Tackling climate change in Chorlton gets £200,000 boost, thanks to National Lottery funding

Today [17 August], Chorlton has received the good news that more than £200,000 in National Lottery funding is going to the Chorlton Climate Action Partnership to work with communities across the city to take action and tackle climate change.

The grant from The National Lottery Community Fund, the largest funder of community activity in the UK, will see The Chorlton Climate Action Partnership formed, led by WalkRideGM alongside local charity Groundwork GM. The partnership will help Chorlton reduce its carbon emissions, have cleaner air and increase the use and accessibility of sustainable transport.

Across Greater Manchester the second largest source of carbon emissions is transport[1], but the average car journey in the city region is just 5km.[2] Thanks to National Lottery players, WalkRideGM and Groundwork GM will work with local community groups to help make these short journeys possible by 20-minute bike rides.

With the Chorlton Cycleway due to be finished next year, this new partnership and local activity will complement work already happening in the area, all aiming to reduce carbon emissions and air pollution and help the city region move towards a car-free future. The project will not only help the local environment, but will also see additional community benefits, including new employment opportunities and cleaner and safer travel around the city region for people and families. Today's announcement follows Groundwork UK publishing its new three-year strategy[3] earlier this month, aiming to mobilise 75,000 days of voluntary action to address the climate emergency.

Claire Stocks, Walk Ride Greater Manchester co-founder and Chorlton resident, said: “Making it safer and easier to walk around Chorlton has become an even bigger priority for our community since Covid19 - especially for people to get to our brilliant local shops or other amenities, and, from September, for children to be able to walk or cycle to school. The National Lottery funding will enable our community to work with three fantastic expert partners to design solutions to our traffic problems - which will mean big benefits for our community, but also our planet.”

Michaela Howell, Head of Communities, Groundwork GM, said: “Through the Climate Action Fund grant, we’re looking forward to working with people who live and work in Chorlton, building a greener, healthier Chorlton with them by drawing on our successful track record in engaging communities in improving and greening neighbourhoods and using nature based solutions to mitigate the impact of climate change.”

Eve Holt, Chorlton councillor, said: “This is just the catalyst we need as we seek to #BuildBackBetter for all in Chorlton, rethinking the way we live, work and get around. This National Lottery funding enables us to unlock the potential for sustained change by building a strong, inclusive partnership between residents, traders, schools, community and faith groups, the council and the health sector. Together, we will co-design the way forward, stepping up to our responsibility to protect the planet, and to realise our shared vision of a greener, safer, fairer and more connected place, where people of all ages and backgrounds can live healthy, active lives.”

Open Data Manchester, and active travel advocates, Sustrans, will also be part of the partnership; gathering people’s views and date on local travel and pollution. This will be followed by three pilot projects, based on people’s views and designed to get people moving – by foot, wheelchair and bike. One project will aim to bring more shoppers to a local high street, one will work with families to debut a safer and more environmentally-friendly school run and one will be designed for environmental improvements to a residential street.

This grant is one of the first fourteen grants to be announced as part of the National Lottery-funded Climate Action Fund, a ten-year £100 million fund that will reduce the carbon footprint of communities demonstrating what is possible when people take the lead in tackling climate change. All the projects across the UK will work together, share their learning and be active participants in a broader movement of change within and beyond these communities.

Nick Gardner, Head of Climate Action at The National Lottery Community Fund, said: “We’re delighted that thanks to National Lottery players, people and communities across Chorlton will be taking action to reduce their carbon footprint and demonstrate what is possible when people take the lead in tackling climate change.

“From 25 years of funding environmental projects across the UK, we know that local community action is at the heart of delivering solutions that not only minimise the impact on the environment, but also offer additional benefits that people and communities can reap. In the last few months we have been reminded that communities truly understand their places and spaces, and so often play a vital role in responding in a crisis, and we’re confident that with people in the lead communities can tackle climate action and respond to the climate emergency.”

The Climate Action Fund is part of The National Lottery Community Fund’s Environment Strategy which has seen significant National Lottery investment through community-led projects that are focussed on activities that not only improve the environment but use it to enhance the lives of people and communities. Since April 2013, the Fund has awarded more than £340 million to environmental projects, through almost 5,000 grants.

