The National Lottery Community Fund has awarded £19.5 million in grants to help tackle the climate emergency across the UK. The funding, granted over the last four months, has gone to a range of partnership projects, as well as development schemes, all supporting communities to take local climate action.

It is a part of the National Lottery-funded Climate Action Fund, a ten-year £100 million fund that is aiming to reduce the carbon footprint of communities, as well as support community-led movements that can demonstrate what is possible when people take the lead in tackling climate change.

Photo: National Lottery Fund.

So far, a total of 23 different projects have received grants from the Climate Action Fund. The different projects look at environmental themes including energy, food, transport, waste and consumption, and the natural environment, and work together to share learning and become catalysts for broader and transformative change. All the projects are delivered by local partnerships, coming together to support community climate action.

‘From 25 years of funding environmental projects, we know that local community action can deliver positive environmental impacts alongside additional benefits for people to reap. This year we have been reminded that communities are best placed to understand their places and spaces, and so often play a vital role in responding in a crisis,’ said Nick Gardner, Head of Climate Action at The National Lottery Community Fund.

Photo: National Lottery Fund.

Some of the groups that are receiving money from the Fund include the Green Meadows project in Nottingham to equip local people with the skills and support to have more energy efficient homes, and a Low Carbon Sustainable Food City for All in Glasgow to improve food education, establish a local green assembly, increase the amount of land being used for urban agriculture, and mobilise young people to become climate leaders.

The Climate Action Fund is part of The National Lottery Community Fund’s Environment Strategy.