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 projects will receive funding in late 2020. It is anticipated that successful projects will include community buildings low carbon retrofit, sustainable travel and education and training.
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. We aim to utilise this information by asking successful applicants to report on the above on a regular basis.
Our metrics
Amount of carbon emissions saved.
Number of initiatives supported.
Number of applications.
