Council grants double for climate projects
Great news for local community groups looking to tackle climate change and help nature recovery as the Vale of White Horse District Council has doubled the size of the maximum grant available to £10,000 per project from its Climate Action Fund which opened for applications today (Friday 3 May).
Previously the Climate Action Fund has provided money towards a huge range of climate and biodiversity-related community schemes including providing water butts to Watchfield residents to store rainwater, replacing old lights with energy saving LEDs for theatrical performances at Kingston Bagpuize and reinstating a mere in Goosey.
The Climate Action Fund is now open for applications from town and parish councils and local community groups who have proposals which aim to tackle climate change. There is a total of £100,000 available, with a minimum of £250 and a maximum of £10,000 per project. Applicants have until Friday 28 June to apply.
Cllr Bethia Thomas, Leader and Cabinet member for Climate Action and the Environment, for Vale of White Horse District Council, said: “Seeing the variety of projects that the council has been able to help local people get off the ground we know that local people are creative when it comes to plans to tackle climate change and help with nature recovery.
Last year we doubled the amount of money available from £50,000 to £100,000 and now it seems right to double the amount that groups can apply for so they have the financial backing to tackle bigger projects.”
Full details of the Climate Action Fund and how to apply are available on our Climate Action Fund page on our website.
Projects funded in the last round of the Climate Action Fund, in October 2023
| Abingdon | Draught busting project for Abingdon to make free simple adaptations or repairs to people’s homes to reduce heat loss. |
| Blewbury | Installation of at least two electric vehicle public charging points at Blewbury Village Hall. |
| Goosey | A project to reinstate Goosey mere and create a wildlife habitat with reedbed plant succession and native species planting. |
| Harwell | Installation of solar panels on Little Pippin’s pre-school building. |
| Harwell | Project to set up and install some interactive displays showing information and advice about the Harwellian Club’s energy usage and the recently installed solar panels at the Harwellian social club. |
| Hinksey | Providing public access to the existing Hinksey Heights Nature Reserve, by taking on the lease of an additional 2.5 hectares of woodland. |
| Hinton Waldrist | Replacing the village hall’s existing original window frames with new double-glazed units. This will improve energy efficiency and comfort for users. |
| Kingston Bagpuize | Replacement of the old, inefficient lighting system for theatrical productions in the village hall with LED lighting. |
| Littleworth | Project to thermally insulate the Reading Room – Littleworth’s village hall. |
| Shrivenham | A new Community Hub and Events Manager role, to support the next phase of Sustainable Shrivenham’s community hub. |
| Wantage | Biodiversity baseline survey for Wantage and Grove. |
| Watchfield | Purchasing water butts to give to local residents to fit to their homes and store rainwater. |
| Vale of White Horse-wide | Holding two ‘train the trainer’ events to get children and families to embrace the nature on their doorstep, highlighting the ecological issues and advising simple ways everyone can play their part. |
| Vale of White Horse-wide | Delivery of online Carbon Literacy Training to local cultural organisations, community groups, artists and activists. |
