ESB Covid Fund Guidelines

The fund is open to not-for-profit and voluntary community-based organisations delivering COVID-19 emergency projects and activities to support vulnerable sections of the community in the existing wind farm areas of benefit. The funding is not to be used to fund organisational running costs.

If you have any queries regarding the application process, please contact Groundwork NI at esbcommunityfund@groundworkni.co.uk

Objective

Funding will be awarded per wind farm, in amounts of between £250 and £1,000. The fund’s priority is to address the following issues:

  • provision of meals, emergency food parcels or other support for the isolated and vulnerable.
  • collection of and delivering prescriptions and medication for the isolated and vulnerable.
  • resources and activities related to the delivery of the above such as PPE, fuel, transport services, volunteer expenses.
  • Home schooling support including access to laptops, school materials and other related items.

Eligibility to Apply

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Eligibility

To be eligible to apply, your organisation must:

Be located within:

  • 10 km of Crockdun Wind Farm
  • or 10 km of Crockagarran Wind Farm
  • or 7 km of Carrickatane Wind Farm
  • or 7 km of Curryfree Wind Farm
  • or 7 km of Eglish Wind Farm
  • OR the primary beneficiaries of your project must be located within one of the above areas of benefit
  • Be a constituted group*

* A constituted group is one that has a governing document (i.e. memorandum/articles of association or constitution).

New groups formed in response to the outbreak of the COVID-19 Coronavirus or groups that are not formally constituted are encouraged to work with a local constituted group, which has previously submitted an application to ESB for funding on a partnership basis and should identify that the constituted group will be the lead applicant on the project.

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Non-Eligibility

Whilst we are open to a broad range of proposals, we cannot support:

  • Projects operated by individuals / private sector organisations
  • Projects which do not directly benefit the local community
  • Projects which conflict with or adversely affect the aim, objectives, or policy of ESB or associated companies
  • Projects which directly promote or advance any religion, faith, or a political party
  • Projects which seek to cover running costs, trips, funding campaign contributions or costs,
  • Projects that cannot follow government and health agency advice on safety during covid-19 pandemic.
  • The fund will not reimburse recoverable VAT or retrospective expenditure

Area Maps

Curryfree Map

Crockagarran Map

Carrickatane Map

CrockdunMap

EglishMap

Curryfree Map

Crockagarran Map

Carrickatane Map

CrockdunMap

EglishMap

Funding Available

Funding is available up to £1,000 per application, which will be paid in advance to successful applicants. We will expect organisations to account for all expenses incurred in the delivery of the project/activity.

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Timescales

Closing date for applications is Monday 10 August.
Applicants will be notified of the outcome of their application at the end of August 2020.

As this is emergency funding, we will expect that your project is delivered within 3 months of receiving funding.

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Application Process

Applications should be completed and submitted using the online application form.

In addition to a completed application form, you will be required to submit:

A copy of your constitution
A copy of your most recent bank statement
Safeguarding policies and guidelines
Please note that we expect applicants to have robust safeguarding policies in place to support the proposed project/activity. If you are working in partnership, please ensure the lead applicant can demonstrate this.

Volunteers forms – if applicable
Due to the urgent nature of the funding, incomplete or late applications will not be considered.

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Scoring Criteria

All applications will initially be assessed by Groundwork NI for eligibility. Those projects which meet all of the eligibility criteria will then be scored against the following:

Scoring Criterion Max. Score Description
Ability to address an identified community need 30 Scores will reflect how clearly the need for the project has been identified and evidenced, and how equipped the applicant is to deliver this activity.
Benefit to the community -especially those in vulnerable situation as a result of the lockdown. 30 Scores will reflect the number of beneficiaries and how is the applicant able to access beneficiaries following robust safeguarding guidelines.
Impact of the project/activity on the community that has been affected by CCOVID-19 (directly or indirectly) 20 Scores will reflect how much the activity/project will impact the need created by covid-19 pandemic in the community.
Life-spam of project/activity 10 Scores will reflect that the project/activity will be delivered within 3 months of receipt of funding.
Proximity of the project to the wind farm. One application per group per windfarm. If a group is located within proximity of more than one windfarm; the application should be to the closest windfarm. 10

Projects/activities located closer or benefitting the community closer to an ESB Wind Farm will score more highly than those located further away.

The same Area of Benefit for ESB Community Fund will apply.