Five school based climate change projects have been handed £100,000 each by an environmental campaign to help all schools, colleges, and nurseries to be zero carbon by 2030.

The Let’s Go Zero campaign has handed the one-off grants to school projects through the Zero Carbon Fund, which is financed by Green Future Investments Ltd.

The money will be used to look at sustainability issues around food, retrofitting of schools, carbon reduction and environmental awareness training for staff.

Those receiving funding include Shropshire Good Food Partnership’s Schools’ Food Web, a community food project that promotes “sustainable, health and local eating in schools”.

Another is Keep Britain Tidy’s Eco-Schools: Count Your Carbon Playgroup project that looks at how changes to school policies and infrastructure can reduce carbon emissions.

Also receiving funding is a Brighton and Hove City Council project called our Schools Our World, to improve training for school staff to help them “teach a progressive sustainability-focused curriculum”.

“Through this Zero Carbon Fund we have discovered some really bold and innovative projects that will help schools implement exciting and impactful solutions which bring about longstanding change in educational settings,” said Let’s Go Zero head Alex Green.

“To win the grants, applicants had to demonstrate how their work is addressing a compelling need and how they will measure that impact, sustain the project beyond the funding, and outline long-term goals.

“We prioritised those that focus on less-advantaged areas and those that include youth and community voices in decision-making. We’re incredibly excited to see what sort of changes will be made over the next year by each of the five winners to help schools make great strides in their journey to being zero carbon.”

The Let’s Go Zero campaign is led by climate change charity Ashden and backed by among others Global Action Plan, WWF, Fairtrade, Eco-Schools, Sustrans, Carbon Trust, Soil Association and Young People’s Trust for the Environment.

It is working with the Department for Education around school environmental policy.

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