£2,323 Community Benefit Fund supports four local projects across North East Lincolnshire

Grimsby Community Energy’s Community Benefit Fund has supported four fantastic local projects during 2025, awarding a total of £2,323 to organisations and community-led initiatives making a real difference across North East Lincolnshire.

The Community Benefit Fund is an important part of what community energy is all about. As Grimsby Community Energy develops and operates community-owned renewable-energy projects, we want the benefits to go beyond generating clean electricity.

By reinvesting money back into our local area, the fund helps community organisations deliver projects that reduce energy use, improve the local environment, support sustainability and create wider social benefit.

During 2025, funding was awarded to Freeman Street Market, Frank Sparkes – North Wall Cleaner, East Marsh United and Creative Start Arts in Health.

Making Freeman Street Market safer and more energy efficient

Freeman Street Market received support towards replacing outdated lighting with modern LED fittings across its courtyard, service areas and public toilets.

The project will install 45 LED lights, alongside six specialist blue LED lights in the public toilets.

Moving away from older, high-energy lighting will help reduce electricity consumption, maintenance requirements and the Market’s environmental impact while improving the quality and consistency of lighting for traders, customers, staff and other building users.

The specialist lighting in the public toilets is also intended to help discourage anti-social behaviour and intravenous drug use, helping make the facilities safer and more welcoming.

It is a good example of how relatively straightforward energy-efficiency improvements can provide environmental, financial and social benefits at the same time — supporting an important community asset that has been part of Freeman Street for generations.

Supporting the North Wall clean-up

The Community Benefit Fund has also supported Frank Sparkes – North Wall Cleaner, helping fund skips for the huge amount of rubbish collected through his voluntary clean-up work.

Frank and fellow volunteers regularly tackle litter, fly-tipping, dumped waste and overgrown areas across the Cleethorpes and North Wall area.

The work has already produced some striking results, with bags of rubbish and large quantities of discarded cans and waste removed from streets, paths and green spaces.

The project goes beyond simply collecting litter. Community clean-ups bring people together, encourage volunteering and help make local spaces more pleasant and usable for everyone.

Frank’s trailer will also carry the Grimsby Community Energy logo, helping spread the word that money generated through community energy is being put back into grassroots environmental action.

Turning a derelict East Marsh property into a warm, affordable home

A grant was awarded to East Marsh United to support energy-efficiency improvements to a three-bedroom property being brought back into use as an affordable community-owned home.

The house was gifted to the organisation and is undergoing a complete “back to brick” renovation.

Community Benefit Fund support is helping towards measures including loft and attic insulation, low-energy LED lighting and professional energy assessment and certification.

Once completed, the property will provide an affordable home for a local family while using considerably less energy than an unimproved traditional property.

The project demonstrates one of the most important principles of the energy transition: reducing the amount of energy a building needs in the first place.

Better insulation and efficient lighting should mean lower energy bills for the residents, reduced carbon emissions and a warmer, more comfortable home.

It also creates a practical local example of what can be achieved when older housing is renovated with energy efficiency at its heart.

Growing a greener community space at Creative Start

Creative Start Arts in Health received funding to continue developing the courtyard garden at The Great Escape on Grimsby Docks.

The space has already been transformed with elements from a sustainable garden donated following the Chelsea Flower Show and is now used by Creative Start’s recovery community and other local groups.

The next stage will make the garden even more environmentally sustainable through a rainwater collection system, composting facilities, soil improvements, pollinator-friendly planting, wildflowers and a living wall.

The project is particularly important in an area where access to green space can be limited.

Members of the recovery community will be directly involved in developing and maintaining the garden, providing meaningful activity, opportunities to develop skills and a sense of ownership.

The space also offers somewhere calm and welcoming for people to meet, reconnect and spend time outdoors.

Community energy delivering community benefit

These four projects are very different, but each demonstrates what the Community Benefit Fund is intended to achieve.

From reducing energy use and household bills to creating greener spaces, tackling litter and improving community buildings, every award provides a tangible benefit within North East Lincolnshire.

For Grimsby Community Energy, this is an important part of our purpose.

Community-owned renewable energy is not simply about putting solar panels on roofs. It is about keeping ownership, investment and benefit within the community and using the value created by our projects to support the places and people around us.

As GCE’s portfolio of community-owned renewable-energy projects continues to grow, our ambition is for the Community Benefit Fund to grow with it — allowing us to support even more local organisations and community-led ideas in the years ahead.