Our story
by Community Foundation for Calderdale
The Climate Emergency Fund was established to support community low carbon projects by Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council (CMBC) and Community Foundation for Calderdale (CFFC) working as partners and equal funders. The fund's specific focus is on providing support to a wide variety of community groups to be able to make carbon and energy savings as part of a wider effort to help Calderdale reach its net zero target of 2038.
The fund consists of an initial commitment of £1m with both partners planning for further fundraising. CMBC and CFFC will work together in the long-term to support community groups in Calderdale and their Climate Emergency work.
The first two rounds of funding have funded 22 projects, with total grants of £463,900. There have been 12 projects concerned with reducing energy costs and energy efficiency in buildings; 4 projects concerned with the replacement of petrol/diesel vehicles with electric vehicles; 4 feasibility studies, and 2 projects concerned with educational and awareness raising of climate change and benefits of low carbon.
For the third round of the fund, we wanted to ensure alignment with the District's Climate Change Action Plan and focused on two of the themes within the action plan: Community Climate Action and Land and Nature.
Our advice
To improve our understanding of the types of projects that the community was interested in and project availability, an initial survey was created and sent to local voluntary and community sector organisations to complete. The survey results alongside consultant research on how to cut fossil fuels and carbon emission in the borough were then considered in the criteria for the application process.
Once the guidelines and deadlines had been established and set, an advice and information session for prospective applications was held via Zoom to provide an overview of the fund and the application process. As well as information and guidelines being readily available on the website.
To gain an understanding of what carbon savings could be made, applicants were asked how they would measure the reduction in carbon emissions made by their initiative or project. Also, applicants were asked to use a carbon emission calculator to evaluate their own organisation's carbon footprint.
Our Changeprint
Our Changeprint can be measured by the reduction in carbon emissions; increased awareness of climate change and what can be done locally; progress in implementing the District's Climate Change Action Plan; a shared voice for climate action and close collaboration between the Borough Council and local community groups.
