Eco-focused social enterprise Fuel Change catalysing growth with six-figure funding boost

Scottish social enterprise Fuel Change, which works with 16- to 24-year olds to tackle the climate crisis, has secured a £500,000 funding package from the Scottish Government to help it reach even more young people.

The not-for-profit organisation aims to engage with those in that age bracket from all walks of life, and empower them to help create a carbon-neutral future.

Its ethos is that the climate crisis can only be averted if every young person is actively playing a part, and it has already brought 500 people from this demographic together with businesses to develop low-carbon solutions to real-life problems, including the recent Grangemouth Net Zero Challenge.

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It said its progress will now be accelerated with the Scottish Government funding, which will be used to scale up the organisation. Fuel Change’s chief executive David Reid said the Scottish Government funding “will kick-start and support a ground-breaking programme which could have a global impact”.

From left: Jennifer Tempany, co-founder of Fuel Change; challenge participant Amy Geurts; Michael Matheson; challenge participants Shaun Mcleod and Erin Henderson; and David Reid. Picture: contributed.From left: Jennifer Tempany, co-founder of Fuel Change; challenge participant Amy Geurts; Michael Matheson; challenge participants Shaun Mcleod and Erin Henderson; and David Reid. Picture: contributed.
From left: Jennifer Tempany, co-founder of Fuel Change; challenge participant Amy Geurts; Michael Matheson; challenge participants Shaun Mcleod and Erin Henderson; and David Reid. Picture: contributed.
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Net Zero and Energy Secretary Michael Matheson announced the capital boost at a Fuel Change showcase at Scotland’s Climate Ambition Zone in Glasgow, as the social enterprise launched its mission to be active in “every school, every workplace, everywhere”.

Mr Matheson said: “Our just transition to net zero must be a collective effort… This is why the Grangemouth Net Zero challenge initiative has been so inspiring – it has empowered young people to push themselves to understand some of these challenges and to think about creative solutions for us all.

“I am therefore delighted at plans to expand the programme and pleased to confirm that the Scottish Government will support Fuel Change over the coming year, helping them to scale up and continue to provide a platform for young people to become truly involved, and inspire them to develop low-carbon solutions to the challenges faced by industry.”

The main aim of Fuel Change is to help hit the target of a low-carbon Scotland by 2045 by asking young people to create "real solutions”, which can be implemented by companies and potentially across the world.

More than 500 young people from companies including BP, Forth Ports and Balfour Beatty have already taken part in real-life climate challenges over the past year with Fuel Change.

Circular economy

Teams work with mentors to come up with solutions to carbon issues set by businesses such as Ineos, with topics ranging from sustainable manufacturing and plastics to heat energy and the circular economy. It was announced last month that Fuel Change had teamed up with Scottish motor retailing giant Arnold Clark, for example.

The social enterprise recently launched a pilot programme with schools across Scotland, which it aims to roll out to 10,000 such organisations over the coming years.

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Mr Reid said that when Fuel Change started out, it found that in terms of tackling the climate crisis, 10 per cent of young people were engaged, “a fifth were keen to do something but didn’t know how, another fifth thought it was someone else’s problem – and the remaining half were completely disengaged and not inspired”.

He added: “Our approach is different – it is one of optimism, led by the mainstream of our next generation who bring faith, hope and spark to the table, all delivered with a dose of good Scottish gallus.”

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