Granton Parish Church, North Edinburgh Arts, Leith Cops in Pots and ELREC are among fourteen city projects to share grants totalling £15.3 million in the latest round of Climate Challenge Funding. The initiative supporting action to combat climate change has now helped in excess of 1,000 projects – and provided more than £100 million funding over the past decade.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon visited the 1,000th recipient of the Climate Challenge Fund (CCF) yesterday as she announced the latest grants totalling £15.3 million. That means total CCF funding since its launch in 2008 has now reached £101 million, with 1,097 grants across Scotland.
The 1,000th grant of £290,392 was awarded to Glasgow-based Bike for Good for continuing their schools project – which works with young people, teachers and parents to encourage cycling and reduce car use.
The 110 recipients in the 2018-2020 CCF, which is managed on behalf of the Scottish Government by Keep Scotland Beautiful, include:
- £143,333 for New Start Highland (Inverness): the project will create a hub to refurbish or upcycle unwanted and damaged furniture, bikes, textiles and clothing
- £222,926 for Tagsa Uibhist (Benbecula): this Grow Your Own food project will develop existing school gardens and construct more community growing hubs
- £183,744 for Gate Church (Dundee): reduce landfill waste by extending their collection box network, and launch a ‘community fridge’ service to distribute unwanted food
- £179,158 for the Next Step Initiative (Glasgow): help the Afro-Caribbean community tackle fuel poverty, with activities including a ‘swap shop’ service for textile items
The First Minister met Bike for Good staff, alongside pupils and teachers participating in the project from Wellshot Primary School in Glasgow. She said: “The Climate Challenge Fund enables communities to take ownership and action at a grassroots level, with projects that deliver tangible community and social benefits while helping address climate change.
“More than 1,000 projects have been supported by the CCF the length and breadth of Scotland, demonstrating the scope and scale of the fund. As I have seen for myself at Wellshot Primary, these fantastic projects are empowering local communities to make meaningful and lasting change.”
Keep Scotland Beautiful Chief Executive Derek Robertson said: “We are delighted to be celebrating local action on climate change through the Climate Challenge Fund. In the Year of Young People, it is pleasing to see initiatives such as the Bike for Good project inspire pupils to take action on climate change through choosing to travel by bike.
“Keep Scotland Beautiful and the Climate Challenge Fund have now helped more than 1,000 projects and look forward to supporting many more communities in the future – empowering them to help Scotland realise its carbon reduction ambitions.”
Joanna Soraghan, Development Officer at Bike for Good, added: “The Climate Challenge Fund project has been a great success, involving upwards of 2,000 pupils across Glasgow so far in activities such as bike maintenance lessons, cycle skills training and route planning workshops to increase levels of active travel.
“The enthusiasm of partners such as Wellshot Primary has played a significant part in the success of the project. We have been thrilled to work with the pupils and wider school community – all the while knowing we are reducing carbon emissions and making a positive environmental impact.”
The successful City of Edinburgh projects are:
Through the Communities for Conservation project, Edinburgh and Lothians Regional Equality Council (ELREC) will offer ethnic minority communities support to reduce energy consumption at home, helping to reduce carbon emissions and levels of fuel poverty. Further project activities will focus on sustainable travel, efficient use of resources and community food growing. The project will also run workshops and large-scale events to help raise awareness of climate change and inspire positive action. £205,280.
Nari Kallyan Shangho’s Low Carbon Communities Initiative will help South Asian households reduce carbon emissions and fuel poverty levels by offering one to one support to reduce energy consumption. Further activities will offer assistance to reduce carbon emissions generated through food, travel and waste with opportunities to learn more about climate change and how to help tackle it. £123,825.
Milan Senior Welfare Organisation’s Positive Climate Changes project will help senior members of south Asian communities to make changes that will reduce carbon emissions and bring other benefits such as a reduction in fuel poverty. Project activities will include sessions on how to reduce, reuse and recycle, a lunch club promoting sustainable food, home energy efficiency advice and an eco-event that will share information on climate change and lifestyle changes that can help to tackle it. £34,552.
