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Welcome to the August edition of the CN28 newsletter! Read on for the latest updates, highlights and opportunities for to get involved in climate action in Nottingham City 💚
In this edition:
- Upcoming sustainability grants for Nottingham organisations 💡
- You're Invited: Green Meadows Festival – Final Celebration! 🌿
- An unexpected local consequence of climate change🌳
- Upcoming events in Nottingham🌞
- Did You Know? 🏠
If there's anything you would like to hear about in future newsletters, get in touch.
Building on the success of recent grants aimed at assisting local businesses to reduce their carbon footprint, Nottingham City Council has recently launched a Business Decarbonisation Grant.
Funded through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF), the grant provides a source of funding for businesses in Nottingham to reduce their energy related spend and carbon emissions. This will allow businesses in the city to:
- Reduce their operating costs
- Become more competitive, resilient and productive
- Potentially safeguard and create jobs through improved profitability and reinvestment of cost savings
- Become a more environmentally friendly business
The grant supports businesses to invest in carbon reduction technologies, products and services that will directly reduce their energy consumption, by offering a financial incentive to support and promote their investments. The grant scheme is designed to allow businesses to invest in the short term for their longer-term sustainability and support Nottingham to achieve our net zero goals.
The maximum grant available is £10,000. The grant will support up to 50% of project costs, the remaining funds being provided by the applicant business.
More information can be found on the Nottingham City Council Website.
Nottingham City Council has launched a grant funded through its UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) to support organisations in the city to help households to reduce the impact of the increased cost of living, particularly the rising cost of household energy bills.
The Winter Support Grant is designed to support projects that deliver one or both of the following outcomes.
- Households receiving support that helps reduce the burden of the cost of living.
- Households supported to take up energy efficiency measures
The grant is aimed at community-based organisations and public bodies with a proven track record of supporting local communities.
The funding can support organisations to provide energy advice to households and/or provide energy efficient products that will help households reduce their energy costs.
The minimum grant available is £3,000 and the maximum £7,000.
The closing date for applications is 21st September 2025.
More information can be found on the Nottingham City Council Website.
With the launch of new government funding schemes, scams are unfortunately becoming more common. Our partners at Nottingham Energy Partnership have put together this handy The Scam Spotter Guide to help the residents of Nottingham, it contains:
- Red flags to watch out for
- How to identify a legitimate Government scheme
- How to check if a contractor is trustworthy
- What to do if you have been scammed
If in doubt, don’t agree or sign to anything and call Nottingham Energy Partnership on 0115 985 9057 or use their online form: Improve your Home Today — Nottingham Energy Partnership
 Come along to the final Green Meadows Festival, a vibrant celebration of community action, sustainability, and climate resilience. After five amazing years, this last edition promises to be the most interactive yet!
The festival is happening on Saturday 6th September from 12-4pm at Queens Walk Recreation Ground. Entry is free and the event is suitable for the whole family 👨👩👧👦
What’s On:
- Live entertainment, DJ set & drumming circle
- DIY workshops: build planters, coat racks & slow cookers
- Free cycle repairs, toy swap, refill station & upcycling stalls
- Eco-crafts: wildflower seed bombs, plant dyeing & foraging
- Science fun with Saffron Science making potato batteries
- Free food (register early for a voucher!)
Have your say:
With funding for the Green Meadows project set to end in 2026, they're inviting people to join the conversation on what comes next for the project’s legacy and help shape climate action in Nottingham. See the Green Meadows website to have your say.
Click here to reserve your free food voucher & see full details of the festival.
Let’s help make this final festival unforgettable. Bring your friends, family & neighbours – everyone’s welcome!
 Photo by Luke Galloway on Unsplash
As temperatures soared to over 30⁰ again in Nottingham last week, we all felt the impacts of the latest heatwave. Whilst some of the impacts of our increasingly hotter summers are well known, such as droughts and impacts on human health, there is one lesser considered impact – the impact on our nature and wildlife.
The Major Oak at Sherwood Forest is thought to be around 800-1,200 years old and was already considered an ancient tree over 300 years ago in 1710. According to legend, it once provided shelter for iconic Nottingham outlaw Robin Hood himself. Now standing tall as the centrepiece at Sherwood Forest, it is a tree of great cultural and historical importance.
