Scottish Climate Challenge Fund distributes over £100m to more than 1,000 projects in ten years

The Scottish Climate Challenge Fund has now distributed more than £100m to more than 1,000 projects over the last ten years.

The Climate Challenge Fund’s grants for 2018-20, available for projects which are community-led, help reduce carbon emissions, and have a sustainable legacy, are worth £15.3m, with £14.3m from the Scottish Government and £1m from the European Regional Development Fund.

The Fund has distributed £143,333 for New Start Highland in Inverness, a hub to refurbish unwanted and damaged furniture, bikes, textiles and clothing, £222,926 for Tagsa Uibhist in Benbecula, a food project aimed at developing existing school gardens and constructing more community growing hubs, and £183,744 for Gate Church in Dundee to reduce landfill waste by extending their collection box network.

Visiting the 1,000th recipient of the Climate Challenge Fund, the Glasgow-based Bike for Good, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon 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 added: “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.”