OREANDA-NEWS. SSE renewable energy funds delivered over £4.5m in support for community projects during 2013/14, a new report has shown.

The report, published today, also reveals that for each £1 awarded by SSE through its grant-making programme, recipients sourced an additional £2 in match funding from other sources, raising the overall impact of the funding to £13.5m.

SSE's first community investment annual review - Responsible Neighbour, Sustainable Partner - documents every award made from SSE's 22 community benefit funds from 1 April 2013 to 31 March 2014. The funds are provided as a part of a commitment made during the development of SSE's renewable energy projects in Great Britain from 2002 to the present day, with funding decisions taken by independent community panels or groups.

In total, 366 not-for-profit groups received grants to the value of £4,564,991 in the 12 month period. Demand for funding was high with each fund, on average, two-and-a-half times over subscribed.

The largest award was made to Biggar Museum Trust, who received £650,000 from the Clyde wind farm fund towards the construction of a new visitors centre. Other notable awards include a £400,000 grant to support Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) studies across Highland schools and a £75,000 grant to enable the community buy-out of Aberfeldy town hall in Perthshire.

Over £1million in grants went to skills and employment projects, including a £266,902 award to the Routes to Inclusion employment programme in South Lanarkshire and over £110,000 to three local apprenticeship schemes operating in the Great Glen, the Cairngorms National Park and Sutherland.

The improvement of community facilities and services was also a strong theme, representing 24% of the total funding. Of this, affordable housing projects in the Nith Valley, Dumfries and Galloway, and Bonar Bridge and Helmsdale, both Sutherland, received a total of £102,000 in funding support.

SSE's largest community fund is generated from its 350MW Clyde wind farm, constructed in 2012, which delivered over £1.8m in community grants in the South Lanarkshire, Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders region in the last financial year. With an expected total value of £35 million during the lifetime of the wind farm, it is believed to be the largest community benefit fund related to any large-scale renewable development in Europe.

During this new current financial year, SSE will distribute the first fund awards for its Strathy North and Dunmaglass wind farms, currently under construction, and launch regional Sustainable Development Funds in Scottish Borders, Perth and Kinross and North Lincolnshire. Based on its current renewable development plans, it is expected that SSE will deliver a further £140 million in financial support for community projects in Great Britain over the next 20 years.

SSE Community Investment Annual Review 2013/14

SSE Chief Executive, Alistair Phillips-Davies said:

“SSE is involved in a business that really matters - providing the energy people and businesses need. To do this, we must work with communities as a responsible neighbour, going beyond the minimum and becoming an active contributor in the communities where we live and work."

“Although it's clear a sum as large as £4.5 million will deliver a positive impact, it's not simply about the value of our funding, it matters how we do it too. By working with communities in genuine partnership, I believe we can support local decision makers to ensure these funds can go even further and deliver sustainable benefits to the community year after year."

“SSE has played a large part in setting the standard for community investment in the industry and, with the help of our panel members, I look forward to seeing our funding create jobs, enhance facilities and enable community regeneration for decades to come."

Marion Turner, from Ardgay, Sutherland, has been a member of the SSE Achany Community Fund panel since 2009. She said:

“Being a member of the SSE Achany panel has been a learning experience. Since it was set-up in 2009, we've learned how to spend the fund to best effect. The panel is working well and I think it is a great example of communities and developer working together.

“It's great to make awards which you know will make community projects possible. From the success of our local apprenticeship scheme, which has helped seven young people stay in the area and build a career, to the support given to safeguard vital services such as the post office, it's clear the fund really makes a difference."