As we prepare to open our new Sustainable Community Buildings Programme on this Wednesday (7 February), we’re looking at some National Lottery funded groups like Cloughmills Community Action Team, who started their sustainability journey many years ago, and now consider it in all they do.

This includes them helping local people gain the skills to grow their own food, using the outdoor resources when possible and getting solar panels that have saved them money on bills, which they reinvest in other vital services in the local community such as a Men’s Shed, for helping the wellbeing of people living in the village.  

Why it’s important

Cloughmills Community Action Team improves the social, economic and environmental life of the village of Cloughmills in Co Antrim. Made up of local volunteers, they consider environmentally sustainability an important part of protecting their local area, bringing people together, sharing skills and reducing costs.  

Patrick Frew, Committee Member from Cloughmills Community Action Team explained: “We have received support from the National Lottery Community Fund over 20 years, and the first grant gave us the confidence to consider how we can help environment, when it wasn’t the main purpose of the group.   

“We started off bringing young people together and helped them grow their own vegetables, which taught them responsibility and life skills while looking at reducing emissions from food being processed and delivered. This led to cooking food together and got the whole community involved.  

Getting on the road

“In recent years we received a National Lottery Community Fund grant for solar panels which have helped save over £1,000 in energy costs each year. We have a Men’s Shed, which is used every day by older people, to make things and reduce loneliness. The savings have allowed us to buy more equipment and help keep it running. We have been able to look at other things such repairing bikes and metal work, all reducing wastage and helping us reuse. 

“The National Lottery Community Fund grant support got us on the road and now in everything we do we think about sustainability. It started with a few volunteers in the group, and now it involves the whole village, we are an example to others and so proud of what we achieved so far. “

The new 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, insulation and heat pumps, saving money on energy bills.

Consider it

Patrick continued: “I would encourage smaller groups who never thought about cutting carbon emissions to consider this new funding programme. Small steps are simple but make a big difference, and there’s lots of support, one thing leads to another.  

“As a village we are looking at how we can be sustainable and rely on our own resources, we wouldn’t have thought that was possible back at the start of the journey, and who doesn’t want to save some money, while helping a good cause, a cleaner planet for us all.” 

Sustainable Community Buildings will open for applications from Wednesday 7 February to Wednesday 20 March 2024 for organisations with community buildings in: Newry, Mourne and Down District Council, Mid Ulster District Council, Ards and North Down Borough Council or Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council.

It will open for applications from Wednesday 11 September to Wednesday 23 October 2024 for: Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council, Derry City and Strabane District Council, Mid and East Antrim Borough Council or Fermanagh and Omagh District Council.

Will open for applications from Wednesday 8 January to Wednesday 19 February 2025 for:
Belfast City Council, Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council or Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council.

See more information on the Sustainable Community Buildings programme including who can apply and what can be funded.