Lapford Parish Council Awarded £2,500 from Calor to Instate Fibre Optic Broadband Access
Lapford Parish Council is celebrating after being awarded a grant of £2,500 by energy provider Calor, to install fibre optic broadband access to around 60% of the properties in Lapford Village, including the primary school. The grant is part of Calor’s Rural Community Fund.
Calor’s Rural Community Fund asked local organisations to apply for funding for rural community projects, with winners eligible to receive a grant of up to £5,000.
The aim of the fund was to give off-grid communities the chance to gain grants for projects that will improve local life. There were three levels of funding available, with two grants of £5,000, two of £2,500 and a further five, £1,000 grants up for grabs.
Around 65% of the properties within Lapford village, including the primary school, are unable to access superfast broadband – an essential tool not only for the school but the many small businesses in the area. While the wider area does benefit from fibre broadband thanks to local funding, the closest distribution cabinet is 1.5km from the village centre leaving much of the village unable to access this service.
The grant will make up a shortfall in funding to enable fibre services to be extended to serve the rest of the village as well as several farms and hamlets to the north. The benefits of this will be immense not only for local school children and local businesses but it will also offer a life line to older and housebound residents who rely on the internet for variety of vital tasks.
Parish Councillor Bill Graham said of the win “The grant from Calor will unlock government grants and support funding to enable us to make a real difference to people of all ages in a rural community deep in the heart of Devon.
“In our fairly isolated location, good communications are essential and households, the self-employed and small businesses desperately need better, faster internet access. It will also make a world of difference to our Primary School, which has to function as a satellite of a much larger Academy site some 10 miles away.”
Paul Blacklock, Calor’s Corporate Affairs Manager added: “We provide rural energy to homes and businesses in the region and understand the challenges that country living can pose, especially when it comes to accessing community facilities.
“That’s why we decided we’d like to give something back, by offering rural off grid communities the chance to source some much-needed funds for a project that will make a real difference in their area.
“We’re delighted to award Lapford Parish Council with £2,500 to help their community project, and look forward to catching up with them once it’s complete. As we were inundated with so many worthy projects, we’ll be relaunching our Rural Community Fund next year and making more grants available.
“So stayed tuned to our website and social media channels for more information, and we could be helping to fund another project near you.”
For further information, please visit www.calor.co.uk/communityfund
