Climate Challenge Fund - apply now

Community-led organisations from across Scotland are invited to apply to the Scottish Government’s Climate Challenge Fund (CCF) for funding to support local projects that tackle climate change.

To date, the CCF has awarded grants totalling £85.8 million - supporting a range of successful projects, including energy efficiency improvements to community-owned buildings, home energy efficiency advice, lower carbon travel options and community growing initiatives, plus schemes that help reduce waste and move Scotland further towards a more circular economy.

Keep Scotland Beautiful manages the CCF on behalf of the Scottish Government and has staff that support applicants and those awarded grants.

The following grants are available:

• CCF grants of up to £150,000 per organisation, per year, are available for projects taking place between 1 April 2018 and 31 March 2020*. The deadline to submit an Expression of Interest, the first stage of the application process for a CCF Grant, is 17:00 on 28 August 2017.
• CCF Development Grants of up to £1,500 are available until further notice to help community-led organisations identify and scope out potential climate action projects - with the aim of enabling the organisation to apply for a CCF grant or to another funder. Applications for Development Grants are invited monthly.

Potential applicants are encouraged to visit the CCF website to find out if their organisation and project idea is eligible for funding. Keep Scotland Beautiful advise all potential applicants to submit an Expression of Interest as soon as possible - deadline is 5pm on 28 August 2017 - to allow as much time as possible to develop their application.

Visit the CCF website for more information.

*For 2018-2019 some CCF Grant Recipients (with projects involving waste and circular economy activities, or installation of energy efficient measures in community-owned buildings) will be match funded through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). The ERDF comes from the European Structural and Investment Fund.

CCF surgery events coming up

A number of events are coming up that will be useful for any community-led organisation in Scotland wanting to know more about applying for funding from the Scottish Government's Climate Challenge Fund (CCF).

The CCF Information Surgeries will include a presentation from Keep Scotland Beautiful to introduce the CCF and the support that they provide to applicants. Attendees will also be able to learn more about projects currently in receipt of CCF funding and support available from other organisations such as Zero Waste Scotland,  Home Energy Scotland and Local Energy Scotland. This will be followed by a question and answer session and the chance to talk through project ideas and learn more about climate change.

The dates and venues are:

• 17 July 2017 - Greenock (10am - 1pm at Beacon Arts Centre)
• 18 July 2017 - Dundee  (10am – 1pm at Gate Church)
• 19 July 2017 - Glasgow (10am – 1pm at Ng Homes)
• 20 July 2017 - Tullibody (10am -1pm at Tullibody Community Garden)
• 20 July 2017 - Lairg (Drop in session only from 4pm-5pm at Lairg Learning Centre)
• 24 July 2017 - Wishaw  (10am – 1pm at Voluntary Action North Lanarkshire Community Hub)
• 4 August 2017- Spean Bridge (10am - 1pm at Spean Bridge Community Hall)

To find out more about the events and book your space please see www.keepscotlandbeautiful.org/ccfsurgeries.