Almost £20 million in National Lottery funding to support UK communities to tackle climate change

The National Lottery Community Fund has awarded over £19.5 million in grants to help tackle the climate emergency across the UK. The funding, awarded over the last four months, has gone to projects supporting communities to take local climate action and focus on environmental themes including energy, food, transport, waste and consumption, and the natural environment.

The 23 projects, from Cumbria to Cornwall, and Glasgow to Gwynedd, are the first to receive money from the National Lottery-funded Climate Action Fund - a ten-year, £100 million fund that aims to reduce the carbon footprint of communities and support community-led movements that demonstrate what is possible when people take the lead in tackling climate change.

Nine grant holders were announced today [1 December 2020], while 14 were revealed in August this year. Together they will work together to share learning and become catalysts for broader and transformative change.

Nick Gardner, Head of Climate Action at The National Lottery Community Fund, said: “From 25 years of funding environmental projects, we know that local community action can deliver positive environmental impacts alongside additional benefits for people to reap. This year we have been reminded that communities are best placed to understand their places and spaces, and so often play a vital role in responding in a crisis.

“Thanks to National Lottery players, communities across the UK will be able to demonstrate what is possible when people take the lead in tackling climate change. This funding will bring people together so they can learn from each other and have an impact within and beyond their communities.”

The projects include large scale schemes delivered by local partnerships, as well as smaller development grants, which will see the National Lottery funding used for emerging ideas to engage different communities and to test new approaches. The National Lottery Community Fund will use learning from this funding to help shape what happens next with the Climate Action Fund and will explore and reflect on ways to support people and communities in taking climate action throughout the programme.

Glasgow Community Food Network

A development grant of £600,000 is going to Glasgow Community Food Network (GCFN), which will work alongside local people across the city to co-create a food system that is fair, healthy, sustainable and kinder to the environment. ‘A Low Carbon Sustainable Food City for All’ will be led by GCFN in partnership with five other local organisations. Building on the aims of the new Glasgow City Food Plan, the project will improve food education, establish a local green assembly, increase the amount of land being used for urban agriculture, and mobilise young people to become climate leaders. Community groups will also be able to pitch for micro-funding to get good food projects underway and new jobs will be created encouraging Community Activators to inspire change in their communities.

Repowering, London

Almost £1.4 million in National Lottery funding is going to Repowering and Energy Garden, which are working together to help Londoners access cleaner air and more renewable energy. The project will implement energy-efficiency measures and install renewable energy technologies, such as solar panels, onto hundreds of housing blocks, schools and public buildings, allowing local people and communities to own greener energy. It aims to build on a project that is already cutting 114 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions each year through installing 532kWp of solar capacity. The project will also support the scale up of a world-first programme that delivers community gardens alongside community-owned renewable energy in 54 London Overground stations. The sale of electricity from its solar portfolio will provide income to maintain the gardens and run community activities including school workshops, family gardening days, and training courses for young Londoners in renewable energy and horticulture.

Bude Climate Partnership

Bude Climate Partnership has received £200,000 in National Lottery funding to investigate, test and develop ways the town and its communities can become climate resilient. The partnership, led by the Bude Coastal Community Team, will share its findings and learnings with other organisations and communities across Cornwall, as well as other coastal and remote towns in the UK, to inspire action elsewhere. The 18-month project will focus on how climate change is affecting specific areas of the town’s infrastructure and communities, including tourism, agriculture, local transport, and the lives of young people and older residents. Bude Climate Partnership will develop a series of initiatives - including videos, podcasts, toolkits for schools and the community, an online virtual community climate change hub, and a climate change conference - to engage with different parts of the community.

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 4,800 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

List of all 23 Climate Action Fund projects can be found here: https://www.tnlcommunityfund.org.uk/funding/programmes/climate-action-fund