Community Benefit Fund

To ensure robust, transparent, and effective management of the funds generated by each energy park, we’ve begun the process of establishing a dedicated Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO). This CIO, a registered charity, will be the primary entity responsible for managing and disbursing the Community Benefit Fund. As a charitable organisation, the CIO will operate under the stringent oversight and regulation of the Charity Commission for England and Wales. This ensures the highest standards of governance, financial integrity, and public accountability.

The CIO will be governed by a Board of Trustees, who will be appointed following a comprehensive national recruitment campaign. This campaign is designed to attract individuals with significant experience in charity governance and whose professional expertise and personal passion align closely with our strategic community investment themes.

Our community investment themes, which will guide the CIO’s funding decisions and the selection of Trustees, are:

1. Cost of living: Supporting initiatives that alleviate financial hardship and enhance economic resilience within communities.
2. Recreation and health: Promoting physical and mental well-being through access to recreational activities, healthy lifestyles, and community support services.
3. Environment and culture: Fostering environmental stewardship, conservation efforts, and celebrating local cultural heritage.
4. Education: Advancing educational opportunities, skills development, and lifelong learning for all ages.
5. Employability: Enhancing pathways to employment, promoting social inclusion, and supporting individuals in achieving their full potential.

A cornerstone of our Community Benefit Fund’s approach is our commitment to participatory grant making. This ensures that funding decisions are informed by the genuine needs and insights of the communities themselves. To achieve this, a dedicated local grants panel will be established for each energy park. These panels will comprise of diverse community members, including individuals with direct, lived experience of the investment priorities within their respective localities.

Our extensive social mapping approach, which involves the collation and analysis of qualitative and quantitative data, has so far been instrumental in identifying these crucial local challenges and opportunities around the energy parks, thereby directing our investment strategy. The local grants panels will serve as vital forums, facilitating in-depth discussion on each application submitted for funding. Their informed recommendations will then be presented to the CIO Board, providing critical support in the final approval of grants, thus embedding community voice at the heart of the decision-making process.

Our Community Investment team will support the CIO to recruit members for the local grant panels which will be set up for every energy park given official permission to be built.  The local panel will consist of 8-12 individuals, and members of the panel will need to be able to demonstrate relevant skills and experience in one or more of our five themes, and assure no conflicts of interest with potential fund beneficiaries in that local area.

We said we’d be here for the long-term, wanting be part of a wider legacy for Welsh communities. Therefore, as well as independent individuals from across the nation, a member of the Bute team will also have a seat at the Trustee table, providing insights and live social mapping data to assist in the long-term opportunities that are applied for.

A legally binding agreement between the energy park and the CIO will be established to ensure that the funds are being paid in line with the agreed £7,500 per megawatt of installed capacity for the duration of the energy generating life of each energy park. The payments will continue for the duration of the operations of the park.

The fund will be linked to the Consumer Price Index to allow for economic inflation so that our funds are future proofed for the lifetime of our turbines.

We are currently focussed on the communities within roughly 5-10km of our energy parks.  We’ve already begun an extensive social mapping exercise to understand local challenges and opportunities a future Community Benefit Fund could support.

We have researched other grant funding mechanisms across Wales and the frustration felt by some about the inflexibility of those using a fixed boundary approach.  We will be insight-led and look to the local grants panels to ensure that we aren’t bound by geographical red tape when financial support can make a real difference to the communities nearest our parks.

We want to be as inclusive a funder as possible by minimising as much red tape as we can. However, we do have a responsibility to ensure that the money is distributed in a fair and transparent way to recipients that can demonstrate an appropriate level of governance and a collective experience of delivering social impact activities.

Groups will be asked to take part in a short eligibility quiz to check they’re eligible to apply before being invited to start their application.

We’re looking to make the process of applying for funds as accessible as possible within the constraints of charity law. Clear guidance setting out the application process for access to these funds will be prepared and published soon.  We’re currently developing a bespoke platform for communities to use to choose the most suitable grant for their activities and to make their application.

Our thoughts at this stage are to create a tiered Community Benefit Fund with decision-making processes based on:

• small sum grants
• large sum grants
• significant sum grants (‘legacy’ grants)

Every year, we will invest up to £7,500 per megawatt of generating capacity into a Community Benefit Fund.  To illustrate, a typical single turbine with a capacity of 6.5MW would generate an annual payment of £48,750 into a CBF.

We’re continuing to work on the detail around how much and how often projects and individuals will be able to apply but rest assured that the process will be easy and transparent.

Yes!  We’re listening to communities near our energy parks and will be dedicating 25% of our Community Benefit Fund to build, connect and gift projects to help reduce energy bills and generate income for the community.

These smaller scale generation projects could connect to the local distribution network – providing an income for its owners or to service a direct energy need.

This fund will be available for any constituted group, consortium of third sector organisations or public sector bodies, such as school clusters or Community Councils. The groups identified will be supported to own and manage the project (and income) for the benefit of their membership and wider community.

More information on our shared, local ownership model can be found by clicking on this link. 

Community Benefit Funds will be set up for each energy park only when the park is given planning permission by Welsh Government, following a thorough and extensive planning process.

Our first Community Benefit Fund will be connected to Twyn Hywel Energy Park and we’re aiming for the Fund to be ready to apply for by early 2026.  A local panel will be set up before the fund opens, with full set of criteria and detailed information on the application process.

If our other parks are given the go ahead – then each local Community Benefit Fund will follow the same process.

The Community Benefit Fund aims to be a flexible, innovative, and distinctive funding source compared to conventional grants. Our primary focus is not on prescribing specific project types, but rather on understanding the tangible difference your proposed project, service, or activity will make, and the robust evidence supporting its potential impact.

We encourage creative and impactful proposals that address genuine community needs within our strategic investment themes. While we are flexible in the types of projects we can support, the emphasis will always be on the demonstrable outcomes and the positive change your initiative will bring to the community.

We highly recommend reaching out to a member of our dedicated team to discuss your project ideas before submitting a formal application via CICteam@bute.energy

This informal discussion can help clarify alignment with the fund’s objectives and provide guidance on developing a strong proposal.

We’re continuing to work on the detail around criteria and eligibility, but rest assured that we will be clear and transparent with what can and can’t be applied for.