The Rookwood Solar Farm is providing an annual sum of £5,000 per year for use by the community of Broad Town. These guidelines are designed to be used by community members who are interested in the fund.
Bluefield Solar Income Fund took over the solar farm in 2022 from Good Energy which was the first 100% renewable electricity supply company in the UK, supplying its customers with electricity from sun, wind and rain. The company owns and operates a number of wind and solar farms and is developing more sites to help meet growing demand for renewable electricity from domestic and business customers. The Bluefield Solar Income Fund offers community funds as one way of sharing the benefits of renewable energy with local people living close to its wind and solar farms. For further information visit Bluefield Solar Income Fund.
Who Can Apply
Projects must benefit the target area of the Parish of Broad Town to be eligible for funding.
The following not-for-profit organisations will be considered:
- Registered charities
- Voluntary groups
- Community groups Clubs
- School/pre-school parent associations (subject to conditions below)
- Individuals may apply but only with relation to a specific project with a community focus although Funds must be paid through a registered community group or entity.
Both Broad Town Parish Council and Bluefield Solar Income Fund are keen that projects which receive funding build upon the community’s existing social, economic or environmental sustainability.
What projects are not eligible for funding
- Projects that are the designated duty of local authorities or government.
- Projects that are of a political or exclusively religious nature
- Project where the grant is to be used for the financial benefit of an individual or an unusually narrow group of people to the exclusion of the wider community.
- Projects that aim to improve/increase the value of the applicants own private property or private properties of a narrow group of individuals to the exclusion of the wider(community)
- Projects that (i) materially increase existing nett carbon emissions. (ii) promote the use of fossil fuels, nuclear fuel or the extraction, production or processing of natural gas (including through hydraulic fracturing) or (iii) are contradictory to Bluefield Solar Income Fund’s mission of avoiding catastrophic climate change.
- Projects that are, or which Bluefield Solar Income Fund reasonably considers might be illicit, illegal or unlawful or immoral.
If you aren’t sure if your projects can be funded, please contact the Clerk to the Parish Council. Details at the end of these guidance notes.
How much can I apply for?
You can apply for grants between £250 and £2,500, although larger grants will be considered up to £5,000 if there is sufficient funding available. If you are considering applying for over £2,500, please contact the Parish Clerk before you apply.
Examples of the kind of projects eligible for funding
To give you an idea of the sort of projects that the Broad Town Community Fund would look to award grants to, here are a few examples (this list is not exhaustive)
- Community projects
- Community Groups
- Community halls
- Community spaces, including outdoor ones
- Educational projects
- Environmental projects
- Community events
How the application process works
Each application will be presented to a local Advisory Group first. They will help the Parish Council decide how best to allocate the funding. The terms of reference and composition of this group is on our website. Particular emphasis will be placed on the following criteria; however, this is by no means an exhaustive list;
- Projects run by the community, for the community; the project must demonstrate that it will generate community involvement, engagement and ownership both in its set up and operation.
- Match funding. The project should not rely exclusively on the community fund for support but demonstrate that other funding sources are being exploited and/or explored. The community fund should ideally only contribute up to 50% of the overall funding required for the project unless the Parish Council agrees that a higher contribution is appropriate for the relevant project.
- Environmental benefit. For example, the project may be creating a nature area or installing energy efficiency/renewable generating equipment on a community building.
- The project will be measured on how going forwards the project will be in monitoring and reported on.
When can you apply.
The Parish council will consider applications throughout the year.
Making an application.
You will need to complete an application form available from the Clerk and on our website.
Publicity
Bluefield Solar Income Fund (via its acting agent GrantScape) and Broad Town Parish Council may, from time to time, wish to use your community project as a case study or in promotional materials.
Obligations
The recipient of the funding must provide the Parish Council with:
- Update/s of the project progress and completion
- Evidence of expenditure (copies of invoices / receipts etc) showing clearly how the funding was used for the project
- Two or three photographs of the project (emailed to the Parish Clerk) to be used for monitoring and publicity purposes.
If you have any further questions please contact the Parish Clerk