6 November 08
Climate Challenge Fund For Communities - Up To £1million
Climate change is one of the biggest challenges facing us today. There are many things we can do as individuals to reduce our impact on climate change but if we act together as communities we can do even more. The Climate Challenge Fund is here to help communities make a real difference by significantly reducing carbon emissions. There is no set grant and no minimum level of award but a £1,000,000 maximum has been set. The Fund offers grants to community organisations to help with planning, learning, communications and most importantly local action to reduce carbon emissions. Projects can involve a range of actions, from helping people to use less energy at home, to encouraging more walking and cycling and eating more locally produced food.

Who can apply?

Applications can be made by:
• Local voluntary, not-for-profit and charitable organisations
• Schools
• Community groups working in partnership with Universities and Colleges
• Community groups working in partnership with national voluntary, not for profit and charitable organisations
• Community groups working in partnership with Local Authorities
• Community groups working in partnership with Housing Associations
• Community groups working in partnership with Community Planning Partnerships

To qualify for funding communities will need to demonstrate that their projects will:
• Make a significant carbon emissions reduction and bring wider environmental, social and economic benefits
• Be community based and have the community at the centre of decision making
• Seek to improve quality of life now and for future generations.

Funding is already supporting projects which could be reproduced by other communities. For example, in Dumfries, school students are
being encouraged to use bikes for local travel. Elsewhere, community energy efficiency schemes are helping to combat fuel poverty.

How can I find out more?
For more information on how to apply please contact the fund administrator:
Email:ccf@ksbscotland.org.uk
Telephone: 01786 471333
An expression of interest form and more guidance on applications are available at www.infoscotland.com/climatechallengefund

10 July 08
Plastic Recycling – Council has it bottled!
In April 2008 The Highland Council’s TEC Services Committee gave the go ahead to introduce facilities for plastic bottle recycling at a number of Recycling Centres throughout Highland. Now plastic bottles marked with either a 1 or a 2 in a small triangle can be recycled at the Centres in Wick, Thurso, Tain, Alness, Dingwall, Inverness, Nairn , Aviemore  and Fort William.  Type 1 bottles (PET) are mainly used for fizzy drinks and type 2 (HDPE) are used as milk cartons or for detergents. The Council urges everyone to try and make sure only bottles marked 1 and 2 are deposited in the banks as other plastics will contaminate the load, this may lead to a need to dispose of the materials rather than recycling them. (Tip From Bill Fernie - Remember to remove bottle tops before you go to the recycling centre as these are not wanted due to the fact they are made of a different type of plastic that cannot be mixed in the recycling - Bill recently took a couple of hundred plastic bottles to the centre for the first time and had to stand and take of all the tops)

2 June 08
Community Woodlands Photography Competition
Community Woodlands Association is sponsoring a Community Woodlands Photography Competition. Individual Prizes - First, second and third prizes will be awarded in each of three age groups. First prize winners in each category will have their images reproduced as one of a set of four postcards to be distributed nationwide. The judges for the age group categories will include Matthew Dalziel of the artistic partnership Dalziel + Scullion www.dalzielandscullion.com  A fourth, individual prize will be selected from all the other entries by CWA Directors. The winner in this category will also have their image reproduced as a postcard to make up the set of four. Community Woodland Prize - There is also a prize for one lucky Community Woodland member group. The prize will be a fantastic one day photography workshop with a professional photographer, for up to 10 participants. The photographer will be selected by CWA and we will also be able to offer support to arrange the event and take bookings if you would like help. All you have to do is provide the woodland venue. The winning community woodland will be chosen via a prize draw. All entries, submitted by the 1st September 2008 deadline, will go into a 'hat' and the workshop prize will be awarded to the first member woodland out the 'hat'.  Full details and entry forms at www.communitywoods.org

15 May 08
Caithness Recycling Service Expands
People in Caithness are benefiting from further expansion of The Highland Council's kerbside recycling collection service for paper, cans and garden waste.
Mr William Nicolson from Battery Road in Castletown is one of 500 households benefiting from the roll out of the scheme, bringing the total number of households in Caithness to 8,000 and around 70,000 in total throughout Highland. Chairman of TEC Services, Councillor John Laing said: "It's great to see further expansion of the kerbside recycling scheme throughout Caithness. People want to recycle, and they are supportive of the opportunities to do so." The introduction of the Kerbsider is one element of The Highland Council's strategy to fulfil the targets of the Highland Area Waste Plan.

