South West Water are part of the Pennon Group alongside Bristol Water, SES Water and Bournemouth Water.
Our customers are at the heart of everything we do. We believe in supporting projects and charities in the places where we live and work, helping to build stronger communities.
To provide more support to our communities, the Pennon Group have launched the £5m Better Futures Fund. For South West Water customers, the fund will provide £850,000 over five years, in addition to the £200m programme to help customers who are vulnerable or struggling financially across the Pennon family.
The fund includes £2.5m for community groups involved with physical activity, education, health and wellbeing, and positive environmental impacts. The remaining £2.5m will go towards alleviating hardship.
Better Futures will help to unlock opportunities and bring positive change to the communities we serve.
ActionFunder
We’ve partnered with ActionFunder, an online platform that matches organisations like ours to not-for-profit community groups like yours.
ActionFunder will match you with us and our Community Outreach Team will review these matches monthly.
If you’re successful we’ll send you a funding invitation through ActionFunder, and the rest is taken from there.
If we can’t offer support on that occasion, you’ll be able to match with other organisations through ActionFunder, or we may revisit you at our next review.
Community funding - eligibility criteria
To apply for a share of the community funding, your project needs to involve one or more of the following:
Nature and the environment
Projects and organisations that directly impact and protect nature for the benefit of community health and wellbeing.
Education
Providing new opportunities to help people of all ages grow and develop.
Community
Groups that bring people together to create a sense of purpose within communities.
Vulnerability
Organisations providing care and support to people who need extra help.
If you have questions about the fund or want to check if your project is eligible, please email BetterFuturesCommunity@southwestwater.co.uk.
Apply for funding now
We’re using the ActionFunder website to help us manage the fund. Visit their site for details of how to apply.
Replacement of the Neighbourhood Fund
The Better Futures Fund replaces the Neighbourhood Fund, which is now closed for applications. We’d like to thank everyone who used the Neighbourhood Fund to benefit the community.
You can also apply to our water-saving community fund
In addition to the Better Futures fund, we also provide support for community-led initiatives that deliver measurable water-saving results. See the water-saving community fund page for more details.