Cour Community Fund – criteria

1. About the Cour Windfarm Community Benefit Fund

The Cour Windfarm Enterprise Fund is a fund that has been established to support community groups, voluntary organisations, charities and social enterprises that benefit the communities living in the community council areas of East Kintyre, West Kintyre and Tarbert & Skipness. The Fund is provided by Cour Wind Farm Limited, the company which owns and operates the Cour windfarm development (the “Project”). Octopus Investments are the current owners of Cour Wind Farm Limited. The Fund will be available as long the operational life of the windfarm development which is currently expected to be up to 25 years.

Foundation Scotland is now administering Cour Community Fund, following the departure of the previous administrator Angus Robertson. Foundation Scotland works with donors and community groups and charities to help nurture confident, thriving and resilient communities across Scotland.  This includes extensive work with developers and communities across Scotland on community benefit funds. 

2. How much annually will the Fund have to distribute?

An annual payment of circa £102,500, less administrative fees, will be made by the Project to the overall fund. If the annual funding is not fully allocated within the calendar year, the surplus will be rolled-over to the next year. The fund will be open twice annually for applications.

3. What is the purpose of the Fund?

The Fund will provide grants to community groups, voluntary organisations, charities and social enterprises to support their activities within the catchment area of the development. Ideally, the Fund will support projects and infrastructure which promote the economic, social and/or environmental sustainability of the catchment area. Most of all, our wish is to ensure that successful applications are translated into real projects that make a material difference and deliver a lasting legacy to the host communities. We will evaluate the impact of its work so that it can make sure the funds deliver best value against the objectives and also improve or modify the funding process/criteria when necessary.

4. Who can apply?

Groups and organisations working to benefit the people or the environment in the Cour Wind Development catchment area, the community council areas of East Kintyre, West Kintyre and Tarbert & Skipness, can apply for a grant. The group must have a constitution (governing document, memorandum and articles, set of rules or similar) which must be supplied with an application. The organisation does not need to be a registered charity to apply. The applicant will have to show evidence of a bank statement in the organisations name and a set of accounts for the last financial year at the time of applying to the fund.

5. How much funding can be applied for?

The minimum award is £250. The maximum award figure is £50,000, however, in exceptional circumstances, this may be increased for larger projects applications. The Fund will support up to 90% of the overall project costs (e.g. if your overall project cost is £1000, the fund may support up to £900 of this by grant). Applicants will have to evidence that the remaining 10% of the project costs has been funded.
 
Grants from the Fund will pay for both revenue costs (time bound) and capital items, with some exceptions…see what “the fund will not support section”. Only one funded application can be made per organisation/group per calendar year. If unsuccessful within a calendar year then a new application can be made.

6. How do you apply?

All applicants will need to complete an online application form. A link to this is below. Please note that the format is different to the previous application form. There are fewer questions but they cover similar areas to the previous form. If you have not applied recently to other funds that Foundation Scotland looks after you will need to upload your governing document, your latest accounts, a recent bank statement and a Safeguarding Policy if your project works with children/young people or vulnerable adults. There is advice on that here). We ask that any quotes required are in line with this Value for Money guidance. Please also upload supporting documentation in relation the specific project (for example a business plan).

A Community Fund Panel with representatives from all three areas will meet two times per year to review all applications to this fund. There is no right to appeal a decision. Groups that receive funding will normally have up to 12 months to spend their grant. Funding will be released when evidence of spend is forthcoming (bills, paid invoice, wage slips, receipts etc) although dispensation may be given if the applicant organisation does not hold enough reserves to cover initial outlays.

Each successful applicant will agree to a monitoring and evaluation process for their project. Cour Windfarm Limited reserves the right to promote any successful awards through its media channels. Cour Windfarm Limited may share the information in your application with organisations we consult with when assessing applications, when monitoring grants and evaluating our programmes. Such organisations may include the local community funding panel, and other grant providers. View our policy on data protection here.

For general help and advice about eligibility or your proposed project please contact:

Rachel Searle

Mobile: 07900 221483 (Mon-Fri, office hours)

Email:  [email protected]

For support with the online application process:  0131 524 0300 (Mon-Fri, office hours)

7. What the Fund doesn’t support.

The Cour Windfarm Community Benefit Fund will not support:
Projects which do not primarily benefit people living within the specified development catchment area.
Groups without a constitution and a named bank account in the name of the organisation.
The advancement of religious or political objectives.
Overseas trips or the repayment of loans or payment of debts.
Retrospective funding (i.e. paying for costs incurred before a decision on an application has be made, including loans or debts).
Activities contrary to the commercial or reputational interests of the windfarm or other contributors to the Fund.
Purchase of Vehicles.
Groups who will then distribute funds directly as grants or bursaries to third parties.
Projects that are detrimental to the environment.
Anti-renewable energy/anti-wind development activities.
The development of assets not wholly owned by the applicant (although some dispensations maybe allowed).
Applications that include core revenue costs (wages, utilities, rents etc) will only be considered for a maximum of two years of funding although this can be reviewed in exceptional circumstances.