£4,000 funding will help in climate change fight
Residents young and old in South Staffordshire will be carrying out new projects in a bid to mitigate climate change thanks to more than £4,000 in funding from a Climate Prize scheme.
South Staffordshire Council has awarded the money to schools, community groups, and parish councils across the district for more than 20 initiatives set to take place this year.
Winners of the £4,200 prize fund - launched to mark the council’s Climate Change Festival - include St John’s Primary Academy in Essington, Wild about Perton, Friends of Bilbrook, Friends of Barnfield Sandbeds, and St Christopher’s Primary School in Codsall. All winning bids received £200 each.
The bids included schemes to protect nature, reduce waste and other climate mitigation measures. As a result, residents will soon be able to enjoy new wildlife areas, tree planting, repair cafes and cycling workshops.
The Climate Prize is part of South Staffordshire Council’s Climate Change Festival 2022.
A further competition will be held in December, where the most successful projects from the scheme will receive additional funding to invest back into their work.
Councillor Len Bates, cabinet member for community services at South Staffordshire Council, said: “I was very pleased to see so many ideas for projects from local groups, and look forward to seeing these become reality.
“We are keen to support our residents to take their own action against climate change, and the Climate Prize is a great example of this work.”
The Climate Prize is the latest in a series of initiatives carried out by South Staffordshire Council in its aim to mitigate climate change, with the authority named a ‘net zero leader’ by Western Power this year.
The authority has also been keenly involved in a number of tree-planting activities over the last 18 months; planting 2,000 trees in Perton and Bilbrook this year, and 1,500 trees last year in Perton, Bilbrook and Great Wyrley.
The council’s award-winning headquarters at Codsall Community Hub has a range of environmentally-friendly aspects to its design too, including bat and bird boxes, and a total of 18 electric vehicle charging points – with four readily available for use by the public.
