Climate Challenge Fund Round 6 Awards
Monday, 14 December 2009
The Scottish Government has announced the projects awarded funding from round 6 of the Climate Challenge Fund. A total of over £3.6 million was offered to 41 projects across Scotland, all with the aim of reducing our communities' carbon footprints.

The projects offered grant are:

Alness Transition Town Group - The Alness Home Energy Project aims to lower energy consumption in homes across the community to reduce both greenhouse gas emissions and incidence of fuel poverty. Home Energy Officers and Volunteers will provide advice on energy conservation through regular events and home visits. - £74,770

Sustainable Dunblane, Stirling - Dunblane Energy Efficiency Project. The Sustainable Dunblane community group takes action to make homes greener and warmer. Every home is to receive a free household energy report, energy saving advice and a free or discounted insulation service. - £266,978

Sustaining Dunbar, East Lothian - Connecting Dunbar. The Connecting Dunbar Project will be committed to making it easier for Dunbar residents to walk and cycle around the area, so these greener options become their first choice of transport for making short journeys. It will also examine bus and train routes and timetables alongside data on residents' travelling preferences, so that proposals for making these options more efficient can be developed. - £65,570

Creetown Initiative, Dumfries and Galloway - Creetown Community Domestic Carbon Auditing and Community Engagement Programme, to undertake community engagement, open discussions and events, domestic carbon surveys and direct support and advice leading to real and measurable reductions in carbon emissions from the Creetown community. - £97,790

Gatehouse of Fleet Development Initiative, Dumfries and Galloway - Gatehouse of Fleet Carbon Action Project, to undertake community engagement, open discussions and events, domestic carbon surveys and direct support and advice leading to real and measurable reductions in carbon emissions from the Gatehouse of Fleet community. - £108,349

Dalbeattie Community Initiative, Dumfries and Galloway - Dalbeattie Low Carbon Community Outreach Centre, to undertake community engagement, open discussions and events, domestic carbon surveys and direct support and advice leading to real and measurable reductions in carbon emissions from the Dalbeattie community. - £168,431

Point and Sandwick Development Trust, Western Isles - Beinn Ghrideag Community Wind Farm. The Beinn Ghrideag project is to build the largest community-owned wind farm in Britain which will supply the domestic energy needs of 6,000 households and save 13,600 tonnes of CO2 emissions a year. It will earn a net income of £20 million over 20 years which will be reinvested in community projects in the Western Isles, creating 90 new jobs in an area suffering from multiple disadvantages and high depopulation. - £73,575

Friends of Volunteering Clydesdale, South Lanarkshire - Clydesdale Energy Efficiency Project. The Clydesdale Energy Efficiency Project has two aims: these are to reduce the carbon footprint of the people living in Clydesdale and help them save both energy and money. This will be achieved by targeting homes in the Community, which trained volunteers will visit to give home energy advice. - £141,858

Edinburgh University People and Planet, Edinburgh - Transition Edinburgh University Phase 2. In leading a community-wide goal of cutting carbon by 10 per cent in 2010, Transition Edinburgh University will cut emissions from students' and staff's homes, travel habits, consumables, and leisure - their "lifestyle" emissions - by 4,000 tonnes CO2 equivalent through collective practical action projects and peer-learning programmes. Their work will be used to inspire other academic communities, with their unique hurdles and advantages, to take up "carbon crash programmes" rooted in their own communities. - £339,209

The Bike Station, Edinburgh - 80:40:20 Challenge. The 80:40:20 Challenge will help more than 12,500 staff working for small and medium sized companies in Edinburgh to walk, cycle and use the bus more and drive less. This will save carbon emissions, cut pollution, reduce traffic congestion and boost the health and fitness of participants. - £750,471

