COMMUNITY RESOURCES

Active TRavel

Cycling Uk: Cycling UK works to make cycling better for people in Scotland through portfolio of programmes such as Rural Connections in the Scottish Borders which supportspeople to walk, wheel and cycle – for everyday journeys, leisure and adventure.

CoMoUK: CoMoUK is the national organisation for shared transport, a charity for promoting its social, economic and environmental benefits. Shared transport means schemes such as car clubs and bike share where people can use a mode of transport without having to own it.

CoMoUK have a set up the Scottish Shared Transport Knowledge Centre which offers useful resources for communities on developing shared transport schemes.

Borders Bikes: Bringing together cycling partners across the Borders and South of Scotland

Sustrans: provide advice, support and funding that makes it easier for people to walk, wheel and cycle for everyday journeys.

Borders Wheels: Borders Wheels is a charity based in the Scottish Borders, which provide Community Transport across the Borders from four locality bases: Berwickshire, Galashiels, Teviot and Tweed.  

The service is available for individuals who need help with transport and non-profit making community / voluntary groups. Borders Wheels exists to offer individuals, agencies and communities to access affordable travel.

Circular Economies

Circular Communities Scotland: The national membership network of reuse, repair and recycling charities. Offers representation as well as projects and programmes to support the third sector, in pursuit of zero waste.

The Share and Repair Network: Established and run by Circular Communities Scotland, the network aims to support existing, and to encourage the establishment of new sharing libraries and repair projects across the country.

The Tool Library: A lending library for tools, appliances, and garden machinery. Providing items that might not be practical to buy or store for personal use. As part of The General Store, Selkirk, they have workshop facilities to handle maintenance and electrical safety testing . Through sharing they aim to reduce the number of low-quality tools ending up in landfill, and help to save you money.

Revolve Knowledge Hub: The Revolve Reuse Knowledge Hub provides training and ongoing support to both new start-ups and long-established reuse businesses and supports the reuse sector to offer the best possible experience to customers looking to access second hand goods. The aim of the Revolve process is to mainstream reuse and encourage more people to ‘choose reused’. 

Circular Communities Toolkit: Scotland’s Towns Partnership and Zero Waste Scotland have worked together to develop this Circular Towns Toolkit. It features steps people can take to benefit from the sustainable possibilities in their own area. Read on for inspiring real-life case studies of towns and communities across Scotland and further afield who are doing just that. 

Zero Waste Scotland: Zero Waste Scotland is a not-for-profit environmental organisation funded by the Scottish Government.  They have a useful Knowledge Hub with a wealth of information to help us all accelerate and support Scotland’s just transition to zero waste and a circular economy.

Scottish Borders Council are trialling these new digital tools over the next year, which will help you stay informed about collections and recycling information. Check it out!

Levenseat : an educational resource for teachers and parents on all things recycling created in partnership with Scottish Borders Council. Perfect for schools and youth groups.

Home - Learn with Levenseat

The below are useful toolkits for schools from Zero Waste Scotland.

• Food waste

• Food waste monitoring toolkit

• Recycling

• Food waste recycling

• Litter 

• Circular Economy in Education

Food

HubBub Community Fridge Network: The Community Fridge Network is coordinated by Hubbub and brings together all UK based groups running a community fridge. It enables them to share knowledge, skills, ask questions and provide support to each other. Through the network Hubbub also offer free, comprehensive guidance on how to set up a fridge as well as tools covering everything you need, from posters to health and safety templates and more.

Too Good To Go: The ‘Too Good to Go’ Platform saves food waste by offering individuals the opportunity to collect ‘Too Good To Go’ Parcels and Surprise Bags from participating stores.

Nourish Scotland: Nourish Scotland is a charity focusing on food policy and practice. They undertake evidence-based advocacy, informed by lived experiences of those at the sharp edge of current food problems. A useful resource is their local Food Map which you can find here

Wellbeing

We are Change Mental Health (changemh.org) Change offer a variety of resources including training and mental health support. The National Rural Mental Health Forum is a strong dedicated network of over 230 organisations from third, private and public sectors, with an outreach to over 500,000 people in rural Scotland.

The Forum drives change to enable rural people to be open about their mental health. It creates a solid evidence base for what works to improve people’s lives and develops a programme to influence policy makers to channel resources in ways that bring positive change through a network of rural organisations across Scotland. Keep an eye on the website for rural mental health training opportunities!

Climate Change Health Impacts

A new report has been published about the health impacts of climate change in the Scottish Borders. This has been produced in partnership with Public Health Scotland and other local and national organisations. You can download the full report HERE

Energy

About us – Sustainable Selkirk Sustainable Selkirk is a project delivered by Selkirk Regeneration and is funded by the National Lottery Community Fund. Its key objectives are to reduce Selkirk and surrounding areas carbon footprint by;

• providing advice to local residents and businesses regarding practical and cost-effective ways to reduce their energy and resource consumption

• promoting sustainable modes of transport

• increasing public awareness of both the causes and consequences of climate change.

Youth

Keep Scotland Beautiful: A practical organisation focusing on inspiring and supporting informed action through our programmes and activities. Responsible for delivering the Eco Schools program they have lots of useful resources for learning around Climate Change (Eco Schools). They also deliver a range of training to help businesses, educators and young people, organisations and individuals across Scotland to understand the climate, nature and litter emergencies and respond to the risks, responsibilities and opportunities ahead. Training is offered at a variety of levels of training, from short introductory sessions through to advanced accredited courses

2050 Climate Group: 2050 Climate Group exists to empower young people to lead climate action towards a just and sustainable society. They deliver a number of projects including their Young Leaders Development Program and Leaders network.

Young Sea Changers Scotland: A Scottish charity, founded in 2022, on a mission to amplify the voices of young people in the decisions affecting Scotland’s marine environment.

They do this by supporting young people to take action for our shared seas, through training, resources and advocacy opportunities. Directly engaging with marine policymakers and stakeholders. Organising events that bring young people together for discussions, idea exchange, inspiration, and mutual support. Facilitating an online platform to allow young people to connect and collaborate with each other, share resources, and stay up-to-date on current marine policy issues.

Learning for Sustainability: Scotland’s Regional Centre of Expertise on Education for Sustainable Development.

They offer a wide range of professional learning opportunities for teachers and educators in Scotland to enhance their practice by incorporating LfS into their educational settings.

Landuse

Scotland The Big Picture Resources and information on Rewilding

Training

Borders Community Action (BCA): The third sector interface in the Scottish Borders, BCA offer support and representation for, community groups, voluntary organisations, social enterprises and individual volunteers. They have a very comprehensive training and events calendar which you can find here.

volunteering

Borders Community Action have a page dedicated to to develop and promote volunteering for all, improve volunteering opportunities, remove barriers to participation, and monitor the success of volunteering for the Scottish Government. BCA work in partnership with many volunteer-involving organisations and projects, to promote good practice, recruit and place volunteers and to raise the awareness of the importance of volunteering.

If you would like to display a volunteering opportunity on our news page then please send us an email to sbcan@sup.org.uk

General

Climate Cafe: A network offering resources to support Climate Cafe Events, and a map to share your Climate Cafe Event.