Burnham and Weston Energy CIC is delighted to announce the first round of ‘Sunshine Fund’ awards have been made with grants totaling over £15,500 to ten local groups. A further round of funding launches in October. The groups that have benefited from funding so far, are:
- 1st Banwell Scouts – £2,500 towards solar power at the group’s new scout hall
- Bay Centre – £620 for a new thermostat and control valves
- Boomsatsuma – £1,000 to help a youth club become more eco-friendly
- BOS Events – £1,500 towards the beach kite festival
- Disability Information & Advice Line (DIAL) – £500 towards local helpline
- Friends of Grove Park – £2,500 towards new recycling bins
- Lympsham Sports Club – £1,000 to install energy efficient lighting
- RAF Air Cadets 290 Squadron – £1,400 to install energy efficient lighting
- Vision North Somerset – £2,500 for new heating system
- XTND – £2,000 for community benches.
Johnny Boxhall from the Friends of Grove Park said: “We’re delighted that the Burnham and Weston Community Sunshine Fund is supporting our ongoing efforts to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill from our park. Grove Park is our town’s most visited open space, popular with residents and visitors alike. Naturally, this can result in large amounts of litter. Our volunteers attach extra bags in areas of the park where litter has historically been dropped. This grant will provide new recycling option bins as part of a pilot scheme to improve recycling ratios. We will be emptying and recording the use of each to determine people’s engagement. The bins will also help make the park even more appealing to the community and everyone who visits.”
Burnham and Weston Energy Sunshine Fund is open for a next round of applications from 1 October – 15 November. The Fund, which is managed by Somerset Community Foundation, welcomes applications for funding from local, community-led organisations, small voluntary groups, clubs, charities, social enterprises, schools, and health centres for a range of activities that will have an environmental, social or economic legacy. Communities covering an area stretching up the Somerset coastline from Burnham-on-Sea to Weston-super-Mare, and inland to Mark and Winscombe, can apply for grants of up to £2,500.