Housing

The offshore wind farm 'powering' a King's Lynn homeless shelter

Winter Night Shelter volunteers said the £10,000 donation ensured it would be able to open later this year

Seagreen

A King’s Lynn homelessness charity will reopen later this year thanks to a £10,000 grant from a major offshore wind farm project.

The Winter Night Shelter is to benefit from the East Coast Community Fund set up by Danish company Ørsted, which operates the Race Bank wind farm in the North Sea, to support community and environmental initiatives along the Yorkshire, Lincolnshire and North Norfolk coasts.

The shelter opens every night of the week from the beginning of November until the end of March, accommodating and providing meals for up to 23 people who would otherwise be forced to sleep rough

Andrew Frere-Smith, a spokesman for King’s Lynn Winter Night Shelter, said: “The £10,000 from the East Coast Community Fund is going to make such a difference.

“This money will enable us to continue the coordinator’s contract through the summer so she can develop a fundraising committee, maintain contact with partner agencies and mentor some of the clients.

“Without this support we would be back to square one in the Autumn.”

The fund, worth £465,000 each year until 2037, is part of Ørsted’s community engagement programme for its Race Bank and Hornsea Project One projects, the latter of which will become the largest offshore wind farm in the world on its expected completion in 2020.

Combined, these two wind farms will have a combined capacity of nearly 1.8 gigawatts, enough to power more than 1.5 million UK homes.

Emma Toulson, lead stakeholder relations advisor at Ørsted, said the company is “committed to being part of the communities where we build and operate our offshore wind farms.”

She added that the fund was set up to “support programmes and initiatives that can make a real difference to local people”.

Toulson also said: “The King’s Lynn Winter Night Shelter is a worthy recipient from the latest round of funding, and is one of 14 projects that have recently received grants. The fund has already donated over £900,000 since 2016, and will continue to run until 2037.”

More than £900,000 has been donated to more than 80 projects since the initiative launched in 2016.

An extra £75,000 is ring-fenced each year for a skills fund, set to boost training and education projects in local communities.

Julian Hallett, a trustee and treasurer for the shelter, said: “Funding in the wintertime is relatively easy when generous people start to feel the cold and Christmas comes. But many people assume that the shelter just goes to sleep over the summer.”

Groups in the area can check their eligibility for an East Coast Community Fund grant here. There are two application rounds each year, with the next closing on August 14.

Support the Big Issue

For over 30 years, the Big Issue has been committed to ending poverty in the UK. In 2024, our work is needed more than ever. Find out how you can support the Big Issue today.
Vendor martin Hawes

Recommended for you

View all
Leaked letter to Tory MPs reveals renting reforms will be 'watered down' to 'appease landlords'
Renters Reform Bill
RENTING

Leaked letter to Tory MPs reveals renting reforms will be 'watered down' to 'appease landlords'

Housing crisis: Shared ownership an 'unbearable reality' which has 'failed to deliver', MPs warn
Housing

Housing crisis: Shared ownership an 'unbearable reality' which has 'failed to deliver', MPs warn

Most tenants have never heard of the beleaguered Renters Reform Bill
Renters and the Renters Reform Bill
Renting

Most tenants have never heard of the beleaguered Renters Reform Bill

ONS U-turns on plan to stop publishing data on deaths of homeless people after furious outcry
homeless deaths
homelessness

ONS U-turns on plan to stop publishing data on deaths of homeless people after furious outcry

Most Popular

Read All
Renters pay their landlords' buy-to-let mortgages, so they should get a share of the profits
Renters: A mortgage lender's window advertising buy-to-let products
1.

Renters pay their landlords' buy-to-let mortgages, so they should get a share of the profits

Exclusive: Disabled people are 'set up to fail' by the DWP in target-driven disability benefits system, whistleblowers reveal
Pound coins on a piece of paper with disability living allowancve
2.

Exclusive: Disabled people are 'set up to fail' by the DWP in target-driven disability benefits system, whistleblowers reveal

Here's when UK households to start receiving last cost of living payments
next dwp cost of living payment 2023
3.

Here's when UK households to start receiving last cost of living payments

Strike dates 2023: From train drivers to NHS doctors, here are the dates to know
4.

Strike dates 2023: From train drivers to NHS doctors, here are the dates to know