Dudgeon Community Fund awards grants for 2023/24 STEM initiatives
Eleven innovative STEM projects (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) will be delivered in Norfolk during the 2023/24 academic year as a result of grants recently announced by the Dudgeon Community Fund.
Ross McMillan with members of the Sheringham High School Robotics Club
The Dudgeon Community Fund receives a donation of at least £100,000 per annum from the Dudgeon Offshore Wind Farm, which is operated by Equinor.
“Last month the Dudgeon Community Fund supported The Royal Norfolk Agricultural Association’s launch of its new STEMM Village at the Royal Norfolk Show,” said Ross McMillan, Dudgeon Plant Manager at Equinor.
“I visited the Village on the first day of the Show, and I was impressed by the many engineering and technology projects on display, and by the obvious appetite of students of all ages to be involved in such projects
He continued:
“The Dudgeon Community Fund’s STEM Programme aims to inspire students to consider a future STEM career, either through employment or further education, and I believe that the grants recently awarded fulfil that aim.”
Some of the projects which will receive grant funding for the forthcoming academic year are a boat building club, an out-of-hours Design School, a school’ s introduction of virtual reality headsets into its science curriculum, a robotics club, a carbon budget competition and workshops linking hydrogen production to careers
Since it was established in 2018, the Dudgeon Community Fund has helped to support STEM initiatives which have benefitted over 12,500 young people living in the Great Yarmouth, Breckland and North Norfolk districts of Norfolk. It is administered by the Norfolk Community Foundation (www.norfolkfoundation.com)
About Equinor in Norfolk
Equinor is a long-term partner for Norfolk and has been an active member of the community for over a decade through the Sheringham Shoal and Dudgeon wind farms it operates off the Norfolk coast.
The Dudgeon Offshore Wind Farm is owned by Equinor, Masdar and China Resources, whilst Sheringham Shoal Offshore Wind Farm is owned by Equinor, Equitix Offshore 5 (co-owned by Equitix and the Renewable Investment Group TRIG) and a fund managed by Macquarie Asset Management).
On behalf of its partners, Equinor is also maturing the proposed Sheringham Shoal and Dudgeon extension projects (SEP and DEP). SEP and DEP will double the capacity of the existing Sheringham Shoal and Dudgeon wind farms, providing renewable energy to power an additional 785,000 UK homes and making an important contribution to the UK’s decarbonisation goals.
Currently, the combined output of Sheringham Shoal and Dudgeon wind farms is sufficient to power around 710,000 UK homes, and the proposed extensions will increase that to nearly 1.5 million UK households.
Both wind farms have established community funds which in total have awarded over £1 million to projects in Norfolk. The funds were set up to provide grants to Norfolk community groups, including schools and charities, seeking financial assistance for projects or initiatives that meet key criteria and focus on renewable energy, marine environment and safety, sustainability, or education in these areas.During 2020, the funds provided grant funding to the Norfolk Community Foundation’s COVID-19 funding initiatives, and during 2021 grant funding has been made available to support Norfolk’s ‘every child on-line’ initiative.
Issue date: 31-07-23
For media enquiries, please contact:
Alice Baxter
UK Media Relations Manager, Equinor
abax@equinor.com
+44 7557973941
For consultation or community enquiries, please contact:
Nigel Tompkins, the Projects’ Community Liaison Officer based in Norfolk,
E-mail: nigel@ni4b.co.uk