17 April 08
Caithness Countryside Volunteers Plant New Hedging At Guidebest
The Caithness Countryside Volunteers enjoyed a morning planting a holly, blackthorn and hawthorn hedge on some croft land last weekend, taking a short break to help feed the pet lambs. These species of tree were chosen to provide a biodiversity rich habitat as well as to withstand the Caithness weather. The hedge should also provide shelter for lambs in years to come.  Refreshments and some trees were funded by Community Service Volunteer Action Earth Awards. The event was organised by the Highland Council's Rangers in the Planning and Development Service as part of the Caithness Countryside Volunteers calendar.

7 April 08
Get A Free Energy Advice Visit - You Could Win a Colour TV
Caithness Energy Advice has a 15” LCD television up for grabs in their summer raffle. If you are interested in having a home visit to get free energy advice on your home energy bills/systems you will automatically be entered into the raffle*.
CEA’s aim is to help people keep warm and pay less for their energy. To accomplish this, the team assesses the current level of energy efficiency in homes in the Caithness area, raises awareness of choices available to take charge of household energy bills, and partners with existing organisations for a coordinated, long range approach to reducing fuel poverty. The Energy Advice team can guide householders to energy savings by identifying issues such as poor insulation, problem door/ window seals, electrical equipment left on standby and incorrect use of heating systems.  This is a community project based in Ormlie and available across Caithness giving FREE unbiased advice on how to reduce your energy bills.  Competition runs up until 29th August 2008 but why wait - GIVE THEM A CALL SOON.

25 February 08
Highland Council in line for top recycling award
The Highland Council is in the frame to be crowned Scotland's top local authority for community recycling, at a major awards ceremony to be held next month.

Highland Council has made it through to the final stages of the competition and will now compete against both Falkirk and Moray Council for a chance to scoop the Local Authority Partnership Award, at this year's Community Recycling Network for Scotland (CRNS) 2008 Awards.

The Awards ceremony, which takes place at Perth Concert Hall on March 11th, will recognise the most successful and innovative community recycling projects which have taken place over the last 12 months in Scotland.

Highland Council has been shortlisted in recognition of its support for nine community recycling enterprises across the Highlands and Islands region, including projects based in Acharacle, Fort William, Uig, Bettyhill, Thurso, Golspie, Evanton, Alness and Inverness.

Through the allocation of Waste Diversion agreements, the Council works with organisations to reduce the amount of waste diverted to landfills and ensure as much waste as possible is reused and recycled.

Through this partnership, the Council will divert 4,000 tonnes of municipal waste from landfill disposal for 2007-2008, which accounts for 8% of the area's recycling activities.

Councillor John Laing, Chairman of The Highland Council's TEC Services Committee and spokesperson for Waste Management said: "We are delighted to be shortlisted for the CRNS Awards as it is another way in which we can help to raise awareness about the importance of recycling and the need for community involvement.

"The community sector in Highland provides a wide variety of services, including collection of furniture and other household items for reuse from our recycling centres, community composting, wood reuse & recycling and kerbside recycling.

"The groups have benefited from over £600k of funding from the Strategic Waste Fund and a further £200k from the council's landfill diversion budget in 2007/08. This amount of funding will be available to the groups for the forthcoming financial year."

The council joins 10 other leading organisations and initiatives selected to compete in one of three award categories, namely CRNS Member of the Year, Innovation Award, and the Local Authority Partnership Award.

This year's accolades have been the most hotly contested in the CRNS' awards history, as a total of 42 high quality nominations were received from existing community recycling projects across the whole of Scotland.

CRNS Network Director, Iain Gulland, said: "The finalists for this year's CRNS More Than Recycling Awards 08 really illustrate the diversity of the Scottish community recycling sector, as well as bearing testament to the real social, economical and environmental benefits which can be reaped by Scottish communities.

