The full £50,000 may be awarded to one organisation or split between a number of groups that apply. The minimum grant organisations can apply for is £10,000, and the closing date for applications is 4 September.
Imran Nawaz, Stakeholder Advisor at Ørsted UK, said: “The Walney Extension Skills Fund has already helped support some excellent projects across the region aimed at improving local skills and employment opportunities. We are firmly committed to our vision to create a world that runs entirely on green energy and supporting the uptake of STEM skills is a big part of achieving that goal.”
Ørsted (formerly DONG Energy) has constructed the new offshore wind farm off the Walney Island coast in Cumbria. With a capacity of 659MW, Walney Extension is the world’s largest offshore wind farm and comprises of 87 turbines. Each year, approximately £600,000 will be made available for skills and community projects for the expected 25-year lifetime of the wind farm, which is the current world’s largest offshore wind farm.
The Fund is being administered by the independent grant-making charity GrantScape. For further information about the Fund and to find out how to apply, please visit their website www.grantscape.org.uk or call 01908 247634.
In 2018, the £50,000 was shared between two organisations: Scientists for Global Responsibility to deliver workshops entitled “One Planet - One Life” across secondary schools in the funding area over a two-year period, and 3D Web Technologies Ltd to deliver twelve STEM skill-focused workshops for year eight pupils to understand the complexities of offshore wind farm design.
Details of the successful recipient from Round 1 can been seen on GrantScape’s website.
ENDS
Editors’ Notes:
Media contacts
Liz Payne – GrantScape: 01908 247630 liz.payne@grantscape.org.uk
Mike Day – Ørsted: +44 (0)7767 008 893 miday@orsted.com
About Ørsted
The Ørsted vision is a world that runs entirely on green energy. Ørsted develops, constructs and operates offshore wind farms, bioenergy plants and innovative waste-to-energy solutions and provides smart energy products to its customers. Headquartered in Denmark, Ørsted employs 5,600 people, including over 900 in the UK. For more information on Ørsted, visit orsted.co.uk or follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and Twitter.
About GrantScape
GrantScape is a grant-making charity committed to enhancing the environment and strengthening local communities through its grant programmes. GrantScape’s experience stretches back to 1997 and it has awarded grants totalling over £80 million to deserving projects over this time.
GrantScape manages a range of community and environmental grant programmes on behalf of corporate and local authority clients. These are tailored to their individual requirements, which is the charity’s speciality. In addition, GrantScape offers a professional project management and grant process review service to groups requiring support with these activities.
For further information, please see www.grantscape.org.uk or follow us @GrantScape1 on Twitter.
About Walney Extension
The Walney Extension offshore wind farm is located next to the existing Walney Offshore Wind Farm, off the Walney Island coast in Cumbria. With a capacity of 659MW, Walney Extension is the world’s largest offshore wind farm and comprises of 87 turbines. For further information, please visit: www.walneyextension.co.uk
About Walney Extension Community Fund
The Fund supports community and environmental projects along the Cumbria and Lancashire coast, within a defined area. Approximately £600,000 is available each year (£100,000 of this is ring-fenced for a ‘Skills Fund’). The Fund is split equally between two annual funding rounds. There are two levels of grants available:
Applications to the Fund are made using an online application system via the GrantScape website www.grantscape.org.uk .