Clyde (Dumfries and Galloway) Community Fund

About this fund

The fund is provided by SSE, Greencoat UK Wind Plc, and GLIL Corporate Holdings Ltd, who own Clyde Windfarm (Scotland) Ltd as a joint venture partnership.

The fund opened in 2012, and an annual amount of £155,000, index-linked, will be paid into the fund for the operating life of the wind farm, with each community allocated a 1/12th share. In 2023, the annual contribution to the fund was just over £245,000, with each community receiving almost £20,000. However, the amounts available for distribution vary, depending on each area's previous funding commitments. Some areas may have already allocated their funds and no longer have funds available for grant-making.

For the current round, each of the twelve communities has the following funds available:

Carronbridge £95,264	Closeburn -£6,163	Durisdeer £64,482
Johnstonebridge £43,776	Kirkconnel and Kelloholm £7,289	Kirkmichael £66,964
Kirkpatrick Juxta (Beattock) £56,578	Moffat & District £5,329	Royal Burgh of Sanquhar £9,160
Thornhill £13,481	Wamphray £18,403	Wanlockhead £31,003

Standard grants between £500 and £12,000

Large grants over £12,000

Purpose of this fund

The fund will provide grants to support charitable activities that:

• Enhance the quality of life and promote people's well-being
• Promote community spirit and bring people together
• Foster vibrant, sustainable communities.

Grant requests to support a wide range of costs and activities will be considered, such as equipment costs, running costs for local groups, staff or sessional worker costs, consultations, and maintenance or refurbishment of community facilities.

Additional criteria

Each community makes its own recommendations about how its share of the fund will be distributed. Applications should demonstrate a clear benefit to at least one of the twelve fund areas. The panel will discuss how best to support applications benefitting more than one area within the fund. To facilitate this, please provide estimates of your project’s beneficiaries in each area, if applicable.

Who can apply?

Groups and organisations working to benefit people in any of the twelve communities can apply.  Your group/organisation must meet our standard eligibility criteria. You don’t need to be a registered charity to apply.

Applications from groups/organisations located out of the fund area will be considered on a case-by-case basis and must demonstrate clear benefits for residents within the fund area and provide evidence of consultation with community councils.

What can’t be funded?

Information on what the fund cannot support is provided here. In addition, the fund cannot cover costs for trips abroad unless for the purposes of education or as part of a recognised educational curriculum.

How are decisions made?

A community panel, made up of people who live, work or actively volunteer in the twelve communities, makes recommendations on awards from the fund. 

The panel has representation from all twelve areas in the form of two named representatives per community. These representatives are mandated in this role by the nine community councils, two trusts, and one village committee that have signed the fund’s memorandum of understanding.

The panel meets twice each year, in March and September.  Minutes are available from the community funds adviser (please see details below).