Westbury Town Council received funding of £3,000 from SSEN (Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks) to help provide food for its most vulnerable community members during the pandemic.
The town council thanked SSEN saying, “Four days after the lockdown measures were implemented, Westbury Town Council was out delivering essential food boxes to residents in need. Since then, we have delivered an average of 80 food boxes per week, with the help of the outstanding volunteers who have stepped forward to assist their neighbours.
“This grant from SSEN has also bolstered our operation and will help us to continue these services going forward.”
Since its launch in 2015, SSEN’s Resilient Communities Fund has now provided over £2.7 million to 538 local community projects to build resilience and protect those most vulnerable. The criteria for this year’s fund was changed following consultation with SSEN stakeholder groups, who strongly supported opening the fund early and targeting coronavirus response.
Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) has awarded over £70,000 to communities across its Ridgeway region to support them in the their ongoing response to the coronavirus crisis.
Thirty-six communities across the region which serves areas including Wiltshire, Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire will benefit from £70,215 awarded through SSEN’s Resilient Communities Fund (RCF), which was repurposed in March to support local efforts in helping those most vulnerable during the pandemic.
Successful applicants from community, parish, town and borough councils have now been awarded up to £3,000 each from the £175,000 available through the RCF to provide food and materials to vulnerable community members, enable volunteers to support community coronavirus initiatives, provide PPE to vulnerable and frontline workers, run community befriending schemes and improve community communication.
All successful applicants met the fund requirements of providing extra help to those self-isolating or social shielding, such as the elderly or those with underlying health conditions.
Craig Rankin, SSEN’s head of region for Ridgeway said, “It’s heartening to see how quickly the communities across our local region have worked together to support those in need of assistance during this challenging time and I’m delighted to see these awards from SSEN’s repurposed Resilient Communities Fund benefitting them and all of their efforts.
