Aim

To provide people with the tools and information they need for sustainable living. We'll secure more funds for ambitious community project.

Project Summary

Climate Action Strathaven has created this appeal to enable us to offer free eBike rentals to community members, as we help people to live more sustainably. Our small town will become easier for people to move around in, as the number of cars on the roads decrease. Pollution levels will drop helping us to breathe cleaner air and reduce green house gases that cause global warming. As we actively move about our town we will feel benefits to our physical and mental wellbeing. We will have more positive social interactions and love where we live. 

The Problem

Strathaven is a small rural town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland. Our public transport options are extremely limited to the occasional bus. There is no train network. Not surprisingly this means that nearly every home has a car (or two or three)!! As a result our streets are cluttered with vehicles, making it difficult for people to walk and cycle.

The Solution

Climate Action Strathaven is working with the communities in and around Strathaven to create alternative options to using a car. We have set up four transport projects with more to come.

Bike Shop - our first project to go live! The Bike Shop has repaired over 200 bicycles since launching in late 2020, helping to get people back on their bikes. During the Covid-19 lockdowns cycling was an important part of people's lives. Helping them to get active and look after their physical and mental wellbeing.

Strathaven Car Club - in partnership with Karshare we have set up a car club to help reduce the need for people to have a second car. We launched in May 2021 and are encouraging community members to use the rental vehicles as well as share their own car through the platform.

eBike Hire - we provide our community with the opportunity to get active again on a bicycle through our eBike rentals. For many people getting back on a bike can be daunting. The eBike gives people confidence, knowing that they have assistance when needed on the many hills surrounding our town!

eCargo Bike Deliveries - we want to support our local businesses. Our last mile (or so!) delivery service on the eCargo Bike provides a low carbon delivery option. It also reduces the number of vans needing to drive around our town.

Future plans include a Community eBus Service providing connection between Strathaven and Glasgow (great for commuters) and our surrounding villages. We want to improve active travel options too, through an Active Travel Superhighway designed to keep walkers and cyclists safe from traffic.  This will enable school pupils to cycle and walk to school, give our local workforce the option to cycle or walk to work and provide attractive leisure routes for all.  

Pilot Scheme

We are piloting a new scheme aimed at encouraging community members to use low carbon transport. We have a small (but expanding) fleet of eBikes for community members to trial, bringing about behavioural change and using their cars less often. 

Climate Action Strathaven is a new charity - everything we do is new to the organisation! There is no other local organisation aimed at tackling climate change. We work with everyone in our community, including businesses to help everyone to make sustainable choices. Aviva funding will help us to offer free eBike rentals, giving more local people an opportunity to try this new and exciting technology and reduce the use of their cars. Thirty five people will be able to trial the use of an eBike for 1 week if we raise £1,500. We will track how many of these (and our other service users) make a behavioural change towards reducing the use of their car.

Inspiration

"There is hope - I've seen it - but it does not come from the governments or corporations, it comes from the people. The people who have been unaware are now starting to wake up, and once we become aware we change. We can change and people are ready for change." Greta Thunberg, COP25 Madrid, December 2019

Climate Action Strathaven registered as a charity in Scotland in January 2020. Our purpose is to mobilise our local community, through raising awareness of the climate change emergency and making sustainable living options accessible to all.

We believe, like Greta, that people are ready for change. More than ready. Our aim is to raise funds to put into practice sustainable options quickly.

That's where you come in! Thank you for visiting our campaign page. Your donation will be spent on subsidising the use of our eBikes and promotional materials to raise awareness of the difference using an eBike rather than a car can make to carbon emissions, as well as people's physical and mental wellbeing. We will highlight the benefits to reducing congestion in and around the town will make to people's lives too. 

You are bringing us closer to net zero emissions and a better future - thank you.

Background Information

In the initial months since registering as a charity, Climate Action Strathaven have opened a community Eco Hub, opened a community bike repair shop, set up Scotland's first Karshare Car Club, launched e-bike rentals and an e-cargo bike delivery service. We still have SO much to do...

Local people's priorities have moulded our priorities and continue to do so: Sustainable Strathaven - A Manifesto. We have ambitious plans for community e-buses and an active travel superhighway to link Strathaven and the surrounding villages to larger towns, such as East Kilbride and Hamilton. Our retrofit project will achieve typical energy consumption reductions of around 80-90% per home! Community gardens and space for people to grow their own food are important too, as we work towards bringing various groups and individuals together who have this shared vision.

Climate Action Strathaven actively seeks funding from various sources to enable action to be taken quickly. The climate change emergency is just that - an emergency. We are committed to helping change happen quickly and to share our learning so as other communities can make change happen quickly in their local areas too.

Rewards

We want to thank you for your generosity so have set up the following rewards.

For a £6.00 donation we will send you this beautiful Bumble Bee pin badge:

For a £10.00 donation we will give you a special mention in one of our Aviva Community Fund social media posts on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn:

For a £15.00 donation we will send you a £20 voucher for the 'Flower Box Boutique' based in Strathaven! Lisa's bouquets are stunningly beautiful and we are extremely grateful to her for donating this reward. Please only choose this reward if you are living in or around Strathaven :)

For a £25.00 donation we will send you one of our sustainable bags for life with the Climate Action Strathaven logo:

For a £30.00 donation you will receive a week eBike rental of one of our fabulous fleet of Raleigh Motus Tour eBikes. Usual rental price is £40 per week!

AND for an amazing £40.00 donation or more you will receive a bumblebee pin badge, a social media shout out and a Tote Bag!!

Thank you for the support you have shown Climate Action Strathaven :)

This project successfully funded on 21st September 2021