The Northern Powergrid Foundation is delighted to have welcomed Jess Cook as the first Head of the charity.

Jess, who lives in South Shields, joined the Northern Powergrid Foundation as the first Head of Foundation in early January to drive the development and delivery of their business plan.

Over the next few years, the Northern Powergrid foundation are looking to enhance their offer across their three key focus areas of energy resilience, fuel poverty, and net zero.

The foundation, a grant-making charity, is passionate about being able to support the communities where they live and work across the North East, Yorkshire and northern Lincolnshire.

She will soon be joined by two new members of the team, with plans for additional colleagues to follow, meaning the foundation will be well-placed to grow their reach and impact.

The 36-year-old has plenty of experience and a well-established network of connections having worked with Northern Powergrid, the fuel poverty and energy efficiency charity National Energy Action.

Her most recent role was leading the Net Zero North East England partnership with the North East Combined Authority.

Jess said, “In recent years, we’ve seen increased numbers of extreme weather events, experienced an energy and cost of living crisis, and started battling the challenge of how to achieve net zero.

“All of these have a significant impact on our energy sector, and the households and communities served by the sector.

“Being able to offer these communities the support they need to become more resilient, and to benefit from the opportunities of the net zero transition is so worthwhile and has never been more needed.

“I am excited to lead the foundation into its next chapter, and to welcome our new team members in the coming weeks to help enhance the impact we make.

“I’d welcome anyone interested in working with us to get in touch as we develop our plans in the coming months.”

Joe Docherty, Chair of the Board of Trustees, said “It’s great to see the Foundation growing so significantly in 2025 – it’s a testament to all the hard work over the past few years to get to this point.

“I’m excited to see what Jess and her new team can bring to their roles, we are looking forward to new developments and opportunities to support our communities.

“Getting the right support in place to create resilient and thriving communities through access to the right funding is crucial. 

“There is so much good work being done by the Foundation and now there are more people on the ground we are going to be able to do so much more.

“The next round of funding is opening soon so I would encourage anyone who is interested in some support for their community projects to get in touch.”

The Northern Powergrid Foundation has recently awarded its fourth round of funding for energy resilience projects, resulting in over £1m of grants being paid out to over 90 beneficiaries since its launch in 2022.

The next grant round is due to open in March 2025, offering grants of up to £20k to projects which help keep communities safe and warm during power interruptions.

Potential projects can express their interest in the next grant round here: Express your interest | Northern Powergrid Foundation