SSE Renewables Powers Change With €228,000 Donation To Community Groups Based In Limerick And Kerry
SSE Renewables, Ireland’s leading developer, owner, and operator of renewable energy, has donated over €228,000 to 101 community groups through the Limerick and Kerry Community Fund.
The company has today published its Community Investment Review that contains information on the €1.1 million donated to 412 projects across Ireland in 2020/2021.
The company provides voluntary community funding from its wind farms in support of energy efficiency, safety and sustainability projects.
The Limerick and Kerry Community Fund, which distributes wind powered funding on behalf of Dromada, Athea, Tournafulla 1&2, Rathcahill and Leanamore Wind Farms, donated over €228,000 to 101 community groups including schools, sports clubs and community centres.
Athea Tidy Towns in Co. Limerick is putting this year’s funding towards surfacing the Galey river walkway in Athea Village.
Henry Moran, Chairman of Athea Tidy Towns, said:
“In 2020, Athea Tidy Towns purchased some land to develop a River Walk along the River Galey in Athea Village.
This project has been affectionately known as ‘our lockdown project’ as volunteers came together socially distant to assist with construction of the walkway and to plant a variety of native hedging, trees and a community stage.
The SSE Airtricity community funding will enable us to further enhance the Athea Tidy Towns River walk by laying a permanent surface to make the area safer for users and suitable for buggies and wheelchairs.”
Brosna GAA in Co Kerry is using the funding to continue helping the community during this Covid-19 pandemic. John Sheehan, Chairperson of Brosna GAA, commented:
“The contribution from SSE Airtricity Community Fund will allow us to continue supporting the elderly, house bound and vulnerable members of the community in this time of uncertainty.
We partnered with Kerry County Council who in conjunction with the Dept of Rural and Community Development are operating Kerry County Council Community Support Hub.
It is important to ensure everyone knows there is help and support readily available at the other end of a phone.”
Helen Broderick, Chairperson, Tournafulla Sustainable Living Community said:
"Tournafulla Sustainable Living’s aim is to keep our community and our area alive and viable.
We have done much to accomplish this in the past, thanks to SSE community funding.
We know that much work will need to be done to develop the site and garden, but interest is great, and volunteers are willing.
This gives people a chance to work safely outdoors, and to keep engaged with the community, young and old.”
SSE Renewables has donated €1.1m to 412 projects through its annual Community Fund across Ireland in 2020/2021.
Details of these donations made to Irish communities in the last year are contained in the company’s annual Community Investment Review, published this week.
The donation, made to local groups, sports organisations and schools among others, is the largest-ever yearly investment made by SSE Renewables into local communities from its wind farms.
The latest Community Fund donation brings the total contribution made by SSE Renewables to local communities in Ireland to €8.9m so far since 2004.
In that time the Community Fund awards have supported over 3,200 projects and good causes in the areas closest to its wind farms.
SSE Renewables, which is the power behind leading green energy provider and sister company SSE Airtricity, provides voluntary funding every year to community groups in the vicinity of its wind farms in support of energy efficiency, safety and sustainability projects as well as social and environmental projects to enable community development.
The Community Investment Review highlights how in the last year SSE Renewables has also provided Covid-19 relief supports to communities when they needed it most during the pandemic.
Over €350,000 was distributed within six months to help local Covid-19 response efforts.
This funding was awarded to community groups operating near SSE Renewables’ wind farms located in Cork, Cavan, Donegal, Wexford, Monaghan, Sligo, Limerick, Kerry, Tipperary and Galway.
Jim Smith, Managing Director of SSE Renewables said:
“The past year has demonstrated to us all how important our local communities are.
We are thankful that communities have trusted us to provide financial support during this difficult year.
We are committed to using the green recovery and the growth of our renewables infrastructure to help even more communities in the year to come.”
At the start of the coronavirus pandemic SSE Renewables had committed to providing 10% of the annual awards from their funds to support rural areas during cope with the emergency.
As the scale of the impact became clear they invested over €2.3 million towards pandemic related projects helping groups from Galway to Sutherland to mitigate the impact of the crisis.
From establishing befriending services, safeguarding homelessness services to manufacturing PPE, the ability of rural communities to protect their most vulnerable residents was shown in every community.
The company’s Community Investment Review also demonstrates its continued commitment to operating in a net zero world and supporting a green economy through the delivery of new renewable energy assets to achieve a net zero future.
SSE Renewables will support Ireland’s green recovery with the continued development of projects both on and offshore, including Arklow Bank Wind Park, Phase 2, the first of the next generation of offshore wind energy sites in Ireland.
The company has also commenced construction of the onshore Lenalea Wind Farm in Co. Donegal, a co-development with partners Coillte Renewable Energy.
A projects can play a key role in advancing the transition to a zero-carbon future and meeting Ireland’s climate action goals, while supporting local communities to realise the positive social and economic benefits that each project can deliver during construction and throughout their operational lifetime.
More information on the SSE Renewables Community Fund can be found here.
