Lewis trust secures place in awards finals
COMMUNITY wind farm charity Point and Sandwick Trust (PST) says it is delighted to have been shortlisted in the Scottish Charity Awards, announced on Friday, writes Mark Entwistle.
Two years ago, PST won a Green Energy Award from the renewables industry for its community-owned wind farm at Beinn Ghrideag on the outskirts of Stornoway.
This time, the nomination is for charity work – for its funding and support of community projects with the profits from the wind farm – and the trust is particularly proud to be a finalist in the Celebrating Communities category.
The awards are run by the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO), the national body representing the interests of charities, voluntary organisations and social enterprises.
The shortlist includes 40 individuals and organisations from across the third sector in Scotland and members of the public can have their say by voting for their favourite entry from all the categories in the People’s Choice Award – to do so, vote online at www.scvo.org. uk/vote by May 18.
All the winners will be announced at the awards ceremony on June 14 in the Edinburgh International Conference Centre, hosted by Sally Magnusson.
Angus McCormack, chairman of Point and Sandwick Trust, said: ‘We are so pleased to be recognised by the Scottish Charity Awards, even more so for our shortlisting in the Celebrating Communities category.
‘As a trust, we built and operate the UK’s biggest 100 per cent-owned community wind farm for the express benefit of our local community and the wider Western Isles.
‘Despite our relatively modest size, we are an inherently ambitious organisation and operate with a can-do attitude, delivering support to community-run cafes, respite care services and our local hospice.
‘For a small group of villages in the Outer Hebrides, we are having a notable impact, and all thanks to the income from our turbines and the incessant blowing of the Hebridean wind.’
The charity started up in 2005 and the turbines began generating power in November 2015.
It is the largest communityowned wind farm in the UK in terms of output, generating nine megawatts from its three turbines, and every penny of its profits goes back into the local community.
It is expected to make £900,000 profit this year, enabling it to support a wide range of good causes, from major lifeline donations such as the £55,000 a year to Bethesda Care Home and Hospice to £500 for local schools in Point and Sandwick to buy bicycles for children with additional support needs.