The year is off to a bumper start for 14 local good causes, with over £26,000 in grant funding from 4 Winds.

From gala days to heritage projects, the wind farm charity continues to invest in community life for Auchtertool, Cowdenbeath, Lochgelly and Lumphinnans.

Receiving awards totalling £26,100 in this round of funding were:

Tartan Talkers – £1,500

My Cowdenbeath – £500

Kingdom of Fife Orienteers – £900

Cowdenbeath Events Crew – £3,000

Lochgelly United – £1,750

Radio Cowdenbeath – £500

Cowdenbeath Jujutsu – £1,500

Foulford Primary Parent Partnership – £1,200

LADAMA – £1,500

Cowdenbeath Baptist Church – £1,750

Rotary Club of Cowdenbeath – £1,500

Cowdenbeath League of Boardgamers – £1,000

Cowdenbeath Civic Week – £2,500

Lumphinnans Community Bowling Club – £7,000

The successful groups were invited to a special cheque presentation where trustees for the charity congratulated them on their awards and heard more about their project plans.

Cowdenbeath Civic Week will be putting their funding towards this year’s Gala on 9th June, while LADAMA will use their grant for their upcoming show “Anything Goes” at the Lochgelly Centre. Foulford Primary Parent Partnership will invest their funding in a new sensory room in the school for children with additional or complex needs. It’ll be all eyes on the greenkeeper at Lumphinnans Bowling Club as they receive investment for a new ride-on mower to keep the green in top condition throughout the 2024 season.

Acting Chairperson, Eleanor Martin from Lumphinnans said, “It’s fantastic to see the scope of all these amazing projects in our community, we are very lucky to have groups like these operating in the area and doing so much hard work.”

“We try to make the application process as straightforward as possible for groups as we know how difficult it can be for groups to gain funding. We run a fair process and expect each applicant to detail what they’ll deliver and how much it will cost, with detailed costings for each project. There were so many excellent proposals in this funding round and we are just delighted to be able to support these successful groups.”

This round of funding takes the total investment in the four communities since 2013 to an incredible £738,577. Recent analysis from the charity identified 136 groups had benefitted over the decade the wind farm has been operational.

Funding guidelines will be updated later in the summer of 2024, promising to make the fund even more flexible and accessible for the local community. Applications are welcome for the current round of funding, which closes on Monday 27th May at 5pm.

Eligibility criteria and an application form is available from this page.

Some of the groups receiving their funding from Mrs Martin