Helping Caithness and Sutherland communities reach sustainability goals – fund offers grants of up to £500 for individual community group projects or £1000 for collaborative projects
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The North Highlands and Islands Climate Hub supports communities in Caithness and Sutherland to take Climate Action.
The Scottish Government funded project launched in September 2021 as a six-month pilot and in spring 2022 was funded for three years by the Scottish Government. The Hub offers advice and support to communities to help them create, implement and reach their sustainability goals which in turn, supports the Scottish Government’s Net Zero aspirations.
The ways in which the Hub supports communities is varied. A free membership is available to groups who take Climate Action. Membership provides an amplified voice to national decision makers and offers a network of like-minded organisations across the Highlands and Islands.
Knowledge and experiences are shared freely and opportunities for peer-to-peer learning are abundant as well as certified training opportunities and funding alerts.
The first of September saw the Hub launch the North Highlands and Islands Community Climate Fund which remains open for applications. The fund offers grants of up to £500 for individual community group projects or £1000 for collaborative projects. The funding can be used to create a new Climate Action project or for community engagement to work though the planning stages of a project. In addition to the grant award, successful applicants will receive specific support from the Hub’s development officers.
Stephanie Remers, senior development officer said: “I’m really looking forward to meeting more groups in Caithness and Sutherland and supporting them to reach their environmental goals. I’ll be visiting just some of the incredible projects taking place in Caithness and Sutherland during Scottish Climate Week and can’t wait to make firmer connections with the groups I’ve not managed to meet in person yet. It’ll be a real pleasure to work with groups to bring their projects to life over the coming weeks and months. I can’t wait to see what ideas they come up with.”
The Hub’s development officers can offer groups a huge range of support to design, develop and deliver community climate action within their communities and will be making the journey across Caithness and Sutherland to visit many climate action projects within Scottish Climate Week. The team will use the opportunity to cement links with groups they’ve engaged with before and hope to learn about more groups and projects during their visits.
Project manager Joan Lawrie said: “Scottish Climate Week offers us the ideal opportunity to witness first hand some of the incredible climate action work taking place throughout Caithness and Sutherland. "We’re lucky enough to have made strong connections with communities before and during the recent Highland Climate Festival but are firm believers in visiting communities to better understand their projects and the needs and desires of the people who live within.”
