• Funding will support 21 charities across the UK, all making a positive difference in education, arts and culture, citizenship, and environmental initiatives  

Twenty-one charities across the UK will share a £1.2 million funding pot from the ScottishPower Foundation, which champions benevolent work in local communities throughout the UK.

Applying to the Foundation for funding is highly competitive each year. The charities that are successful in securing funding show passion, skill and commitment to making a positive change in their communities. 

Among the recipients of the funding this year is the Dynamic Earth Charitable Trust in Edinburgh, which has been awarded £86,500 towards the creation of a new, state-of-the-art planetarium that will transport audiences through the history of the universe, demonstrating how humans have impacted the world and the environmental challenges the planet faces such as climate change, wildfires and shrinking ice caps. The funding will also help create a mobile planetarium programme which will visit schools and remote areas to teach them about the planet and its history.

Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (WWT) has been awarded £100,000 for its ‘Generation Wild’ project to re-connect thousands of children across England, Wales, and Northern Ireland with nature. The programme will work with 15,000 children from disadvantaged communities, their teachers, and families, to develop innovative experiences both at wetland centres and within their local communities. WWT gives children the opportunity to immerse themselves in nature and develop a life-long love of the natural world.

Cardiff-based Size of Wales will use £60,000 funding to encourage conversations on climate change among young people in Wales. The project will return with its ‘MockCOP’ initiative for 14-18 year-olds, which is similar in style to a United Nations discussion.

Kidscape Campaign for Children’s Safety, based in London, has been awarded £89,670 to tackle the issue of bullying. Through the recruitment of community volunteers and delivery of workshops, this programme will empower and support children and families who are experiencing bullying.

Melanie Hill, Executive Officer and Trustee at the ScottishPower Foundation, said: “At the ScottishPower Foundation, we’re passionate about supporting causes that really make a difference for communities, committed to fighting climate change, and dedicated to helping young people achieve their full potential for a brighter future. The charities we’re funding this year do all of that – and more – carrying out exceptional work, often in challenging circumstances, as they strive to make lives better.

 “We recognise that now, more than ever, people are relying on charities and their services and we’re very proud to support these efforts in such a meaningful way. We’ll continue to work closely with our charity partners to help maximise the impact of our ScottishPower Foundation funding to achieve the best possible outcomes for people and communities across the UK.”

Mark Stead, National Formal Learning Manager at the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, said: “We are delighted to have secured this funding. My childhood was filled with splashing in streams and climbing trees. Very few of today’s children have these experiences and we are in danger of raising a generation of young people that have become disconnected from the natural world.

“This disconnection is felt even more keenly among disadvantaged communities and at WWT we believe that nature is for everyone, irrespective of their background. This funding will enable us to reconnect some of those in society who need it most with nature, boosting their mental wellbeing whilst helping to create a new generation of conservationists.”

The ScottishPower Foundation was established in 2013 to make a significant and lasting contribution to society, enhancing the lives of people living in communities throughout the UK. It provides funding to help support the advancement of education, environmental protection, arts and culture and citizenship. It also supports charities who aim to provide relief from poverty, disability, or other disadvantages.

The full list of this year’s funding recipients are:

• Kidscape Campaign for Children’s Safety
• Changing Faces
• South Tyneside Churches KEY Project
• Inter Madrassah Organisation
• National Theatre of Scotland
• Youth Connections
• The Customs House
• Starcatchers
• Nightingale House Hospice
• Bangor University (Reaching Wider North and Mid Wales partnership)
• The Literacy Pirates
• Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust
• Bendrigg Trust
• The Movement for Non-Mobile Children (Whizz-Kidz)
• Acorns (North Tyneside)
• Spina Bifida Hydrocephalus Scotland
• Dynamic Earth Charitable Trust
• Size of Wales
• The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds
• Bumblebee Conservation Trust
• Sporting Memories Foundation Scotland

Find out more on the SP Foundation.