Five local groups in East Dumfriesshire have come together to form a Scottish Charitable
Incorporated Organisation (SCIO) which will receive and distribute community benefit
funds from ScottishPower Renewables’ Ewe Hill Windfarm above Langholm. At the
inaugural meeting of Dumfriesshire East Community Benefit Group (DEBCG), an
agreement was signed between DECBG and ScottishPower Renewables, which will see
the charity receiving approx £69k from the Ewe Hill 6 Fund and approx £184k from the
Ewe Hill 16 Fund annually, for distribution to worthwhile community projects.
DECBG Chair, Dr Chris Miles, said he was delighted that funds were now available to
support large and small projects which would benefit people and their communities in
south Annandale and Eskdale and he looked forward to seeing the first applications
coming forward.
“It is great that funds can now be made available to deliver real benefits to local
communities as a result of the successful construction and commissioning of the Ewe Hill
Windfarm” said Siobhan McLaughlin on behalf of ScottishPower Renewables (SPR).
Administration of the Ewe Hill 16 Fund is being provided by the Southern Uplands
Partnership (SUP) and details of the application process and guidance documents are
available on the SUP website www.sup.org.uk or by emailing decbgscio@gmail.com or
telephoning 01750 725154. The Ewe Hill 16 Fund is open to applications from a wide area
including Eskdalemuir, Lockerbie, Canonbie and Gretna. All eligible Community Councils
will be contacted by DECBG and are encouraged to share the contact details with their
communities. The first funding round is open now until 31 January 2018 and decisions on
these applications will be made by the Trustees of DECBG at a meeting in March 2018.
The Ewe Hill 6 Fund is open to projects that will benefit the communities of Corrie, Hutton
and Boreland, Langholm, Ewes and Westerkirk, Middlebie and Waterbeck and
Tundergarth and surrounding areas. Contact details to apply to this Fund are available
from www.sup.org.uk or by emailing decbgscio@gmail.com.
Pip Tabor, Project Manager of SUP, was delighted to be working with DECBG to provide
funding to support strategic projects that will benefit the area and he urged people with
ambitious plans to consider applying. “This fund could make a real and lasting difference
to the rural communities of East Dumfriesshire” he said.