High school wins funding for food waste project

The fund was established following work with young people in the county as part of the National COP26 climate change champions programme.

Available to local youth groups and organisations, bids for funding of up to £2000 to support the delivery of projects and programmes were invited.

The school’s approach, co-ordinated by the pupil council, looks at how food waste impacts on climate change if it is not disposed of responsibly, and how people can reduce their carbon footprint through reducing food miles and food waste.

Funding has been delivered in partnership with Angus Council Vibrant Communities, Youthlink Scotland and the Scottish Government, and bids were considered locally by young people on an assessment panel.

Councillor Lynne Devine, children & learning convener, said: “It’s wonderful to see the range of projects by young people right across Angus. The climate and nature Emergency is very real as we can see here with all the heavy rain, flooding, excessive winds and decreased numbers of animal and plant species.

“Across the globe, however, it is much worse with some islands in the Pacific in imminent danger of disappearing completely and ways of life being eradicated.

"It’s therefore good to see that the young people, while taking action locally, will also be finding out about the global situation.”

Councillor Mark McDonald, communities convener, added: “It’s brilliant to see these projects successfully gain funding through the Angus Youth Climate Change Fund.

“There is a real diversity across all six of the projects and I cannot wait to see how they develop and, ultimately, what lessons we can all learn from their work.”

The project, run by the academy’s engineering design and technology department, aims to provide immersive experiences to places where climate change is more than visible, such as polar ice melting and forests fires.

The other initiatives include Forfar Academy’s engineering design and technology department’s bid to raise awareness of the effects of climate change by providing immersive experiences through virtual reality to places where climate change is more than visible, such as polar ice melting and forests fires

A joint project between Montrose Rotary Club and Montrose Academy aims to show young people what can be done to boost biodiversity in a relatively small area and over time show the impact their own contribution can make.

Montrose Community Trust is aiming to instil a habit/culture of recycling and re-use among individuals and families by directing goods back into the community that would otherwise go to landfill and reduce the need for new ones to be produced.

The Alba Explorers’ project intends to support young people to experience the challenges and pride of creating a climate-enhancing environment by creating a pond and developing the surrounding habitat, while Brechin High School pupils are setting out to design, create and be involved in the entire process of producing recycled products.