Community Energy Fund (CEF)
The Community Energy Fund (CEF) is a grant scheme for urban and rural communities to develop energy services to benefit their local area.
The funding will help to kickstart clean energy projects including small-scale wind farms and rooftop solar partnerships, as well as battery storage, rural heat networks, electric vehicle charging points. It can also be used to fund fuel poverty alleviation schemes such as energy efficiency, retrofit, and advice projects.
The CEF aims to empower local people to take control of their energy future by:
- increasing the number of community-owned low-carbon energy assets
- supporting communities to reduce energy cost and demand
- generating local income through community-owned energy assets
- reinvesting income locally and kickstarting private investment
- supporting local jobs, growth and volunteering opportunities
- enabling places to benefit from clean, renewable, local energy
The fund will achieve its aims by supporting early development stages of community energy projects.
Community Energy Fund (midlandnetzerohub.co.uk)
Loans for village halls and community buildings
A loan could be an attractive option for improving your building’s heating or lighting efficiency, where the payback times are relatively short.
Loan funding will most likely require a robust business plan as well as a legally recognised body to manage to project and be held accountable should anything go wrong.
The following offer loans for projects that have environmental or social impact:
Rural Community Buildings Loan Fund
The Rural Community Buildings Loan Fund provides loans of up to £20,000 to fill temporary gaps in funding, either for specific projects or for urgent work connected with a building.
It’s managed by Action with Communities in Rural England who also run a nationwide advice and information service for the volunteers who manage village halls.
With a network advisor in every English county, they can support with funding applications and more.
Find your ACRE advisor here (acre.org.uk)
Rural Community Buildings Loan Fund Leaflet (acre.org.uk) (pdf 241kb)