find out more about the Resilient Communities Fund, read SSEN’s annual fund reports and apply for funding before Friday 13 should visit ssen.co.uk/RCF/
