Crook Hill Community Benefit Fund: three weeks left to apply for grants

Whitworth Historical Society received a grant from the Crook Hill Community Benefit Fund in 2023

There are just three weeks left to apply for the annual Crook Hill Community Benefit Fund.

Community projects located within a 5km radius of the Crook Hill wind farm, crossing the border of Rossendale and Rochdale, are eligible for to apply for a grant between £250 and £10,000.

The fund distributes £35,000 annually over the 20–25-year lifetime of the project, administered by national charity GrantScape.

The construction of the 11-turbine Crook Hill Wind Farm was completed in 2015, with the development managers, Vantage Infrastructure, donating £35,000 on an annual basis for the operational life of the project, as the Crook Hill Community Benefit Fund.

To date, over 100 projects have been supported by more than £300,000.

Fourteen groups received funding in 2023 including the Whitworth Historical Society and Littleborough Arts Festival.

The Whitworth Historical Society received over £2,400 to fund new photography and storage equipment to digitise and protect their collection, whist Littleborough Arts Festival received funding for the annual Lantern Parade in Hare Hill Park [which was cancelled due to poor weather].

There is a single application round each year and a panel of local people decide which applications the fund should support.

The next closing date is 7 February 2024. Decisions will be announced at the end of April 2024.

For more information, including how to apply, please visit:

• www.grantscape.org.uk/fund/crook-hill-community-benefit-fund/