SIXTEEN groups have received more than £250,000 from the developers behind Walney's wind farm.

Ørsted has announced the winners of the latest round of applications to the Walney Extension Community Fund.

Since the fund launched in 2016, more than £1.5m has now been committed to community and environmental projects in coastal communities of Cumbria and Lancashire.

The organisations awarded grants are:

lBarrow Citizens Advice Bureau - £16,544

lChrist Church Thornton Community Centre - £21,348

lCrake Valley Croquet Club - £17,500

lCumbria Youth Alliance, Millom Activate Project - £5,000

lEvery Life Matters, Suicide Safe Barrow - £13,254

lGlobal Link (Lancaster) – £16,885

lHindpool Tigers ARLFC, Community Coaching - £1,000

lHome-Start Morecambe and Lancaster - £29,671

lKirkby-in-Furness Community Centre - £30,000

lLevens Playing Field Committee - £26,000

lMarsh Community Centre SHOUT - £7,804

lMarvellous Holiday Club, Barrow - £4,500

lMorecambe Bay Partnership, Saving the Bay’s Birds - £28,810

lRAIS Lancaster - £8,200

lUlverston Inshore Rescue - £5,000

lWest Cumbria Rivers Trust, Bootle Village Flood Management - £22,084

Imran Nawaz, Ørsted stakeholder adviser, said: “Once again, we have been overwhelmed by the incredible array of deserving projects and organisations. It’s always a pleasure to see the enthusiasm and passion for the local community which comes across in all the applications we receive, and we are delighted to support such worthwhile causes.”

The fund is made possible by Ørsted which has constructed the world’s largest offshore wind farm off the Walney Island coast. Each year, approximately £600,000 will be made available for for the expected 25-year lifetime of the wind farm.

The seventh round of the fund is now open to applications. It is being administered by national grant-making charity GrantScape and more details can be found at GrantScape’s website www.grantscape.org.uk or by calling 01908 247634. The next closing date for applications is July 10 2019.

After the July 2019 application deadline, the maximum grant groups can apply for will be changing from £75,000 to £50,000.