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The National Lottery Community Fund is open for applications from community organisations across the Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council area, who would like to make their buildings more energy efficient and save money.

The £5 million Sustainable Community Buildings programme is offering grants of up to £50,000, to help organisations carry out improvements to their venues by installing technology like solar panels, heat pumps and insulation, saving money on energy bills and cutting carbon emissions.

Organisations taking part in the programme will complete free accredited carbon literacy training delivered by Business in the Community, which will help them look at ways to reduce their carbon footprint. Action Renewables will also support them to write and implement an environmental plan to consider steps to improve sustainability and cut costs.

Sustainable Community Buildings, made possible thanks to money raised by National Lottey players, is open for applications until Wednesday, February 19, for groups with community buildings in Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council, Belfast City Council or Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council areas.

Bronagh, Women’s Aid ABCLN Domestic Abuse Specialist. Women’s Aid ABCLN has already taken some steps to be more environmentally sustainable and save money and are encouraging other community groups to consider applying to National Lottery programme, Sustainable Community Buildings, now open to groups across Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council area.

Kate Beggs, The National Lottery Community Fund’s NI Director, said: “Sustainable Community Buildings is designed to kick-start an organisation's journey to sustainability. It’s the first step in our ambition under our new strategy to support communities to be environmentally sustainable.

“The programme will help organisations to improve the environmental performance of their building, save money through lower utility bills and reduce their carbon footprint. We believe this will also leave a legacy by increasing awareness and educating community organisations about the environmental challenges they face.”

Some community groups have already taken steps to be environmentally sustainable. This includes Women’s Aid ABCLN (Antrim, Ballymena, Carrickfergus, Larne and Newtownabbey) who received National Lottery funding two years ago to install solar panels at their building, and have already seen the benefits.

Karen McConkey, Finance Manager at Women’s Aid ABCLN, said: “As part of our project funded by The National Lottery Community Fund to raise awareness of domestic abuse and help protect older people, we were able to secure additional funding for installing solar panels.

“We wanted to do our bit for supporting the environment and try and reduce our ever-increasing bills. The application and installation processes were straight forward and there was help along the way. Experts accessed our building and made sure we got what was best for our situation and organisation. The solar panels have allowed us to make savings at a time when we needed them the most.

“I would say to other groups thinking of applying to the new National Lottery funding programme, Sustainable Community Buildings, if your organisation and building are eligible, give it a go.”  

The Sustainable Community Buildings programme opened for applications for different areas in stages during 2024-2025.

For more information visit The National Lottery Community Fund’s website www.tnlcommunityfund.org.uk/funding/northern-ireland or contact their enquiries team on 028 9055 1455, [email protected].

National Lottery money available to improve community buildings across Antrim and Newtownabbey