The National Lottery Community Fund has reopened their Sustainable Community Buildings programme with revised criteria, to help more community groups in the Derry area make improvements to their buildings, reducing energy bills and cutting carbon emissions.
The Sustainable Community Buildings programme is opening from Wed 12 March to Wed 23 April 2025.
It provides professional advice, training and support, alongside capital grants of up to £50,000, for improvements such as solar panels and upgraded insulation.
There will no longer be restrictions on groups applying due to organisational income, building age or if they have already carried out previous environmental improvements.
Kate Beggs, The National Lottery Community Fund’s NI Director, said: “We know demand is there. We used learning from previous rounds to reopen Sustainable Community Buildings with revised criteria, so we can help as many groups as possible to save money and support the environment, sharing learning with their community.
“Sustainable Community Buildings is only a first step in our environmental ambitions outlined in our strategy to 2030.
“We want all groups applying to any of our funding programme to consider the impact of their project on the environment. We continue to use learning and will be engaging with the sector on future plans.”
So far, 38 community and voluntary groups have been awarded grants from Sustainable Community Buildings, which is helping them save between £600 and £7,000 every year, money they can now reinvest into services.
These first grants will also save at least 110,000 kg of CO2 per year, that’s the same as running 38 diesel cars for a year.
