FinancialGroupsNewsOCFPicture of an older lady chatting in a community centre. New grants to help community groups with their energy bill costs funded by Oxfordshire County Council.

A new Community Building Energy Support Scheme, funded by Oxfordshire County Council is now available through Oxfordshire Community Foundation. Local community groups will be able to access additional support to keep their buildings open this winter. 

The £100,000 fund will help community groups with their energy bills to ensure venues can stay open.

Councillor Mark Lygo, Oxfordshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Public Health and Equalities, said: “The council committed to ensuring that community venues stay open this winter. This fund will continue to support the hard work of community groups, who are helping some of the most vulnerable people in the county so that rises in costs to access services are not passed on.”

Zoe Sprigings, new Chief Executive Officer for Oxfordshire Community Foundation said: “We are delighted to be partnering with Oxfordshire County Council again on a further round of grants, this time to support the increased costs of running premises. We know that community buildings are becoming hubs for everything from mutual aid to befriending to debt advice, and we really welcome this additional support to keep these spaces open for the winter.” OCF consulted with its network of charity contacts about the biggest issues for Oxfordshire communities in the cost-of-living crisis and what type of activities needed funding. Oxfordshire County Council supported our recent grants round for this and applications are currently being assessed. You can still help, by joining with us and donating to our cost-of-living fund.

The Community Building Energy Support Scheme is open until 12 noon on Monday 21st November 2022. Community groups can apply online for grants between £250 and £3,000.

Find out more and apply to the Community Building Energy Support Scheme