National Lottery cash to improve community buildings across Northern Ireland

The Sustainable Community Buildings programme is offering grants of up to £50,000 to help organisations carry out improvements to their venues by installing technology like solar panels, insulation and heat pumps, saving money on energy bills.

It opens for applications across Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council, Ards and North Down Borough Council, Mid Ulster District Council and Newry, Mourne and Down District Council from Wednesday 7 February to Wednesday 20 March 2024.

Organisations that apply to the programme will also take part in vital free carbon literacy training delivered by Business in the Community, which will help them to look at ways to reduce their carbon footprint. Action Renewables will also support them to write and implement an environmental plan to consider steps to improve sustainability and cut costs.

Kate Beggs, The National Lottery Community Fund’s NI director, said: “Sustainable Community Buildings is designed to kick-start an organisation's journey to sustainability. It is the first step in our ambition under our new strategy to support communities to be environmentally sustainable.

“The programme will help organisations to improve the environmental performance of their building, save money through lower utility bills and reduce their carbon footprint. We believe this will also leave a legacy by increasing awareness and educating community organisations about the environmental challenges they face.”

Some community groups, like Rural Health Partnership in Cullyhanna, have already taken steps to be environmentally sustainable and saved money through things like improved insulation and solar panels.

Rural Health Partnership, which runs activities in their centre to support the wellbeing of people in the area, has always been keen to keep energy costs down and look at ways to be more environmentally sustainable, so in Spring 2022 they used a National Lottery grant to install solar panels.

Teresa Nugent, chief executive of Rural Health Partnership, said: “We’ve had the solar panels for just over a year now and not only have we seen a reduction in our energy bills, but we’ve also been able to make the centre more comfortable for our members. The money we are saving can be used for heating rooms on colder days or be put towards new equipment for activities.

“We have always been aware of the need to save energy and have been involved in smaller projects to reduce our carbon footprint, but installing the solar panels has really been the start of our journey to become more environmentally sustainable.

“Our building is very visible and we’re a well-known group so part of what we want to do is encourage more groups to follow in our footsteps. We’ve already had people enquire about our solar panels and we’re happy to share our experience to help others.”

The Sustainable Community Buildings programme, which is distributing money raised thanks to National Lottery players, will open for applications in stages across Northern Ireland. Information sessions will also be held for potential applicants.

For more information visit The National Lottery Community Fund’s website www.tnlcommunityfund.org.uk/funding/northern-ireland or contact enquiries on 02890 551 455, [email protected].