News Release

Council confirms 21 partnerships from across area receive share of almost £900,000 to help take climate action and support nature recovery.

Westmorland and Furness Council has confirmed a total of 21 partnerships from across the area have received a share of almost £900,000 as part of a fund to help take climate action and support nature recovery.

The council’s Climate and Nature Partnership Fund supports local partnerships in Westmorland and Furness to tackle climate change, support nature recovery and ensure a fair transition to a low carbon future for our communities.

The successful grant recipients aim to deliver programmes of work such as peatland restoration, improving invasive species management, creating a community wildlife garden and improving biodiversity.

The partnerships supported by the fund include:

• Arnside & Silverdale AONB
• Branching out in Barrow
• Community Collective
• Coniston Environment Partnership
• Cumbria Local Visitor Economy Partnership
• Cumbria Peat Partnership
• Cumbria Peatland Restoration Research Partnership
• Eden Catchment Partnership
• Flourishing Ulverston
• Ford Park Community Group
• Land and Nature Skills Service Partnership
• Love Windermere
• Love Windermere Partnership
• Ormsgill Community Garden
• People and Nature Network
• PLACE
• Sustainability and Energy Network in Staveley
• The Life of the Park
• Wild Walney
• Windermere Science Festivals CIC
• Zero Carbon Cumbria Partnership

This scheme is one of 14 projects representing £5m of priority investments for Westmorland and Furness agreed by the Council's Cabinet.

The projects reflect the council’s key priorities for the area, including funding for local areas, biodiversity and nature, sustainable transport, social care, children, culture and education.

Councillor Giles Archibald, Westmorland and Furness Council Cabinet Member for Climate and Biodiversity, said:

“As a council, we have an ambition to provide leadership on climate change and in local nature recovery, working to ensure that the council is carbon net zero as soon as possible and that the area it serves is carbon net zero by 2037.

“I am delighted we are able to support such a fantastic and wide range of partnerships in delivering their ongoing work to tackle climate change and recover nature.

“We are fortunate to have many partners working to tackle the climate and nature emergencies and I look forward to us working collaboratively with them to deliver on our collective environmental priorities.”

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