“Today is great news for the north of Scotland and for Orkney with funding being awarded to these fantastic projects. ” Peter Peacock, Chair Community Benefit Fund
THAW Orkney and Orkney Construction Training Group will both benefit from community benefit funding provided by SSEN Transmission.
THAW Orkney which provides advice and support to households in the islands on affordable warmth will receive £295,322 for the : “Development of a flexible whole-house retrofit pathway, providing property upgrades to fuel-poor households across a subset of Orkney’s outer isles, to help improve energy efficiency and reduce costs. “
A spokesperson for THAW Orkney said:
“THAW has been focussing its work on tackling one of the root causes of fuel poverty in Orkney, namely the high levels of disrepair and resulting energy inefficiency of local properties, particularly on ferry-linked isles.
“The funding from SSEN Transmission will allow THAW and partners on the isles to pilot a new repair, upgrade and replace pathway designed to support those in most need of support.”
Orkney Construction Training Group will receive £75,471 for: “A collaborative project developing a modular manufacturing toolkit and two demonstrator modules, equipping community organisations with the resources to help address the rural housing crisis. “
A spokesperson for the Orkney Construction Training Group said:
“UHI Orkney are delighted to see SSEN Transmission put innovative housing solutions at the top of their agenda. This very practical project will help us understand the potential of small-scale modular housing manufacturing to play a part in the solution here in Orkney and across Scotland’s rural communities.”
SSEN Transmission announced on Wednesday, 12 February, community benefit funding of £2million for projects in the north of Scotland.
Peter Peacock is Chair of the Community Benefit Fund. He said:
“Today is great news for the north of Scotland and for Orkney with funding being awarded to these fantastic projects.
“The projects we have been able to fund won through against stiff competition and are all designed to make a real difference to people, places, and cultural life in the north.
“The initiatives funded span the themes the fund is set up to support, by developing people’s skills for employability, keeping disadvantaged young people engaged and learning, enabling new approaches to reduce fuel poverty, enriching our cultural life, and expanding approaches to meeting rural housing needs.
“The panel were very impressed by the range of excellent proposals received and look forward to supporting many more projects in the future as the available funding grows.”
SSEN Transmission’s Director of Customers and Stakeholders, Christianna Logan, said:
“At SSEN Transmission we’re delighted to be awarding the first £2m of funding to some incredible projects, after the overwhelming response to the launch of our fund demonstrated the appetite in the north of Scotland for realising the huge opportunity for communities that comes with the delivery of new electricity transmission infrastructure.
“We’re committed to generating real, sustainable value by investing in projects that enrich lives and strengthen communities – and today’s announcement is just the start.
“We anticipate that our ‘Pathway to 2030’ investment programme will generate upwards of £100m in community benefit funding for communities right across the north of Scotland – helping to create a legacy from our investment in electricity infrastructure that will resonate for generations to come.”
Further information about SSEN Transmission’s community benefit funding can be found here: www.ssen-transmission.co.uk/communitybenefit
Fiona Grahame
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