Funding boost for communities

SSEN dish out £32,000 to worthy causes

Community groups in Perth and Kinross are to benefit from a share of over £32,000 to help them be prepared for winter.

Five groups are to receive the funding from Perth-based Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks’ (SSEN) resilient communities fund, to help them boost facilities and communications in the case of severe weather over the winter months.

Stanley and District Community Council has received £3,050 from the fund to replace an ageing fire alarm system at an emergency hub within the village.

The community council in Kinross has also been granted £2,375 to help them get a publicly accessible defibrillator for the town.

Likewise, Coupar Angus and Bendochy Community Council will be able to invest in 300 ‘floodsax’ bags after receiving £1,890 from SSEN should the town be hit by flooding.

Aberuthven Village Hall Trust will also look to get a defibrilator for the village hall, including training and storage, with £4,371 from the resilience fund.

One of the biggest cash donations in this round of funding from SSEN went to Perth First Responders, who received a whopping £15,000 to help them buy a new emergency response vehicle.

Perth First Responders answer life-threatening 999 calls in areas where it is difficult for the Scottish Ambulance Service to reach within the allotted time, and can start lifesaving treatment while the ambulance is en route.

Catherine Procter, secretary at Perth First Responders, said: “Perth First Responders would like to thank SSEN for their fantastic donation of £15,000. This means that we can carry on helping to save lives across Perthshire.

“SSEN is dedicated to helping the people of Perthshire, and have installed public access defibrillators in villages across the region, helping not only to save lives directly, but to indirectly help by encouraging people to learn CPR, which we are happy to teach to as many people as possible.

“We shall be proud to carry the SSEN logo on our vehicle and hope that this will be the beginning of a long and fruitful partnership.”

The SSEN resilient communities fund was initially set up to support community groups and charities in its distribution network area, with grants of up to £20,000 up for grabs.

The fund is particularly aimed at helping vulnerable or isolated people to make sure they are prepared and supported during an emergency.

Graeme Stewart, head of region for South Caledonia at SSEN, said: “Our resilient communities fund is vital to help our communities better prepare and improve their own resilience plans to respond to whatever mother nature throws our way.

“As a responsible operator, by proactively supporting local resilience projects we can truly make a difference to the communities we serve and this collaborative approach is essential to support our customers during network outages.”

The next round of funding from SSEN’s resilient communities fund will open for applications in 2018.