Thousands of Leeds residents take part in climate action
More than 6,000 people have joined together in local communities to address the climate crisis, thanks to Climate Action Leeds Community Grants.
What is Climate Action Leeds?
Climate Action Leeds is a 5-year programme funded by The National Lottery Climate Action Fund. It provides a way for people, organisations and communities to come together to take action on climate change, in Leeds and beyond.
What are Climate Action Leeds Community Grants?
Climate Action Leeds Community Grants are one part of the Climate Action Leeds programme. The grants are managed by Leeds Community Foundation, which awarded funding to community organisations in Leeds to run climate-friendly projects. The projects inspired, organised and educated people in the city to take action on climate change at a local level.
What has the impact of the Climate Action Leeds Community Grants been?
More than 1,300 people said they understood more about conservation.
Since the programme started in 2023, Leeds Community Foundation has made 41 Climate Action Leeds Community Grants, adding up to more than £130,000. So far, over 6,000 people have taken part in climate-friendly activities that were funded by the grants. Because they took part in the projects, more than 1,300 people said they understood more about conservation. The activities have also helped people appreciate the environment more and feel more connected to their community.
What are some of the funded projects?
Alwoodley 2030 Climate Action Hub installed air pollution sensors and ran free bike MOTs at local primary schools. Each school ran a campaign in the lead up to a ward-wide ‘Walk to School week’, where children and their families were encouraged to use more active travel like walking and cycling. The project was really successful, and the group is running even more events this year to influence how people travel.
Connecting Crossgates ran a project about swifts – a bird that is on the ‘Red’ list for conservation concern because their numbers declined by 62% between 1995 and 2021. They raised awareness about the damage to swifts’ habitats caused by modern house building methods, and taught people how they can help save swifts from extinction. Together, people from the local community built and installed 10 swift boxes, and 36 more are planned.
Friends of Bedford Fields ran more than 30 workshops and events to teach local people how they could take part in climate action. They covered topics like food waste and composting, how to make your own plant milk, and hedge laying – a traditional way to manage hedges that helps the sustainability of wildlife and the landscape. They also ran community clear-ups and a Permaculture and Sustainability Fayre.
Season Well CIC taught people how to use local, seasonal and sustainable food to create great tasting, healthy meals. They showed people how to plan and design growing spaces, and sow and look after plants, so they could grow their own food at home without using chemicals. They also taught people how to compost food waste, repurpose plastic and paper food containers to grow things and make watering cans out of plastic bottles.
What happens next?
While there won’t be any more grants made through Climate Action Leeds Community Grants, the impact of the 41 projects that were funded will continue. Lots of green spaces have been improved and developed, many people have changed how they behave to be more climate-friendly and the organisations and everyone who took part will keep encouraging themselves and other people to take action on climate change.
