Scottish environmental charity gets funding boost
A Scottish environmental charity will benefit from part of £1.8 million of funding raised from carrier bag charges in Scotland and Wales.
Keep Scotland Beautiful was named along with Keep Wales Tidy to receive the money after a vote from thousands of Tesco customers.
The Scottish levy is expected to be worth around £1 million and the Welsh levy around £800,000.
The partnerships will run for an initial 12 month period commencing October 1, 2014.
In June, Tesco gave the green light for charities and environmental organisations to submit proposals on how they would use the funds to help make a real difference for the environment and local communities.
120 organisations applied for the Scottish and Welsh partnerships, and they were whittled down to the five-strong shortlist.
Tesco customers were then asked to vote online for which charities or environmental organisations they thought would make the best use of the money.
Keep Scotland Beautiful has pledged to use the financial support to improve local environments all across Scotland.
The charity is already leading mass public involvement through its Clean Up Scotland campaign which is bringing together volunteers from across the country to take action to fight litter and improve their local environment.
Derek Robertson, chief executive of Keep Scotland Beautiful said: "This is fantastic news for Scotland and for our charity.
"It is hugely significant for the communities across the country that will now benefit from this financial support.
"We will use Tesco’s bag levy proceeds to support activities like Clean Up Scotland, and It’s Your Neighbourhood which enables local action to improve the environment, as well as Seaside Awards and Beautiful Scotland which celebrate and promote the very best environmental achievements.
"Every corner of Scotland can see the benefit of this partnership, and we look forward to working with many new groups and new communities to make their corner of Scotland cleaner, greener and more sustainable."
