Northampton Town Council to donate £50,000 to environmental projects

Northampton Town Council, in conjunction with its Climate Change Forum, is to launch a grants scheme to donate £50,000 to environmental projects.

The aim is to support and promote volunteer and other organisations, such as community groups, charities, faith groups, friends’ groups, and schools working on projects to address climate change.

The scheme is part of the Town Council’s commitment to reduce emissions locally, due to the challenges and increasing threats posed by the environment.

Councillor Andrew Stevens, chair of the Town Council’s Environmental Services Committee said: “In my opinion, climate change is the world’s greatest challenge – but by pulling together, we can take action to avert it.

“Individually our efforts may not seem much, but collectively they make a real difference, which is why we want to support our residents in doing something.

“Small or large, your green ideas can have a big impact, and reducing energy consumption can benefit our pockets too.”

The funding can be donated to ideas which fall into the categories of climate emissions, energy, transport, biodiversity, climate change mitigation, and waste.

The council will offer two tiers of funding – the first being up to £1,000 for smaller projects that are ‘ready to go’ and fit the criteria of being ‘a practical green idea with likely benefits to the community’.

The other is up to £5,000 for bigger projects.Online application forms and further guidance will go live at the start of September, and any groups who wish to register interest should email [email protected].