A COMMUNITY fund of £60,000 is open for applications as part of a 25-year £4 million windfarm payout for a large slice of rural North Wales.

Organisations in rural Conwy and Denbighshire are being invited to get their applications in for the latest slice of a ‘green’ energy cake paid for by the Brenig Wind Limited Community Benefit Fund.

The fund is administered by rural regeneration agency Cadwyn Clwyd who have already supported nearly quarter of a million pounds in little over a year for projects and organisations from the Hiraethog area of Conwy and Denbighshire.

It stretches from St Asaph in the North to Maerdy, near Corwen, in the South and from the River Clwyd in the east across the Denbigh Moors to Cerrigydrudion and the upper reaches of the Conwy Valley - a map of the area that benefits is on the Cadwyn Clwyd website.

It is funded by Brenig Wind Ltd whose 16 wind turbines can be seen turning on the Mynydd Hiraethog horizon to generate over 37.6 megawatts of power – enough to power more than 30,000 homes a year.

David Heelan, of Brenig Wind Ltd’s, said: “It’s a fantastic opportunity for rural communities to benefit.

“Cadwyn Clwyd has already distributed £267,000 in three rounds of funding to community groups for 47 different projects and helped them leverage a further £60,000 which means this rural heartland has received £327,000 in just 12 months.

“The applications will go before a locally-based grants panel who will make the final decisions on where and how the money is spent.”

So far the fund has provided cash help for organisations as varied as Ruthin Mini Rugby, Nantglyn Football Club, Llansannan Male Voice Choir, the Flying High trampoline club in Denbigh and the North Wales International Music Festival in St Asaph.

One of the first organisations to benefit was Clwb Beicio Hiraethog Cycling Club, based in Llansannan, which received almost £7,000 for electric bikes to encourage local people to swap four wheels for two.

Club organiser Huw Rawson said: “In Llansannan pretty much any direction you go you’ll be going uphill so we thought electric bikes would be a great way to encourage people to take up cycling.

“It’s been very successful, and everyone loved it. We were going out two or three times a week for group rides and some people borrow them to go riding themselves.

“We’ve also had help from Sport Wales and now we have 13 electric bikes ranging from a couple for juniors through a step-through bike for ladies to mountain and racing bikes.”

The club is planning to resume group rides in April.

For details of how to apply for the latest round of funding visit cadwynclwyd.co.uk.

Deadline is March 1.