Rampion Fund exemplar of providing community benefit from local energy projects

All funding is made directly available through the operation of RWE’s Rampion Offshore Wind Farm and is managed by Sussex Community Foundation, with decisions made by and on behalf of local people and their communities.

“We look for projects that invest in renewable energy and reduce carbon emissions for charity projects and community buildings, including solar and battery installations, insulation projects, as well as other schemes that are sustainable and benefit the local community,” said Hannah Clay, Head of Grants & Impact at Sussex Community Foundation, which manages the Rampion Fund.

Hannah Clay with Kevin Richmond, CEO Sussex Community Foundation

St Matthew’s church and its community hall in Worthing has received just over £20,000 from the Rampion Fund over the past three years.

“In 2023, we installed an 8kWh array of solar panels on the church roof providing electricity for the church, its café and foodbank, as well as the adjacent community hall,” said Paul Mason, Grant Coordinator from St Matthew’s church.

“In 2025, a suspended, insulated ceiling was installed in the 125-year-old community hall. These projects have considerably reduced our energy costs as well as our carbon emissions with our overall electricity imported from the grid being reduced by over 30 percent and gas consumption in the community hall by 20 percent.”

Grants for community projects that align with the fund criteria are available in the Sussex region from Littlehampton Harbour in the west to Beachy Head in the east and up to the A272 near Twineham in the north.

Rampion Fund at Pelican Parcels, Kelvin Macleod (RWE), Shelley Bennett (Pelican), Pete Jones Image: Sussex Community Foundation

Shelley Bennett, Co-founder & Trustee of Pelican Parcels in Hove, urged other projects to apply, saying: "We were delighted to receive a Rampion Fund grant of £5,000 in 2025 towards our general costs, which has helped us to recycle thousands of pre-loved clothes, shoes, toys, games, books, highchairs and other useful equipment to help families in the local community living in poverty. We take items from families that no longer need them and gift them to those that do, so please consider having a spring clean and sending your lovely items our way!

"This kind of funding support is crucial to help a project like ours to afford to store and process our donations, and I'm sure there are many others who could benefit and achieve great things for the local community with a grant."

Community projects in Sussex tackling fuel poverty, environmental education, marine ecology and nature conservation, sustainable transport and awareness raising, renewable energy and energy conservation have benefited from the fund. These include Pelican Parcels in Hove, Creative Heart and Arun Youth Aqua Centre in Littlehampton, The Hillcrest Centre in Newhaven, Henfield Youth Club, Fabrica in Brighton, Saltdean Lido and many more.

Run by Sussex Community Foundation, over the past eight years, the Fund has provided £2.1 million in grants and supported 255 Sussex community projects and benefitted more than a million local people in Sussex.

“We are delighted to have supported such impactful and important projects in Sussex and hope many more will apply and benefit this year,” said Kelvin Macleod, RWE’s Acting Stakeholder Manager for Rampion Offshore Wind Farm.

The Rampion Offshore Wind Farm supplies enough green energy to power the equivalent of almost 409,000 homes - around half the homes in Sussex - and reduces CO2 emissions by up to 600,000 tonnes a year.