However, the heatwaves over the past few summers have caused great stress for the tree. In hot dry summers, all of the trees in Sherwood Forest will be under drought stress, but for the Major Oak, which is already struggling to take water up through its roots, this is a huge challenge which needs significant human intervention to overcome. To protect the beloved tree, the RSPB have installed a specialised irrigation equipment which has already delivered over 3,000 litres of water to the tree’s thirsty roots.
The Major Oak will survive this latest heatwave however, the challenge to nature reserves is only set to increase as extreme weather becomes more frequent.
As heatwaves become more frequent the impact on our wildlife will continue to grow and we could risk loosing some of our most beloved nature and species 🍃
To help your local wildlife during hot weather, follow the tips below:
- Plant wildflower seed mixes in your garden to help creatures like bees and butterflies through the summer 🌼
- Keep your bird bath topped up to help birds cool off and stay hydrated 🐦
- Put a shallow bowl of water on the ground for hedgehogs to drink. Additionally, add some stones to allow bees and other insects to drink 🐝
- Avoid trimming back hedges and overgrown areas of your garden to provide areas of shade for wildlife 🦡
- Water your garden or outdoor plant pots in the early morning or late evening to prevent evaporation in the midday sun 🌇
- If you don't have a garden, you could consider having a window box or window bird feeder to do your part for nature 🪟
For further tips on protecting wildlife during heatwaves see the WWF website here.
For further information on The Major Oak see the RSPB booklet here.
🚲 Cycling Festival hosted by British Cycling - Friday 29th August, 1-4pm, Harvey Haddon
This free activity is suitable for the whole family. The afternoon will include cycle circuits, adult learn to ride sessions, a puncture repair workshop and more! There's no need to book but, if possible, please bring your own bike and helmets. If you don't have these there will be some available to borrow.
Get more information on the Transport Nottingham Website.
🌲 Nottingham Green Meadows Festival - 6th September, 2025 at Queens Walk Recreation Ground
The Green Meadows Festival is a one day event celebrating green living, local and national climate action, sharing practical skills and knowledge on climate resilience, and inspiring you to join the movement. The event is completely FREE to attend and suitable for all ages. Enjoy engaging hands-on activities, delicious free food, lively music, fun games, and a showcase of inspiring local initiatives that tackle climate change locally.
Get more information at the Green Meadows Festival website.
🌳 Nottingham Green Festival - 14th September, 2025 at the Arboretum
The Green Festival is a free event organised by volunteers and local community organisations. This fun-filled family-friendly event also has a serious intent - to share skills and knowledge to tackle the ongoing climate crisis, biodiversity loss and other environmental concerns.
Get more information at the Nottingham Green Festival Website
🎥 Catch a film at Mammoth - A Climate Action Cinema, Broad Street Nottingham
Upcoming shows include:
🌍 Architecton - 30th August, 7pm
The latest film from master documentarian Victor Kossakovsky (Gunda, Aquarela) is an epic, intimate, and poetic meditation on architecture.
🌍 Power Station - 5th September, 7pm
Inspired by lockdown mutual aid initiatives, artist-activists Hilary Powell and Dan Edelstyn decided to turn their street into an energy-generating powerhouse – a prototype for a new way of living, with the hope of galvanising a wider push towards sustainable alternatives. Power Station charts their turbulent journey.
For more information see the Mammoth Website.
Nottingham City Council's Housing Strategy Team publish Nouse News, an online newsletter covering activity and action from around the housing sector. Their summer edition features progress made on reducing emissions in the domestic sector and information on proposed new energy efficiency standards for social housing.
Did you know that around 30% of Nottingham's emissions come from housing? The fab work carried out by the Housing Team helps us reduce this and make progress towards our CN28 goal 💃
Connect with us on social media for the latest news 
You can follow CN28 on:
Facebook: Carbon Neutral Nottingham
and X: @CN2028
to stay up to date!
Got a local climate action story or opportunity you'd like to share? Get in touch with us at climatechange@nottinghamcity.gov.uk
See you next month!
The Carbon Neutral Policy Team
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