Climate Challenge Fund Award Success

The community group Sustainable Haddington this week was celebrating the success of its £5,000 bid to the national Climate Challenge Fund. The group plans to establish a limited company with charitable status, to support and deliver projects for local action on climate change and sustainable living in the Haddington area. It has already launched the Haddington “HotSpot” scheme for household energy saving measures, and is working towards making the town plastic-bag free, a campaign supported by East Lothian Council. Other projects on local food production, renewable energy and biodiversity are in the pipeline.

Robin Harper MSP said:
“Although there is much that government, business and individuals can do to beat climate change, we believe inspirational community projects have a huge role to play. Sustainable Haddington and the seventeen other projects receiving support today are just that. Each one is an imaginative and community-led solution, with ideas tailored to local circumstances across the country.

“I’m particularly pleased to see this kind of innovative work taking place in East Lothian, bringing a group of community-minded people together to establish a limited company with charitable status with the aim of helping projects take local action on climate change. Crucially, this local group is already taking successful measures on household energy saving and working towards making Haddington a plastic-bag free town, both of which will be invaluable as we move towards a successful low carbon Scotland.”

Council environment spokesman Councillor Paul McLennan said: “I welcome this funding which will enable Sustainable Haddington to develop a wide range of projects to promote sustainable living in the local community and tackle climate change. It dovetails with Council’s ambitious long term plans for increasing recycling rates and ultimately creating a zero waste society at local and national levels.”

Notes to Editors:

1. The fund is a joint project between the Scottish Greens and Scottish Ministers, and will distribute £27.4m in funding up to 2011. The current round will distribute £1.16m to 18 projects across Scotland. The fund was established through the last budget, and is designed to support innovative and locally-led projects to cut carbon emissions and build sustainable communities. For more information, see http://www.climatechallengefund.org

2. More information about Sustainable Haddington at www.sustainablehaddington.org.uk

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