An Oxfordshire retirement complex looking to complete its flood defence system has received a further £40,000 of funding through Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks’ (SSEN) Resilient Communities Fund.
Last year, the plight of residents from the Riverside Gardens complex in Witney was brought to the attention of the distribution operator, which awarded the Riverside Residents Association almost £20,000 to help them purchase and install flood doors, after they were told by agencies and local authorities they weren’t eligible for help in setting up flood prevention systems.
Some of the 51 elderly residents of Riverside Gardens are vulnerable and require to live in ground floor accommodation due to access issues, but after two occasions when the nearby River Windrush burst its banks – flooding the complex, cutting power and water supplies and resulting in many residents having to be evacuated – it was clear that the potential for further flooding was increasing the vulnerability of many residents.
By volunteering as committee members of the Riverside Residents Association, they were able to address the funding they needed to buy equipment – including individual flood gates for ground floor properties – which would help prevent the complex being overwhelmed by rising river levels during heavy rains. In 2021, they were successful in their application to SSEN’s Resilient Communities Fund; receiving an award of £19,902 to help them develop their flood prevention scheme and bring them greater resilience during adverse weather events.
With this initial installation funded and completed, the Riverside Residents Association applied again to SSEN’s Resilient Communities Fund in 2022 for assistance in the next stage of building further defences to protect their homes and has now received a further £40,000.
Morven Smith, SSE’s Head of Community Investment said:
“When the Riverside Residents Association applied to SSEN for funding in 2021, we were extremely moved by their situation and understood that, for those living in the complex, the potential for their homes to be flooded again was causing them undue stress and affecting their wellbeing.
“We were delighted to be able to assist them with funding for flood defences for a number of the properties, but it soon became clear that this initial award of around £20,000 wasn’t enough to help all of the residents, and that multiple applications and potential awards would be needed over the coming years.
“This year, we received a further application from the Riverside Residents Association for £20,000 and the decision was unanimously taken by the awarding panel of SSEN’s Resilient Communities Fund to double the funding to provide them with the further £40,000 that would help complete their flood defence programme; bringing them peace of mind and enabling them to live without the fear of being flooded out of their homes.”
Kay Jerred is the group’s Flood Prevention Representative. She said:
‘‘We are thrilled, grateful and relieved to have received this substantial £40,000 award from Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN); helping us to become a more resilient retirement complex. SSEN’s support through its Resilient Communities Fund has made our most at-risk residents feel less stressed and anxious, and that’s been wonderful to see.
“Unfortunately, due to the fairly large increase in the costs of materials recently we were unable to complete some of our planned work this year, but are much further forward than we would have been without this funding.”
Kay added:
“Looking ahead, we intend to set up an account from our own on-site funding that will cover annual maintenance and future repairs, but in the meantime we need to raise an additional £15,000 to cover the increased cost of two flood doors and other equipment that will fully finish our flood defences.”
To find out more about the Resilient Communities Fund and to read SSEN’s annual fund reports, please visit https://www.ssen.co.uk/RCF/.
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