RENEWABLE energy company Drax Group is welcoming funding applications from charitable organisations as part of its ongoing work to support communities near its operations during the Covid pandemic.
Drax’s Charity Committee has a dedicated fund for supporting good causes local to its operations in Scotland, which include Cruachan Power Station, Daldowie Fuel Plant and the Lanark and Galloway Hydro Schemes.
It accepts funding requests that will have a positive impact on the local community by supporting the company’s STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) education outreach work and improving skills and employability.
Last year, Drax provided a £636,000 support package for communities which included donating laptops to schools to support students with home schooling, free energy for small care homes and launched virtual tours and work experience programmes to keep STEM learning opportunities open during the pandemic.
Alan Knight, Group Director of Sustainability and Chair of the Charity Committee, said: “Drax has a long history of supporting the communities local to its operations. It’s vital that businesses like Drax play their part in boosting education and employability so people are equipped with the relevant skills to support a green economy.
“We welcome applications from organisations which share Drax’s aims of boosting social mobility or improving the local area.”
Lochnell Primary School in Benderloch, Argyll, recently received support from the Drax Charity Committee. Headteacher Louise Chisholm said: “We are grateful to Drax for its ongoing support for education and skills – it makes a real difference to the students’ experience which is so important – especially during the challenges of the last year. We’ve used the latest funding to further develop our children’s curiosity and skills in computing and science by purchasing Lego WeDo kits which allow the children to build and program their own projects.”
Charities and community organisations local to Drax’s operations which support STEM and education outreach, skills and employability, or which work to improve local communities, can apply for up to £500 per year from Drax.
Drax recently began the planning process to build a new underground pumped hydro storage power station that will more than double the electricity generating capacity of the iconic ‘Hollow Mountain’ Cruachan facility. The project will support almost 900 jobs in rural areas across Scotland during construction and will provide critical storage capacity needed to support a net zero power system.
To request an application form, email communityandcharity@drax.com or fill out an enquiry form on the Drax website.
