Keep Scotland Tidy News
Grant Scheme to Support Communities by Bathing Waters
Monday 1st March 2010 10:29 am
Keep Scotland Beautiful is calling for community groups, involved in litter prevention or removal by designated bathing waters*, to apply for a litter grant – in what is the final year of a three-year scheme.KSB has been administering a small grant fund on behalf of the Scottish Government for two years. In the first year seven community groups benefited from grants, while in the second year communities by three bathing waters were awarded money to assist them carry out clean ups of the beach close to the bathing water, run litter prevention campaigns or support and promote community action to reduce litter pollution.
John Summers Chief Executive of Keep Scotland Beautiful welcomed the opening of the grant scheme. He said, “We are delighted to offer support in the form of small grants to community groups by Scottish bathing waters. Even simple clean up events can help raise awareness of the issue of litter and with 47% of people stating in recent research that litter on beaches offended them we know that something has to be done.
“Communities do want to help improve the cleanliness of their local areas, and 20,000 people took part in National Spring Clean this year showing that with a little bit of support they can make a difference. We hope that this grant scheme helps encourage communities by beaches to take a step further forward and raise awareness of the impacts of coastal litter on the environment.”
Applications to the grant scheme can be made by filling in a simple on line form which can be found at www.keepscotlandtidy.org/coastal and returning by the end of May 2010. Applications will then be discussed and grants allocated appropriately.
*Please note a list of designated bathing waters can be found at www.sepa.org.uk