Kintyre Recycling, Argyll and Bute - Kintyre Recycling Biodiesel Scheme. Climate Challenge funding will enable Kintyre Recycling to establish the viability of processing biodiesel to run kerbside- and bring-to-site recycling vehicles, which will save 26.6 tonnes of carbon dioxide from being emitted over the next 18 months, as well as supporting employment training opportunities. This project will allow Kintyre Recycling to establish whether biodiesel can become a permanent feature in their operation. - £67,511

A Greener Hawick: Transition Town - Hawick Transition Community engagement, seeking to encourage Hawick residents to use local produce and reduce energy use and dependence on diminishing fossil fuels by sharing information and expertise in a friendly venue in the centre of town. The group also wishes to help householders reduce waste and improve insulation by visiting homes and offering tailored advice. - £5,000

Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park Community Partnership - Community Futures Goes Green - Cutting Carbon in Scotland's first National Park. The communities of Strathfillan, Gartmore, Buchanan, Kilmaronock, Lochgoil, Strachur, Benmore and Kilmun and Sandbank will work together through the Partnership to cut their carbon footprint by reducing carbon emissions from homes and community buildings by offering loans of energy monitor equipment, carrying out doorstep surveys for all households, carrying out energy audits for community buildings, offering practical assistance to install measures to improve their performance, supporting each other throughout the project and sharing the experience with the wider community. - £115,397

Muirton Park Community Development Trust, Perth and Kinross - Greening Muirton Development Officer and Local Green Champions. The Muirton Park Community Development Trust will lead an 18-month pilot project to build a low-carbon community in this large-scale regeneration project. Three Local Green Champions (part time) will work with the Greening Muirton Development Officer (full time) to prepare and implement 'Greening Muirton Plans' with residents. These plans will cover e.g. energy use, transport, composting, waste, recycling and volunteering. They will run a 'Greening Muirton Advice Centre' at the new community flat. - £86,065

Neilston Development Trust, East Renfrewshire - Energy Efficiency. The residents of Neilston have 'switched on' and are 'powering down' to reduce their home energy emissions and carbon footprint by 10 per cent - about 759.6 tonnes of CO2 emissions - per year. They will achieve this through improved home energy efficiency, climate change and carbon reduction awareness campaigns, and a community carbon footprint programme. Through this project, residents hope to take Neilston one step towards their vision of becoming an exemplary sustainable and low carbon Renaissance Town as expressed in the community's Town Charter. - £94,649

REAL (Real Education Active Lives), (Inverness) CIC Ltd - Inverness High School Phase 2. A market garden and local food retailing-based social enterprise, operating from Inverness High School will allow pupils to learn how to operate modern, resilient businesses in the context of climate change and fossil fuel depletion. REAL aims to demonstrate what a 21st century sustainable agricultural and food retailing business can look like, re-establishing the link between local food and those who consume it. - £111,533

Greener Kirkcaldy, Fife - Greener Kirkcaldy Environmental Advice Centre. This environmental advice centre will provide personalised information and support to members of the public about a range of environmental issues, from energy efficiency and sustainable transport to sustainable consumption and waste reduction. The centre will be supported by outreach work, environmental events, and a dedicated project website. - £218,766

Comrie Development Trust - Comrie Climate Change Delivery Plan. Comrie Development Trust will implement the Scottish Government's Climate Change Delivery Plan: Milestones and Actions at a community level in Comrie and act as a model for other communities. This work will build on the existing Carbon Challenge Project and focus on the sustainable development of the Cultybraggan Eco-Hub and on village-wide activities aimed at reducing carbon emissions by 80 per cent by 2050. - £176,072

PKAVS (Perth and Kinross Association of Voluntary Services) - Powerful Choices. Powerful Choices aims to support 'hard to reach' communities in taking positive environmental action to reduce the carbon footprint. In practical terms this means involving the communities in installing energy saving equipment within the Gateway community hub, raising awareness amongst Adult and Young Carers and Mental Health groups, providing training on energy saving methods producing community action plans and promoting behaviour change within these communities. - £168,017

