Copse Lodge Solar Farm Community Benefit Fund

Fund Overview

The site was developed by JBM Solar, now owned by RWE.

The developer has committed a Community Benefit Fund of £180,000, as a one-off lump sum.

The fund will be split between the following two Parishes in Northamptonshire:

• £120,000 to Greatworth Parish
• £60,000 to Farthinghoe Parish

Each Parish Council will decide how to allocate the funds to community projects within their respective Parishes, which meet the criteria below.

GrantScape will then work closely with each community group to ensure projects meet the criteria and monies are spent appropriately.

Criteria for the Fund

Project Purpose

Grants can be spent on projects that meet at least one of the following themes:

• Improvement works to community buildings and facilities. For example: improvement works to village halls, community centres, museums, heritage centres and community cafes. Grant could include decoration, heating improvements, structural repairs, extensions or new builds.
• Support for community activities and services. For example: projects addressing health and wellbeing, social isolation, community cohesion, access to amenities, fuel poverty, young and old people’s projects and projects providing support for local clubs and groups.
• Environmental, green initiatives and public open space projects. For example: projects involving habitat and species conservation, community growing schemes, public park improvements such as landscaping works, planting, benches, sensory gardens and improving local biodiversity.
• Sports, recreation and play. For example: playground equipment upgrades and new builds, skate parks, indoor climbing walls, sports equipment, sports field drainage projects, cricket nets, posts, goals etc.
• Educational projects. For example: after school STEM club, cost for external trainers delivering bespoke courses, outdoor classrooms. Note all grants at schools must be additional to the statutory educational core costs.

In addition to the above, all RWE funds will encourage all applicant projects to consider the cross cutting theme of:

Sustainability

For example: energy/carbon reduction projects, village hall improvements including renewable energy sources, such as: solar panels; air source heat and improved insulation, playground improvements using sustainable/recycled materials.

Match Funding

Match funding is not essential when you apply to a RWE Solar Farm Community Fund but, where possible, organisations are really encouraged to seek match funding in order to further increase the funding coming into your community.

Capital or Revenue

RWE solar funds will support both capital or revenue (running) costs so applications can be made to pay for salaries and core cost contribution to ensure project delivery.

Project Location

All applications must be located on or within the area of benefit for each development. Any projects located outside the area are not eligible to apply, except for in cases where the project provides significant benefit to the communities within the area of benefit.

Eligible Organisations

Applicants require a written constitution, a set of rules, or a governing document and will need to have a bank or building society account before they can receive a grant. Organisations that can apply for funding include:

• Voluntary and community groups, and charities
• Parish and Town Councils
• Social Enterprises and Community Interest Companies operating on a non-profit-distributing basis. These are defined by Social Enterprise UK as ‘businesses that trade to tackle social problems, improve communities, people’s life chances, or the environment. They make their money from selling goods and services in the open market, but they reinvest their profits back into the business or the local community’. Such organisations must have a minimum of three unrelated Directors.
• Schools and educational establishments
• National organisations would need to both demonstrate both impact in the area of benefit, and significant local support and partnership working. In addition, the project proposed must specifically benefit the local communities within the area of benefit. (Note this is for organisations and would also include individuals, if the Fund allows).

Exclusions

Grants will not be available for:

• Commercial organisations
• Any works that are a statutory duty (such as works to public highways), or that are the legal responsibility of others to fund
• Projects that are religious in focus, or that support a party political campaign or cause, or may bring the Fund into disrepute
• Projects located at religious buildings (unless the project is clearly for the benefit of the wider community, for example a church hall improvement project where the building is available to the general public, or nature conservation projects in churchyards)
• Private membership-based sports clubs and facilities (unless membership is open to the general public without undue restriction which includes restrictive fees and charges, i.e. not membership by nomination organisations)
• Projects that only benefit individuals
• Local Authorities, except under exceptional circumstances, such as a partnership project with community organisations whereby the Local Authority is the most appropriate applicant body.
• Retrospective funding (i.e. funding can only be requested for works that will begin/ expenditure that will be incurred AFTER the funding decision has been made and a formal grant Contract issued)
• Costs associated with ‘Asset Transfers’ from Local Authorities (i.e. legal costs, feasibility costs etc.). However, once the Asset has been transferred, the group responsible for the amenity is eligible to apply for a grant from the Fund.