The Welcoming Association’s Welcoming a Greener Future project will support the growing Syrian refugee community in Edinburgh to adopt new habits in home energy efficiency, helping to reduce carbon emissions and tackle fuel poverty. Further project activities will help to involve the refugee community with local food growing and recycling initiatives. Tackling climate change will form a key aspect of the Welcoming Association’s social integration programme. £172,399.
Granton Parish Church’s Granton Goes Greener project will improve energy efficiency at the Granton Parish Church buildings by installing double glazing, insulation and LED lighting. The project will also create a Swap and Reuse Hub to save unwanted household items and clothes from being sent to landfill. Additional activities include the distribution of surplus bakery items from local businesses to a local school and offering led cycle rides and maintenance sessions to encourage a move from car travel to bike. A Climate Change Officer will work with the community to raise awareness of climate change together with advice on how to take action that can help tackle the problem. £88,734 (includes maximum funding of £29,912 from the European Regional Development Fund).*
Swap and Reuse Hub Co-operative’s Swapping Normal, SHRUB Changes Gears project will increase the number of people using their Swapshop by moving it to a prominent high street location to reach a wider audience, with advice available on sustainable use of resources and climate change. The project will also involve collection and distribution of items discarded in student halls, while The Wee Spoke Hub will expand their activities in the previous SHRUB premises at Guthrie Street and offer a range of support to help people to replace car travel for that by bike. To ensure future financial sustainability SHRUB will move towards a social enterprise model, through raising funds from the Swapshop, Wee Cycle Hub, membership, donations and other initiatives. £289,937.
The Murrayburn and Hailesland Community Garden project will be run by South West Edible Estates SCIO to create more local food growing space. The project will also support households in Murrayburn and Hailesland to grow and consume more of their own food and tackle food waste. Project activities include a grow your own course and practical sessions involving cooking with local food and food waste reduction tips. The project will also help to increase awareness of the links between food and climate change. £113,120.
North Edinburgh Arts will reduce waste going to landfill and carbon emissions through their Community Shed North Edinburgh project which will repair, reuse and recycle wood, furniture and bikes. Support and training will be available to help the community develop a variety of practical repair skills. The project will also raise awareness of climate change through training and discussion sessions as well as linking project activities that tackle waste to the bigger picture. £133,830 (includes maximum funding of £40,149 from the European Regional Development Fund).*
Edinburgh College Students’ Association will run the Go Green Low Carbon Travel Project to help students to travel to college more sustainably. Project activities include travel planning support, promotion of lift sharing and use of an eco-driving simulator with events at the start of term to gather interest. The project will also run a series of engagement events to increase awareness of climate change and highlight opportunities for students to reduce their impact. £174,536.
SCOREscotland’s Green Futures Project will help BME and East European communities in West Edinburgh to take positive action to reduce carbon emissions in the areas of energy, food, waste and travel. Project activities will include home energy efficiency advice, home food growing, food waste workshops and training in cycling and fuel-efficient driving. The project will offer a variety of opportunities for young people to become involved, including textile swap-shops and re-design sessions. As well as helping to tackle issues such as fuel poverty, the project will also include awareness raising events to increase understanding of climate change and ways to take action. £136,999.
The Edinburgh Tool Library’s Edinburgh Tool Network project will establish two new branches of the Tool Library serving Gorgie and Dalry and Craigmillar, Gilmerton and Liberton. The project will also run weekly repair and reuse workshops and increase understanding of climate change and the importance of tackling waste, with initiatives including workshops for local schools and youth groups. £98,044 (includes maximum funding of £47,147 from the European Regional Development Fund).*
Leith Community Crops in Pots will design, develop and deliver a learning programme for Croft Carbon College. The college will be a centre of excellence for educating people on the basics of climate change and in motivating them to take personal action to combat climate change and to similarly educate and motivate others. £120,165.
Edinburgh Community Food’s Families Hate Waste project will reduce local carbon emissions in Leith by helping the community to reduce food waste and consume more local food. Project activities will include a series of cooking, nutrition and waste reduction courses and work to explain the links between food, food waste and climate change. £33,188 (includes maximum funding of £12,387 from the European Regional Development Fund).*
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