South East Water distributes £50K Community Fund to good causes in Wealden

Twenty one good causes in Crowborough and the surrounding area have received a share of a £50,000 community fund from South East Water

Wealden District Council supported the water company in distributing the money from the Crowborough Community Fund, which was set up to support good causes following water supply issues in December 2022.

These water supply issues were related to prolonged cold weather and then a rapid rise in temperatures affecting pipes both on South East Water’s network and in customers’ houses in Crowborough.

Over the space of just 24 hours, the south east experienced a rapid rise in temperature of 20 degrees from minus seven to plus 13 which led to an outbreak of bursts and leaks on the pipe network that drained water supplies.

SEW have committed to ensuring that those customers directly affected were personally compensated. However, recognising the wider impact on the community, the company also set up a £50,000 community fund to help charities and other good causes in the area.

Groups were invited to apply for grants from the fund, which was extremely popular and received an overwhelming response. Applications were assessed and awarded to 21 causes including Crowborough Foodbank, Crowborough Community First Responders, Baby2Baby & Beyond and Buxted Pavilion.

A spokesperson at Wealden District Council said, “We are pleased to see such a variety of good causes in Crowborough and neighbouring areas of Wealden benefiting from the funding.

“We are also pleased that South East Water has finally recognised the unacceptable impact these water outages had on the community through this special community fund. As a community, we look forward to seeing a radical reduction concerning water outages the near future.”

To see the full list of charities and causes which received the funding, visit Community Fund Crowborough | South East Water