As part of our package of member benefits, VONNE’s Gold and Silver Membership+ supporters have the opportunity to submit a guest post for our website. This blog by Jess Cook, Head of Silver members Northern Powergrid Foundation, shares the impact that the Foundation has made so far in our region, and the launch of their new strategy for 2026 - 2028.
A world where our communities have the power they need to thrive
Stood in Lynemouth Miners Welfare, in one of Northumberland’s most deprived areas, we were told on one of our first site visits: “without this funding, we would probably have had to close”. We had only provided the final £2,000 towards a much bigger project, but as Dave, their Centre Manager, said, “£2,000 may as well be £30,000 if it’s the difference between the work going ahead or not”.
Since joining Northern Powergrid Foundation at the start of 2025, my team and I have spoken to hundreds of organisations across our region, just like this one. Some approached us asking for funding; others we met at funding fairs or community events. In many cases, we’ve been fortunate to help them strengthen their resilience by providing funding to create warm and safe spaces in the heart of their communities.
That’s why we were created – to improve the community resilience of those at risk to long duration power cuts. After storms like Arwen in 2021, we learned what communities needed and acted. To date, we’ve supported 120 communities with almost £1.8 million in funding, to help them prepare for future challenges.
Our impact so far
The people we have spoken to have shared with us how the improvements made them feel more prepared, and, in some cases, safer. They’ve told us that their community spaces are able to stay open for longer, in turn reducing levels of social isolation and supporting mental wellbeing.
Residents have said, “it’s a real comfort knowing there’s a warm place we can go if the power goes off”, and one centre told us, “Both now and in the future the community will benefit from the resilience the project gives us and should ensure that we don't let anybody or organisation down”. We’ve even heard stories about the technology being used to keep community events, such as a sheepdog competition, running despite power cuts at the time!
Stories like these are what drive us.
But resilience to power cuts isn’t the only energy-related challenge our communities face.
Our region
We work in some of the most disadvantaged communities in the country. The North East has the highest rate of free school meal eligibility, with Yorkshire and Humber not far behind. And in specific areas of our region, such as Hull and Barnsley, there are substantial pockets of fuel poverty, with data suggesting as many as 53% of neighbourhoods are living in fuel poor homes.
Many people turn to local charities for support, but 81% of small charities in our region earn less than £100,000 a year, and the Charities Aid Foundation recently found that 80% of charities expect to struggle with rising energy costs, with 35% of them fearing they may not survive.
Hearing that vital grassroots services are at risk is incredibly difficult, especially knowing how much local people rely on them. And so, our strategy aims to reach these small but mighty organisations, to try and help them keep their lights on, and their doors open.
What’s changing?
While community resilience remains central to our work, our strategy now expands to address additional energy challenges. Our new focus is spread across three key strategic priorities:
- Enhancing Resilience
The problem: Many community buildings lack the energy resilience they need to operate safely and consistently during emergencies or long duration power cuts.
The solution: We’ll help communities strengthen their energy resilience by improving the buildings they rely on, ensuring essential services can keep running and remain sustainable for the long term. - Creating Opportunities
The problem: Communities feel the impact of changes in the energy sector but rarely have the resources to benefit from them.
The solution: We’ll give communities the tools, funding, and freedom to develop the solutions that work best for them, unlocking practical and meaningful benefits from the evolving energy landscape. - Overcoming Barriers
The problem: Rising energy costs are forcing small charities and community organisations, many already operating on tight budgets, to scale back services or close their doors entirely.
The solution: We’ll support these small but vital organisations by helping them manage and reduce their energy costs, so they can stay open and continue serving the people who rely on them most.
These priorities give us flexibility to adapt and change over time should we identify new challenges or opportunities that we’d like to support communities with.
But our funding can only go so far. So, to deliver against these priorities, we’ll be targeting our support at those communities most-in-need. We consider this to be communities who sit in the 30% most income deprived areas of the country, or those facing geographical challenges.
With improvements to our flagship energy resilience grants already open to applications, and several new grant programmes to be announced throughout 2026 which will offer a range of different funding opportunities and styles, I’m excited about what we might be able to do in the months and years ahead.
Working with us
We’ll also be looking to work with a range of partners who share our ambitions, so funding reaches the communities that need it most. This might be as simple as cross-referring, co-funding, or delivering community outreach together - every initiative helps, and we’re open to new ideas. Some of these conversations have already started, but I’d welcome more. There’s a link at the bottom of this page if you’d like to get in touch.
Our ambition
I think back to Dave and the people we met at Lynemouth with a mix of emotion and pride. I’m proud that we were able to support them, and so many other organisations like them; proud that our support means they can keep their centre open and continue to offer the support their community desperately needs. But the challenges they face, worsened by the rising cost of living and energy, still stay with me.
We might only be a small piece of the puzzle, but that doesn’t mean our impact is small. Our mission, to help communities turn energy challenges into opportunities, has the potential to harness new opportunities for communities who are so often overlooked, and to deliver long-lasting impacts for the people who live there in the years to come.
I’m confident that we, and our future partners, can help to build communities where energy isn’t a barrier, but a foundation for opportunity, growth, and resilience.
Northern Powergrid Foundation was created in 2022 in response to Storm Arwen, to help communities become more resilient during emergencies. Thanks to an incredible £7.57 million donation from Northern Powergrid (Northeast) plc and Northern Powergrid (Yorkshire) plc, the Foundation has been able to support over 120 organisations with energy resilience projects.
You can read the full 2026 - 2028 Strategy here.
If you are a business or individual who can support Northern Powergrid Foundation's mission of helping communities transform energy challenges into opportunities, then please get in touch.
Image Credits: Northern Powergrid Foundation