The National Lottery Community Fund is once again supporting community groups to act on climate change through its Climate Action Boost. 35 groups in Wales will be a part of it and have been drawn from a broad and diverse network of those previously funded by them.
We at Renew Wales are delighted to be a part of it (following on from the successful Climate Action Top-ups pilot last year) alongside Sustainable Communities Wales. We will help the communities develop their climate action plan, which will be implemented over the next few months with funding from The National Lottery Community Fund of up to £15,000 per group.
The scheme will cover a variety of environmental reduction activities, namely reducing energy or moving to renewable energy, reducing consumption, local food, and reduced or less impactful travel.
In Wales, the National Lottery Community Fund has already invested in environmental projects – large and small. This, combined with insights as the largest funder of community activity in Wales, positions us well to support community action in response to the climate emergency declared by the Welsh Government.
Who’s taking part and what are they hoping to do?
Here is some more information about a few of the projects as they begin on their Climate Action Boost journey, and how they hope to tackle climate change.
Clybiau Plant Cymru Kids’ Clubs
Clybiau Plant Cymru Kids’ Clubs wants to be an organisation that actively and effectively reduces its impact on the environment. Working digitally from home during the COVID-19 pandemic has enabled them to reduce travel, printing, paper consumption and postage. They wanted to be part of Climate Action Boost in order to sustainably reduce their impact on the environment in both consumption and travel in the future.
Llannefydd Village Hall
There are plans in the pipeline to renovate and modernise the village hall in Llannefydd and the committee saw Climate Action Boost as a great opportunity to upgrade the building and to make it as efficient as possible, for example, by reducing fuel and water consumption.
Climate change is already affecting their agricultural community, and so they feel it is important to take this opportunity to transform the hall into a building that’s effective in resources. Their main objective is to create a cosy and warm hall to welcome the community into, to save local people having to travel for leisure, entertainment, socialising, training and sports.
Global Gardens Project
Global Gardens Project is a community based growing project in Cardiff that aims to create an accessible, welcoming and inclusive space for community based, intergenerational learning, intercultural communication and understanding, and creativity.
Participating in the Climate Action Boost scheme will provide them with an opportunity to deepen the work they are doing within the community in the face of climate emergency. They would like to develop a clearer idea of how, as a community growing project, they can inspire people living within the Cardiff city region to live more sustainably – including through growing food more ecologically and cooking food grown, as well as through engaging with sustainable arts and crafts.
The Centre for African Entrepreneurship
The Centre for African Entrepreneurship in Swansea wants to raise awareness of climate change in its community. They would like to educate and share knowledge on climate change, and to inspire people to start taking responsible actions to contribute to a more sustainable community and to protect the environment.
Partneriaeth Ogwen
Partneriaeth Ogwen is a community enterprise in Dyffryn Ogwen, and their aim is to tackle fuel poverty, travel poverty, reduce isolation and strengthen communities. They have held events locally to raise awareness of people’s negative impact on the environment and have raised a substantial amount of money by offering community instalments to establish a community-owned hydro.
In the future, they will develop a fleet of electric vehicles for the community, plant trees, promote community growing, and work with partners and the local community to reduce fuel poverty. They see Climate Action Boost as an opportunity to act further to reduce people’s effect on climate change and to help the environment.
Aber Food Surplus
Aber Food Surplus was formed to take action on food system sustainability as a key factor in reducing the impact of climate change. As an ambassador for sustainability, they would want to lead by example and showcase the actions businesses in Aberystwyth and the local area can take to reduce their environmental impact.
Here is the full list of the 35 groups participating in Climate Action Boost:
Aber Food Surplus, Age Connects Torfaen, Amman Valley Trotting Club, Black Mountains College, Boys and Girls Clubs of Wales, Bryncynon Community Revival Strategy, Carmarthen Youth Project (Dr Mz), Challenging Behaviour Support CIC, Clybiau Plant Cymru Kids’ Clubs, Datblygiadau Egni Gwledig, Dynamic Centre for Children and Young People with Disabilities, Enbarr Foundation CIC, Gerddi Bro Ddyfi Gardens, Glenwood Church Cardiff, Hirwaun YMCA, Huggard, Innovative Trust, Lee Gardens Pool Committee, Llannefydd Village Hall, Manage Money Wales CIC, Partneriaeth Eco Dyffryn Dyfi, Eco Valley Partrnership, Partneriaeth Ogwen, Paul Sartori Foundation Limited, People and Work, Quest Busters, RAY Ceredigion, Siop Griffiths Cyf., Tafarn yr Heliwr, The Centre for African Entrepreneurship, The Community Impact Initiative CIC, The Gellideg Foundation Community Association, The Hwb Torfaen, Trinity Project / Global Gardens Project, Tŷ Hafan, Y Dref Werdd.