Full Fibre Operator Freedom Fibre Awards Money from Community Fund

Network builder Freedom Fibre, which aims to cover over 2 million UK premises with their Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network and is being supported by ISP TalkTalk, has awarded thousands of pounds worth of grants to 13 local community schemes in some of the areas where their new infrastructure is being built.

In case anybody has forgotten, Freedom Fibre initially set aside £4,000 for their new “Freedom Fund” at the end of 2022 (potentially rising to £60k by the end of 2023), which is open to non-profit groups and was welcoming applications for up to £250 per community project. The fund is now closed for applications, but it is expected to re-open again sometime this year.

In total, thirteen community groups from Culcheth (Cheshire), Irlam (Salford), Weaverham (Cheshire) and Whitchurch (Shropshire) received £250 each from the company’s Freedom Fund to help deliver environmental projects.

Winners of the Freedom Fund (Initial Round)

1. Croft Village Memorial Hall, Culcheth received £250 towards environmental projects in their grounds including installing bird and bat boxes.

2. Warrington Sunday Litter Team received £250 to purchase new litter picking equipment for their volunteer teams in Culcheth, Croft and Winwick.

3. Friends of Irlam Library received £250 to transform a courtyard in to a fully-accessible green space within the library

4. Princes Park Garden Centre, Irlam received £250 towards a rainwater collection system.

5. Poorlots Allotments, Irlam received £250 to help create a nature reserve on a derelict piece of land;

6. The Rotary Club of Irlam received £250 towards an ecoflow portable power unit to power their Santa Float in future years.

7. Weaverham Community Memorial Orchard received £250 towards an information board so that visitors can identify and learn about the different varieties of fruit grown.

8. Weaverham Parish Council received £250 to contribute towards the installation of solar panels on the roof of the community centre.

9. The Inner Wheel Club of Whitchurch received £250 to continue adopting derelict pieces of land across the town to transform them in to community gardens.

10. St. Alkmund’s Church, Whitchurch was awarded £250 for green improvements at the church, including creating bug hotels, installing bird boxes and putting in an information board.

11. Whitchurch Walkers were awarded £250 to help raise promote the group’s ‘Walkers are Welcome’ campaign throughout the town.

12. The Queensway Area Residential and Recreational Association, Whitchurch received £250 to plant a range of pollinating plants across Queensway Playing Fields.

13. Brownlow Community Centre Trust, Whitchurch was awarded £250 to replace fluorescent lighting with more efficient, environmentally friendly LED lighting.

Neil McArthur, Freedom Fibre’s Chief Executive Officer, said: “I’m absolutely delighted that we have been able to make awards to these very worthy causes. Playing our part in the communities in which we are working is so important to us – I can’t wait to see these projects come to fruition!”

The operator, which is being backed by a £84m investment from Equitix and a £16m Santander debt facility, was previously aiming to cover 70,000 premises by the end of 2022 (they’d done 40k by Nov 2022 and are quickly ramping up) and they have a long-term aspiration to reach over 2 million UK properties (Coverage Map).

Freedom Fibre is mostly focusing upon connecting towns and villages across Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Shropshire and North Wales.