Culter and District Community Association, Aberdeen - Culter Hall Carbon Reduction Feasibility Study, to investigate carbon reduction opportunities for Peterculter Village Hall. The study will consider energy conservation and renewable energy options in terms of cost, technical requirements, community acceptability and carbon reduction. - £3,850

Haddington Events Programme, East Lothian - Sustainable Haddington. This project is a programme of community events to raise awareness of climate change and how it can be tackled locally. Some of the events have been designed as low-impact entertainment, to avoid the need to travel for a night out. - £4,715

COBRA User Study, Perth and Kinross - COBRA - Campaign to open Blackford Railway station again. COBRA recently organised an e-petition to the Scottish Parliament which was first considered in January 2008 and is still open as more information is considered. The group also lobbies key stakeholders including TACTRAN, Network Rail and ScotRail amongst others. COBRA are fully committed to developing the detailed business case for the reopening of Blackford railway station. Funding is being sought to engage suitably qualified consultants to work with COBRA and its stakeholders to assess formally the social, environmental and economic benefits that a reopened station would bring to the community and its wider environs. The group are particularly committed to assessing the environmental impact of a reopened station on reducing pollution, encouraging the use of public transport over the growth in private car use, improving the multimodal use of public transport and providing commuters, tourists and local residents with a real alternative to car use. - £11,750

Girl Guiding Inverness-shire - Refurbishment of Leachkin Guide Hall, Inverness. The hall is a training base for Girlguiding Inverness-shire and Highland Region, and provides overnight accommodation for young people from outwith Inverness. The funding will be used to install insulation material between existing wall framing and roof space. The aim is to reduce heat loss, avoid condensation and allow the building to be used efficiently all year round. - £11,230

LifeCare Edinburgh Ltd - Stockbridge House Roof Project. LifeCare has been committed to reducing its carbon footprint for many years and the project at Stockbridge House in Edinburgh will reduce levels of energy consumption further. This will be achieved through insulating a significant part of the roof to a U value of 0.2, which is well over and above current building standards. This will save seven tonnes of CO2 per year. - £49,995

Fauldhouse Community Development Trust, West Lothian - Fauldhouse Climate Challenge. The Trust will employ a Climate Challenge Officer to initiate carbon saving projects in Fauldhouse. This includes household energy surveys, awareness raising community events, practical informative workshops and setting up a local environmental group. - £49,187

Creetown Initiative Ltd, Dumfries and Galloway - Creetown Community Wind Farm Feasibility Study. The project objective is to create a community wind farm which would contribute at a local level to carbon emission reduction, whilst generating funds to support future green energy projects in the community. - £38,708

Gatehouse of Fleet Community Centre, Dumfries and Galloway - Gatehouse of Fleet Community Centre Project, to improve significantly the thermal insulation of the Community Centre through improved loft insulation, secondary glazing, draft proofing and improved lighting, to undertake community awareness raising of what can be achieved, and to engage users in the Centre in lower carbon lifestyles. - £35,260

Walkerburn Community Development Trust - Walkerburn Public Hall Renewable Energy Project - a detailed two stage feasibility study into ways of reducing the carbon emissions of Walkerburn Public Hall. The outcome will be a well-developed proposal for the hall using renewable energy technologies and other suitable measures. - £4,500

The Mill on the Fleet, Dumfries and Galloway - Mill on the Fleet Renewable Energy Demonstration Project, to provide a community renewable technology resource that introduces visitors to the centre to various renewable technologies, and directly contributes to the uptake of renewable energy in Gatehouse of Fleet by facilitating local demonstration projects. - £17,200

Woodend Arts Association, Aberdeenshire - Allotment Gardens Extension. The provision of forty-five new allotment gardens will extend Woodend Allotments to over 100 allotments in total. The project is responding to the extraordinary demand for allotments in Banchory since Woodend Barn initiated the first phase of allotments in 2007. - £7,900

