ScottishPower celebrated the tenth anniversary of its Green Energy Trust by announcing the charity had given away £1 million of funding over the last decade.

Environment Minister Michael Russell MSP was guest of honour at the birthday event at Castlemilk Stables just outside Glasgow – happily coinciding with World Environment Day in June this year.

The stables, an impressive estate belonging to the Stuart Family dating back to the mid 15th century, provided the backdrop to the celebrations. The stable block was used for many years by Glasgow City Council until it fell into complete disrepair in 1999.

Glasgow Building and Preservation Trust restored the building at a total cost of £4 million. The ScottishPower Green Energy Trust awarded the stables a grant to install ground source heat pumps.

The Environment Minister said: “In the last 10 years the Green Energy Trust has made a sizeable contribution to raising awareness of environment issues across the country, including the funding of projects to the tune of over £1 million.

“Today's anniversary is particularly fitting on World Environment Day and I look forward to hearing more about the work of the Trust.”

The Trust, which aims to help reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and combat climate change, can provide up to 50 per cent of the renewable element of the project cost, up to a maximum of £25,000.

So far, it has given grants to over 90 projects across the UK. Alison McKean, Head of Environment for ScottishPower, said: “We are delighted to be celebrating ten years of the Green Energy Trust and we were really pleased that the Environment Minister was able to join us, especially on World Environment Day. “We have been amazed at the range – and scale – of the projects we have been able to help over the years with the Green Energy Trust and we have invited many of them to come and join in the party with us.

“We have seen everything from solar panels being installed in what is thought to be England’s oldest church to the Green Giant educational project in Pembrokeshire to a renewable heating system for one of Scotland’s last remaining outdoor swimming pools.”

One group in particular which is indebted to the Green Energy Trust is the New Cumnock Environmental Regeneration Volunteers (NERV) who run the village’s outdoor swimming pool. The village is proud to have one of the few remaining outdoor swimming pools in Scotland as its centerpiece.

The pool is heated by green, energy-efficient heat-store air pumps, which the organisers were able to buy thanks to a £20,000 grant from the Trust.

The group’s Jimmy Carmichael said: “ScottishPower’s involvement has been really significant. “Our bills and running costs were very high due to rises in energy costs but the grant from ScottishPower has meant that not only are we now able to run it much more effectively, we are also able to do our bit for the environment as there’s less emissions.

“It means a great deal to us that a large company like ScottishPower would consider a community group as small as ourselves for grants like this.

“We do everything in our power each year to keep the momentum up, such as fundraising to keep the pool open, so the support from ScottishPower has made a real impact.”

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