Evishagaran and Craiggore Community Benefit Fund

Purpose of the fund:

The Evishagaran and Craiggore Wind Farm Community Benefit Fund was established in 2022 by the ERG Group.

The fund’s aim is to provide financial support towards the development of locally-beneficial community-based projects and initiatives within a 7km radius of Evishagaran and Craiggore wind farms, Dungiven.

Applications are invited from charities and community organisations based within a 7km radius of the Evishagaran and Craiggore wind farm sites.

Evishagaran – Applicant organisations must be located in this area, (*straight-line measurement) from the windfarm site entrance (Co-ordinates: 54.940122, -6.831691).

Craiggore – Applicant organisations must be located in this area, (*straight-line measurement) from the windfarm site entrance (Co-ordinates: 54.994598, -6.804886).

Applicants can apply for financial support for any one or more of the following purposes:

• The advancement of education; and/or
• The advancement of environmental protection or improvement; and/or
• Projects for environmental and/or biodiversity benefit; and/or
• Improving the health of residents; and/or
• Promoting care & support of vulnerable people; and/or
• Promoting recreational or sporting activities; and/or
• The advancement of the arts, heritage, culture or science; and/or
• Improving or maintaining community buildings or facilities; and/or
• Social and local community development; and/or
• The promotion of culture and knowledge; and/or
• Support for young people and sports; and/or
• Promoting ERG’s culture and sustainability of renewable energies; and/or
• Supporting social development leveraging on ERG’s business activities; and/or
• Supporting the “call of ideas” for the innovation in the nearby areas; and/or
• Education in relation to sustainability, the development of renewables, and the fight against climate change

Priority will be given to:

• Education programmes for the next generation on the topics of Sustainability and Renewable Energy
• Collaborative projects
• Projects that aim to improve the health of residents, particularly mental health
• Projects that promote care & support of vulnerable people, particularly relating to the cost of living/fuel poverty

Grant size:

Grants up to £4,000

We will not fund:

The Community Foundation will not fund organisations or activities which promote causes that are contrary to our purposes. Causes and activities that are contrary to our purposes include, but may not be limited to, those outlined in our investment policy.  We will not therefore fund organisations or activities which we determine are linked to the promotion of armaments, alcohol, human rights abuses, tobacco or pornography.

In addition there are some general things that our grant aid cannot be used for:

• The advancement of religion.  This includes organisations whose purposes include the advancement of religion
• The establishment of endowment of any school or institution providing further education within the meaning of the Education and Libraries (Northern Ireland) Order 1972
• The provision of assistance to any Housing Association within the meaning of the Housing (Northern Ireland) Order 1976
• Promotion of religious or political activity, including any flags and emblems that may deem to be associated with such
• CIC Companies Limited by Shares, or CICs without an asset lock clause.  Eligible CICs must have at least three unrelated committee members, and/or the majority of the committee unrelated
• Individuals
• Funding for retrospective project costs
• General appeals, individual and group sponsorship, marketing appeals, proposals for bursaries from individuals or proposals from individuals for the funding of study or attainment of qualifications
• The provision of services that are the primary and legal responsibility of the state
• Input VAT reclaimable from HMRC
• Payments reimbursed or to be reimbursed by other public or private sector funding
• Contributions in kind (i.e. a contribution in goods or services, as opposed to money)
• Depreciation, amortisation or impairment of fixed Assets owned by the group
• Interest payments (including service charge payments for finance leases)
• Gifts to individuals other than promotional items with a value of no more than £25 a year to any one individual
• Statutory fines, criminal fines or penalties
• Liabilities incurred before the issue of an award
• Use in respect of costs reimbursed or to be reimbursed by funding from any other source
• Use of funding to top up reserves of your group
• Applications from statutory organisations
• Trips abroad
• Vehicles
• Activities that duplicate existing services

Please Note – Applications for capital build projects will only be considered if full Planning Permission has already been approved and match funding is in place.

In 2025, the success rate for applications to this fund was 88%.

Applicants with a live grant will still be required to submit their monitoring. However, as the monitoring function on the Fundseeker portal is still under development, this will need to be provided at a later date. We will contact you as soon as the this has been activated.

Please read the following text before beginning your application:  

• You are a locally based not-for-profit, voluntary or community group working in Northern Ireland to improve the quality of life for local people
• You have an active management committee, with no two related cheque signatories
• You have a governing document, i.e. Constitution in the name of the applicant organisation
• You have a current bank account in the name of your organisation
• You have up to date annual accounts
• You have complied with the conditions of previous grants including submission of monitoring returns.

Please note: The Community Foundation now uses a new Fundseeker Portal for all applications and monitoring. If this is your first time applying, or your first time accessing the portal, we recommend reading the ‘How to Apply’ guide before starting your application.

For further information and to find out if your group or project is eligible, please contact the grants team on 028 9024 5927 or email applications@communityfoundationni.org.