Shropshire and Telford Community Energy (STCE) have announced £24,000 of funding for local community projects, delivered through its Twemlows 2 Fund. The programme follows an earlier £5,000 round of grants released in 2025 via the Twemlows 1 Fund, run in partnership with Community Resource.
Both pots of funding come directly from surpluses generated in 2025 from the Twemlows 10MW Solar Farm, near Whitchurch. The fund was bolstered further after several shareholders chose to waive their annual interest payments, increasing the amount available for local good causes.
In total, five groups were selected from the applications received.
All Saints Church Hall, Gobowen, and English Bridge Workshop, Shrewsbury, each to receive £6,000 for building improvements including window replacements, insulation upgrades and new solar PV installations.
Ellerdine Village Hall was awarded £3,750 to replace its fire doors and Whitchurch Scout & Guides Church House secured £3,780 for essential window upgrades.
Marton Village Hall is to receive £4,200 to install new LED lighting and external doors.
The Twemlows Solar Farm generates enough clean electricity to power around 3,400 homes each year. In 2025, the site produced more than 10 million kWh of renewable energy — over 10% above forecast — thanks to an exceptionally sunny year.
STCE Director and Chair Robert Saunders said the grants demonstrate the tangible benefits of community-owned energy:
“Following on from our second successful share offer, we are very pleased to be able to award these grants. The share offer gave people the opportunity to tackle climate change directly and deliver local community benefits. Their confidence in STCE, and our management of the Solar Farm, has helped make the annual distribution of community grants a reality. This demonstrates the positive real-world impact local renewable energy generation has when owned by the communities that host them. This illustrates what we aim to deliver, with the solar farm’s operations expected to generate at least £1 million for good causes across the county.”