Sussex groups invited to apply for share of £400,000 in grants from Rampion Community Benefit Fund

The Rampion Community Benefit Fund 2023 launches today (Monday, March 20) and is now open until May 26 for applications from charities, community groups and not-for-profit organisations to fund projects benefiting local communities and supporting the environment.

In a new ‘Community Energy Solutions’ initiative, £100,000 per year for the next two years is offered in grants of up to £20,000 for capital projects to improve community and charity buildings with renewable energy solutions and energy conservation initiatives.

On-site renewable energy projects could involve solar PV for electricity or solar thermal, ground and air source for heating and hot water. Energy conservation projects could include insulation, passive design to reduce heating and cooling requirements, and reused or recycled building materials.

Kevin Richmond, chief executive of the Sussex Community Foundation, said: “Through the Rampion Fund, we aim to help charities and community groups to reduce their energy bills long-term, encourage investment in renewable energy and reduce carbon emissions, and we encourage applications now.”

Grants of up to £10,000 are also offered for community projects supporting nature conservation, marine ecology and environmental improvements. The fund will open for another round of applications early in 2024.

Since the Rampion Fund at Sussex Community Foundation was set up in 2017, more than £1.8 million has been given out in grants to 160 projects working for the benefit of more than a million people in Sussex.

Katie Scanlan, Rampion stakeholder and visitor centre manager, said: “We are delighted that through the Rampion Community Benefit Fund, we can support some truly remarkable and vital local community projects.

“I was lucky to visit one of the projects recently - ‘Harriett’s Press’ - and was inspired by their commitment to providing a free, low-energy, sustainable laundry service to those in need in their community in Brighton. This is exactly the sort of project we are proud to support, with a focus on both environmental sustainability and community support."

Some examples of projects supported by the Rampion Community Benefit Fund include Henfield Hall, Henfield, with the installation of rooftop solar panels and an inverter at the Henfield Hall.

Patrick Thorpe, treasurer, said: “We were pleased to become the first “public use” building in Henfield to achieve a solar installation, brought about by much hard work on our part but we are very cognizant that it would not have been achieved without the many generous grants we obtained, with that from the Rampion Community Benefit Fund being the biggest and the first which set us on the path to realising the project and for which we will always be grateful.”

Other projects include Creative Heart in Littlehampton, with the installation of a vast solar array and three phase inverter and battery for the café.

The fund also helped Seaford Contemporary Illustrators and Printmakers work with people in Seaford to create an underwater arts installation called ‘Down in the Deep’ for the popular ArtWave Festival in the area. It focused on the ecosystem that is developing at the base of the Rampion Wind Farm, and the rocky inlets at the base of Seaford Head and the Sussex Kelp Forest, highlighting the importance of reducing CO2 levels and rebuilding marine habitats destroyed by trawlers.

The Memorial Hall, in Patcham, also had a new air source heat pump system installed to replace three aging gas heaters.

Details can be found at: www.sussexgiving.org.uk/rampion. The deadline for the 2023 programme is Friday, May 26.