Transition Black Isle - Preparing for transition in the Black Isle. Transition Black Isle is working locally to raise awareness of the challenges people will face as oil becomes scarce and the impacts of climate change begin to bite. A dynamic programme of events is now underway to explore the issues and share knowledge and experience, sparking ideas and bringing people together to find positive, practical ways forward for their communities. - £12,699

Edinburgh World Heritage - Energy Efficiency for Edinburgh World Heritage Site. Edinburgh World Heritage is leading the way towards a carbon-neutral future, with the launch of a new project aimed at tackling energy efficiency in Edinburgh World Heritage Site. A project officer will be employed to lead a series of initiatives from energy saving measures to promote good practice which could lead to savings up to 400 tonnes of CO2 over the 16-month project and continue to generate savings on an ongoing basis. - £39,120

Rousay, Egilsay and Wrye Development Trust, Orkney Islands - Affordable Warmth, Rousay, Egilsay and Wrye. Residents of Rousay, Egilsay and Wyre are seeking affordable warmth to redress the fuel poverty of the islands. Through improved insulation and improving energy efficiency they aim to reduce their carbon footprint in this manner by 76.95 tonnes per year. - £39,798

Tollcross Energy and Carbon Saving (TECS), Edinburgh - to survey and involve local residents in Tollcross, Edinburgh. TECS will work with residents to identify ways to save energy and reduce carbon in their homes and their activities, potentially resulting in further bids to funders to implement the findings of TECS's Feasibility Study. - £9,500

Development Coll, Argyll and Bute - Coll Carbon Reduction Challenge. This funding will assist with the purchase of a glass imploder to recycle glass transforming it into a useable material and 12 OWL smart meters to encourage awareness of use of household power usage, as well as a number of books to provide resources for people on the ways they can reduce their carbon footprint and live more sustainably. The funding will pay for hall hire and administrative costs relating to the project. The aim is to reduce the overall carbon emissions on Coll from 898 tonnes per annum to 698 tonnes per annum - £4,164

Glenlyon Woodfuel Initiative, Perth and Kinross - Glenlyon Woodfuel Initiative - Research and Evaluation Proposal. The aim is to reduce reliance on heating oil in Glenlyon by replacing it with a wood fuel sourced entirely from under-utilised woodlands in the glen. Doing so will provide employment and benefit biodiversity while reducing fuel expenses and carbon footprints. - £21,500

Lewis and Harris Horticultural Producers - Growing Carbon Reduction. The Islands of Lewis and Harris aim to tackle climate change through the Growing Carbon Reduction Project. This innovative project will provide education, motivation and encouragement to new and existing growers as well as developing a sustainable horticultural legacy for future Island generations. - £39,720

Argyll and Bute Regional Environmental Education Forum (ABREEF) - ABREEF Environmental Education Fair. The fair aims to encourage children, families and communities to develop enthusiasm about environmental issues, raise awareness of the need for sustainability in our lives and help children to develop an understanding of the values and skills they will need to contribute to a sustainable world. These aims will be delivered through a wide range of interactive activities and displays provided by local and national organisations and individuals. - £1,630

Alness and District Allotments Society - Alness and District Allotments Society Polytunnel and Composting System, to install a polytunnel to produce a greater variety of fruit and vegetables and extend the growing season. A new composting system will also be constructed to provide sufficient compost for the entire site. - £5,975

Community Powerdown Consortium - Community Powerdown Training Programme. In 27 communities across Scotland this training programme will provide community capacity building which will enable and sustain long term, ongoing awareness of carbon reduction and energy saving activities. The programme will also provide leadership and development skills which will support the sustainability of some of Scotland's most fragile communities. - £49,052

Church of St John Evangelist (St John's), Edinburgh - Earth Be Glad. Earth be Glad is a web tool to enable the whole community of St John's Church, Princes Street, to measure and reduce its carbon emissions collectively, with the help of resources already provided by other organisations. Other faith communities will be able to use the programme to monitor progress towards a target reduction in carbon emissions of 5 per cent per year. - £32,900