WPD Community Chest

The WPD Community Chest is a grant scheme which distributes awards of up to £1,000 to communities to reduce their energy use through improvements to village halls, scout huts and other community buildings.

It is funded by the network operator Western Power Distribution (WPD) and administered by the Centre for Sustainable Energy(CSE), and is open to groups in the South West of England, the Midlands and South Wales (e.g. WPD's area of operation - see the postcode checker in the Guidance and Eligibility document).

All sorts of energy-saving improvements qualify including roof or cavity wall insulation, boiler replacement, new heating controls, double or secondary glazing, draught proofing, smart lighting, and replacing of appliances like fridges or water heaters for more energy efficient models. It can also fund water-saving equipment like new taps and showers.

To qualify for a grant, you need to demonstrate that:

1) You are a legitimate, not-for-profit community or voluntary group with a bank account (schools and publically owned buildings will not be eligible), and your building is used by a wide cross-section of the community. Certain businesses, such as community-run village shops may also be eligible.
2) Your community building is geographically located within the WPD network area. Use the postcode checker to find if your project is eligible.  You can also email wpdcc@cse.org.uk with the address and postcode of the community building if you want to check that you are within the WPD geographical boundary before submitting an application.
3) You have undertaken a full energy survey of the building using the format, checklist and guidance prepared by CSE and available to download at www.cse.org.uk/wpdcc and the requested energy efficiency improvements are appropriate in this context.
4) You are willing for WPD or CSE to use your project as a case study for publicity purposes – which may include photographs and quotes for press releases.
5) You have not previously received a grant through the WPD Community Chest.

The scheme will fund the installation of simple energy saving improvements to community buildings including, but not limited to:

o Lighting upgrades
o Heating system upgrades (in particular improved heating controls)
o Insulation
o Draught proofing, or
o Minor repairs (for example to door and window frames).

Other measures will be considered on a case by case basis.

The grant will cover the full costs, or 100% of a clearly defined energy-saving element, of works undertaken.

Improvements must be carried out within 6 months of receiving the grant.

Applications will be checked for:

• Group eligibility (location, type of group, constitution, not a previous beneficiary)
• Use of facility (extent of building usage and number of beneficiaries)
• Suitability of proposed measures (based on energy survey undertaken by the group)
• Costs (quotes or evidence of cost have been obtained, your preferred quote for each measure is indicated, the costs of proposed improvements are reasonable, and the total requested is not more than £1,000).

Applications will initially be accepted for three months from 7 September 2015 until 27 November 2015 , or until the grant pot has been awarded, whichever is sooner.

PLEASE NOTE: applications will be assessed on a rolling basis – grants for successful applicants will be awarded on a ‘first come, first served’ basis.

For further information, visit the WPD Community Chest website. 

(Source: GRIN)