Grampian goes green as third sector groups receive share of £1.5 million for their eco-friendly projects
Delivered by ACVO, AVA, tsiMORAY, NESCAN Hub, Money for Moray and SCDC, the Fund aims to empower residents to shape Grampian’s journey to net zero in a way that reflects their local needs and priorities by allowing them to have their say on where money is spent.
With over 19,000 voters having their say on which projects should be awarded funding, each region has distributed £500,000 to local eco-friendly projects that will contribute towards Scotland’s plan of reaching net zero by 2045.
Projects which will be supported by the Fund include electric vehicles that aim to tackle social isolation, sustainable community garden resources, energy efficient building replacements, zero-waste enterprises and active travel initiatives.
Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero and Just Transition Mairi McAllan said: “I’m delighted that £1.5 million in grants has been awarded to 53 projects in Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire and Moray from the Scottish Government’s Just Transition Participatory Budgeting Fund, supported by our £500 million Just Transition Fund.
“Over 19,000 people were involved in selecting the projects that will benefit from the Fund and I’d like to thank our delivery partners for their outstanding work achieving this for the second year running.
“Participatory budgeting empowers communities, including those particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, and ensures that local people can play their part to support a fair and managed transition to net zero.”
Reflecting on the success of the Fund, Maggie Hepburn, Chief Executive at ACVO TSI, said: “We were impressed by the enthusiasm shown by the general public to be involved in voting for projects and would like to thank them.
“I hope people can see that their votes have had real benefit for the third sector organisations who were successful.”
Now completing its second year of delivery, the Fund welcomes a significant increase in engagement from local communities in the three regions. With over 100,000 votes in total received during the public voting process, participatory budgeting as a movement continues to grow across Grampian.
Rose Toney, Community Development Officer at NESCAN Hub, said: “To see the Just Transition Participatory Budgeting Fund, not only continue, but expand its engagement across Northeast Scotland in its second year has been really amazing.
“It has been such a rewarding experience working with community groups to develop their ideas, see them go out to public vote and win the money needed to make a real difference within their community.”
One project that successfully received funding is Garioch Sports and Community Centre, based in Aberdeenshire. Kevin Bonarius, Chief Operating Officer, said: “We are over the moon here at Garioch Sports to have been successful in our funding application that was voted for by our valued users and followers.
“We are a community facility at the heart of Inverurie providing for newborns through to seniors. This grant funding will allow us to push forward with our net zero ambitions with the install of 50Kwh of renewable energy to the centre roof through Solar PV.
“We would like to extend a special thanks to everyone who took the time to vote for the Garioch Goes Green Project.”
The Just Transition Participatory Budgeting Fund forms part of the wider ten year £500 million Just Transition Fund announced by The Scottish Government in May 2022, which aims to support Scotland’s North-East economy in its just transition to net zero.
For full details of all the successful projects, as well as information about the Just Transition Participatory Budgeting Fund, visit www.jtpbfund.scot/results.
