Climate Challenge Fund

The initiative supporting action to combat climate change has helped in excess of 1,000 projects – and provided more than £100 million funding over the past decade.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon visited the 1,000^th recipient of the Climate Challenge Fund (CCF) 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 1,000^th 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.”

Background

Applications to the Climate Challenge Fund must be community-led, help reduce carbon emissions, improve community understanding of climate change and have a sustainable legacy. See the full list of 2018-2020 CCF recipients.

The £15.3 million 2018-20 CCF is made up of £14.3 million from the Scottish Government and £1 million from the European Regional Development Fund – part of the European Structural Funds programme.

Social enterprise Bike for Good has run a number of successful CCF projects, including their currently funded VeloSchools project.

Also launched this week is the new Scottish Government social media campaign – ‘saving the world isn’t just for the movies’ – showcasing easy actions people can take to fight climate change. Find out more at Greener Scotland.