"As a growing trend in Scotland, community recycling is a sector which now has an annual turnover in excess of £26 million and employs over 1,100 people nationally, as well as offering another 950 training places and providing 3,200 volunteer opportunities.

"We hope our More Than Recycling 08 Conference will illustrate exactly how much potential community recycling has to help communities on a practical level as well as protecting the environment in general, and that this encourages more projects to emerge and more local authority support."

The CRNS Award-winners will be announced at the More Than Recycling Conference, which will be held on the 11th March at Perth Concert Hall.

Poised to be the biggest ever gathering of people committed to realising the potential of the community recycling sector in Scotland, 'More Than Recycling 08' boast a strong line-up of speakers from a variety of backgrounds within the industry.

To book a place at 'More Than Recycling 08' visit www.crns.org.uk/index/mtr08  or call 01786 469002

26 November 07
Switching on to energy saving…for FREE

As the days are getting darker and we are using more energy to keep our homes light, why not take advantage of this free energy saving light bulb offer to help keep energy costs down. The North Highland branch of the Highlands and Islands Community Energy Company (HICEC) is running a project to distribute energy saving light bulbs across the North Highlands. HICEC in association with EDF energy has teamed up with Highland Community Care Forum (HCCF), East Sutherland Voluntary Advice Service (ESVAS), Caithness Voluntary Groups (CVG) and Family First to distribute the free energy saving light bulbs to community members across Sutherland, Caithness and Rosshire.

To qualify for the free bulbs community members must receive one of the following benefits: Council tax benefit; housing benefit; income support; income-based job seekers allowance; attendance allowance; disability allowance; war disablement pension; disablement pension; state pension credit; child tax credit or working tax credit.

Melanie MacRae, Assistant Development Officer for the North Highlands from HICEC is coordinating the project for the area. “It is really important to raise the awareness among our communities of the savings that can be made from using energy more efficiently. Lighting can account for up to 10 % of the average domestic electricity bill. The use of energy saving light bulbs is a very quick and simple option to reduce your energy bills and cut carbon dioxide emissions, saving the environment and your purse!. Energy efficient light bulbs use less than a quarter of the electricity of ordinary light bulbs, can last up to 15 times longer, and produce 70% less CO2 emissions than ordinary incandescent light bulbs”

For information on how to receive the bulbs contact any of the organisations below

18 November 07
Caithness Energy Advice Project - Caithness Project Wins Award
Free Winter Warmth Packs
The Caithness Energy Advice Team will be giving away Free Winter Warmth packs which contain information about how to keep warm, energy-saving tips and useful contacts. The Free Winter Warmth packs will be up for grabs during Ormlie Community Association’s latest awareness raising events, tacking fuel poverty and increasing energy efficiency for Caithness householders. The events are part of the Warm Homes Campaign Award Scheme which is one aspect of the Warm Homes Campaign, organized by National Energy Action (NEA) and Energy Action Scotland, which is taking place throughout the UK from the end of November. The campaign aims to raise awareness of the financial help available to people who cannot afford to heat their homes to try and reduce cold-related illnesses and excess winter deaths and is organised in association with eaga.
Drop-in events for householders:
Tuesday 27 November – 9.30am to 4.30pm–Wick Family Centre Wick
Wednesday 28 November – 9.30am to 12.30pm – British Legion, Thurso

BDMLR has a ‘handling protocol’ in place, which was drawn up during the last outbreak of PDV in 2002.

BDMLR has already made contact with a number of other organisations [4] which have previously been involved with the response and challenges required to deal with the results of the effects of the virus.

Tony Woodley, BDMLR’s national press officer, said "British Divers Marine Life Rescue was formed during the first outbreak of this virus in 1988 and in 2002 our volunteers around the UK again helped the Common seals affected. Our veterinary advisers confirm that on both these previous occasions the virus took a number of weeks to reach the UK shores from the rest of Europe."

"BDMLR has contingency plans in place and we will be briefing our network of volunteers and have already started to communicate with other organisations within the M.A.R.C. [5] to ensure we are ready for when the virus reaches the UK", continued Tony.

The virus does not affect humans but members of the public are advised to keep dogs away from seals.