Royal Leamington Spa Town Council has awarded a series of grants to local projects to tackle climate change and promote sustainability.

The Town Council has announced the distribution of over £22,500 to three local community organisations, including:

· Action 21, alocal volunteer-based charity, Leamington Lawn Tennis and Squash Club and Cubbington and Lillington Environmental Action Now CIC (CLEAN).

The Town Council, which launched the grants last year, understands the importance of supporting local groups and initiatives aimed at addressing the challenges of climate change.

The grant applications, which are open all year, are available to not-for-profit community groups based in the town and can fund a variety of initiatives focused on reducing carbon emissions and promoting sustainable practices.

The Mayor of Royal Leamington Spa, Cllr Ruggy Singh, said: "I am delighted that these grants have been awarded and that these local projects can begin making a real difference.

"It has been truly inspirational to read about these initiatives happening right here in Leamington Spa – something we can all be proud of. I look forward to seeing how these projects develop over time, and I would like to extend a big thank you to everyone involved.

"I know many of you give up your own time to support these efforts; without you, we wouldn't be moving forward."

The grant funding will support a range of projects, including:

· Action 21 - Ecohub: A volunteer-led project to create a climate hub that promotes awareness of climate change issues and fosters connection between existing climate groups in a physical space.

· Action 21 - Cycle project: Workshop used to repair and refurbish unwanted bicycles so that they can be reused by local people. This has the effect of reducing waste to landfill, reducing emissions, reduce the impact of purchasing new bikes making a shirt to more sustainable travel.

· Leamington Lawn Tennis and Squash Club: Upgrading floodlights to LED lighting, to reduce energy use and thus climate change emissions.

· CLEAN - Lillington Library Garden: to create a community-led Garden Library of Biodiversity in the green space outside Lillington Library.

· CLEAN - Pound Lane Orchard: To create educational and recreational resources for the new Community Orchard at Pound Land. Resources could include a map and an information board, creating a stimulus and resource to encourage future use of the orchard.

· CLEAN - Mason Avenue Park: To support the creation of a 'Friends of Mason Avenue Park' group to help with plans already developed to increase community involvement with the maintenance and enhancement of biodiversity within Avenue Park.

· CLEAN - Thermal Camera Loan Scheme: To support the Thermal Imaging Camera loan scheme for local residents.

· CLEAN- 10,000 Sunflowers: Funding will run years 3 and 4 of the successful 10,000 sunflower project, which will facilitate the growth of the sunflowers in Lillington, Cubbington, and beyond. Each April, a launch event will take place, including the plant seeding in the polytunnels loaned by Coventry University's Centre for Agroecology and Water Resilience and Five Acre Farm, located at Ryton organics.

CLEAN (Cubbington and Lillington Environmental Action Now) stated: "CLEAN members are really excited about the Climate Change Grant that we've been awarded - we're a community organisation and it will help us hugely with our four new exciting environmental projects. A big thank you to Leamington Town Council."

Royal Leamington Spa Town Council's Climate Change Grant funding is still available for not-for-profit community groups in Leamington Spa (image supplied)

For those interested in getting involved with CLEAN, it will be holding a public meeting on Sunday, 21 September from 2 to 4pm at Lillington Club, Lime Avenue in Lillington.

For more information, contact Matt at 07765 684941.

Royal Leamington Spa Town Council's Climate Change Grant funding is still available for not-for-profit community groups in Leamington Spa.

Application forms are available on the Town Council's website.