Thanks to National Lottery players, £41 billion has been raised for more than 565,000 good causes across the UK since 1994. National Lottery players raise £30 million every week for good causes in the UK. The National Lottery is playing a critical role in supporting people, projects and communities during these challenging times.

To find out more visit www.TNLCommunityFund.org.uk

[1] Manchester Climate Change Agency annual report, July 2020

[2] Change a Region, 2020, GMCA

[3] Groundwork UK Strategy, 2020-2023: https://www.groundwork.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Groundwork-2020-2023-Final-.pdf

Date published: 17 August, 2020
Region: England (North West)

Notes to Editors

Quotes continued:

Carolyn Kagan, chair of the Chorlton Community Alliance, added: “Community groups in Chorlton welcome this project, which will provide a much-needed boost to the work that has already been going on within and between community groups, traders and others with an interest in ensuring that Chorlton is a great place to live, now and in the future. The community has demonstrated its zeal and capacity to pull together through COVID-19, not only participating in mutual aid groups, but offering support in myriad different ways. During this time, residents have welcomed the quieter streets, the joy of walking and cycling and of breathing less polluted air. We look forward to working with the project team in creating the change we want to see.”

Julian Tait, CEO of Open Data Manchester, said: “We are really excited about working with people in Chorlton to uncover more about the travel behaviours, pollution and carbon emissions in the neighbourhood, in order to help the community create positive, evidence-based solutions. Open Data Manchester has shown that effective use of data can help solve some of society’s big challenges - to support people, planet and prosperity.”

About us
We are the largest funder of community activity in the UK – we’re proud to award money raised by National Lottery players to communities across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Since June 2004, we have made over 200,000 grants and awarded over £9 billion to projects that have benefited millions of people.

We are passionate about funding great ideas that matter to communities and make a difference to people’s lives. At the heart of everything we do is the belief that when people are in the lead, communities thrive. Thanks to the support of National Lottery players, our funding is open to everyone. We’re privileged to be able to work with the smallest of local groups right up to UK-wide charities, enabling people and communities to bring their ambitions to life.

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Walk Ride Greater Manchester
WRGM C.I.C. is a Community Interest Company founded in Dec 2018 and constituted in late 2019, which acts a grassroots organisation to promote and support all forms of inclusive ‘active travel’ in the 10 Greater Manchester boroughs.

Its objectives are to:

Promote & support the development and use of high-quality inclusive walking, cycling, and active travel infrastructure
Promote & support active travel options to all residents of GM due to the many benefits they deliver for communities
Support and develop Bee Network and other submissions in conjunction with local WalkRide groups across the region

In Chorlton, members of the group have carried out a number of volunteer activities in the district including;

Supporting a community cargo bike delivery service to provide an alternative to car journeys during Covid19
Helping organise cycle to school events including an initiative to make Fridays a car-free day
Carrying out community street audits and surveys to seek improvements to road layouts and pavements
Supporting community events such as Chorlton’s Great Get Together in 2019 where residents experienced a car-free day.

Groundwork Greater Manchester
Groundwork is a federation of charities mobilising practical community action on poverty and the environment across the UK. In Greater Manchester, our vision is of a greener, more resilient City Region with stronger, healthier communities, responsible businesses and enhanced prospects for all local people.

We work across Manchester and surrounding districts helping communities find practical solutions to the challenges they face. We provide training and create jobs, reduce energy and waste, re-connect people with nature, build bridges within communities and transform whole neighbourhoods. www.groundwork.org.uk/hubs/greatermanchester/

Open Data Manchester
Open Data Manchester is a not-for-profit formed from a diverse group of open data advocates in 2010 that supports organisations to release data and help people use it.

Whether working in partnership or on standalone programmes, we promote good data practice through expert advice, strong advocacy, participatory events, state-of-the-art research, technical support and interactive training.

Profits from our commercial work go into the community, where we host events and create resources designed to help more people use data more effectively, and ensure the sustainability of our work. https://www.opendatamanchester.org.uk/

Sustrans North
Sustrans are the national charity making it easier for people to walk and cycle. Our vision is a society where the way we travel creates healthier places and happier lives for everyone. Our key strategic aims are to deliver ‘Paths for Everyone’: a National Cycle Network that delivers safe, accessible and memorable walking and cycling journeys and ‘Liveable Towns and Cities’: to create 20-minute places, where all key services are within a 20-min walk or bike ride. https://www.sustrans.org.uk