SCVO received £33,164 from our Smarter Choices, Smarter Places (SCSP) COP26 Legacy Fund - a programme designed to help tackle climate change by encouraging more walking, wheeling, cycling and using sustainable transport in local communities.
A Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO) survey that found charities and voluntary organisations need support to engage with the climate crisis – and many didn’t know how to take action.
SCVO will use the funding to host a programme of free education and awareness raising activities to share what the voluntary sector can do to combat the climate crisis. SCVO will also support organisations to make important changes as Scotland moves towards its target of net zero by 2045.
SCVO’s head of support services Beth Mukushi welcomed the funding, and a further £17,000 donation for the project from CCLA Investment Management.
She said:
Scottish voluntary organisations and social enterprises have a huge role to play in the supporting Scotland tackle climate change and become a net zero country.
In the lead up to COP26 it became clear to us that many organisations want to do more to respond to the climate crisis but don’t know how to begin. We are delighted to receive funding from Paths for All and CCLA Investment Management to help support organisation to take simple steps to make a difference.
The online programme will run for 12 months, having started in May 2022. Some in-person events will be added into existing charity calendar meets.
Keep Scotland Beautiful are also set to deliver ten cohorts of training, offering 150 people working in the sector the opportunity to become accredited as Carbon Literate through a partnership with The Carbon Literacy Project. To become accredited all participants will select an individual and a group action to reduce carbon emissions and help drive change across Scotland.
Catherine Gee, deputy chief executive with Keep Scotland Beautiful said:
We know that we need to do all we can to improve awareness and understanding of climate change across the population of Scotland to ensure we achieve net zero by 2045. The third sector plays a crucial role in supporting communities and individuals across a spectrum of activity, and voluntary organisations are adept at providing practical advice on what individuals can do to make a difference.
When it comes to climate change, we know that our programme of training can help with upskilling for net zero as well as combatting climate anxiety and climate change apathy. We are thrilled to be working in partnership with SCVO to develop bespoke Climate Emergency Training, accredited by the Carbon Literacy Project, to support the sector’s transition to net zero.”
Supported by Transport Scotland, our SCSP programme encourages people to travel actively and sustainably by walking, wheeling, cycling and using public transport, or combining these with public transport for longer journeys.
In response to the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow in late 2021, our SCSP programme made £110,000 of funding available to form a COP26 Legacy Fund. The fund was made available to projects linking active transport with the wider environmental agenda.
SCVO was one of six organisations to be awarded a grant from the one-off fund.
Graham McQueen, our Smarter Choices, Smarter Places Manager said:
SCVO and Keep Scotland Beautiful are creating legacy content, showing how groups can work collaboratively to equip each other with the knowledge, skills and confidence to sustain long term behaviour changes while making an impact on the environment.
We can all ‘do our bit’ for climate change using active modes of travel and there are lots of free resources sharing advice on how to reduce our carbon footprint.
At Paths for All, our focus is clear: we want to get Scotland walking: everyone, every day, everywhere, and we work with the Scottish Government and 30 partners to support and deliver national policies, such as the National Walking Strategy and other ‘active travel’ initiatives.
Funding of up to £50,000 is now available through our Smarter Choices, Smarter Places Open Fund. In 2022/23 we will award £5Million to active travel projects across Scotland. We welcome ambitious applications from third, public and voluntary sector organisation. If you have an idea for a project that will encourage people to travel in a more sustainable way, please get in touch with the team at scsp@pathsforall.org.uk.
For further information about our Open Fund, click here.
For more information on SCVO, click here. To book onto the courses mentioned click here.