The Scottish Government has backed the work of a Dundee charity with a £150,000 grant that will enable it to keep helping people across the city.
Since October 2013, Gate Church International has been leading a major carbon-saving project in the West End.
It has already invested more than £270,000 to help local residents identify how to make their homes more energy efficient and trained drivers on how to cut their carbon footprints.
The scheme has also given cooking lessons on how to reduce food waste and provided community placements for job seekers.
Funding from the Scottish Government’s Climate Challenge fund will enable the project to continue and develop.
In the first instance, the money will be used to launch a series of weekly events for the local community this summer.
They will include a community lunch serving soup made with locally grown ingredients, a play group for parents with young children and cooking classes.
All the events will be held in the new community caf on Greenfield Place and there will be the chance at each to make use of a free “swap shop”, designed to facilitate the reuse of used items such as toys, household goods and clothing.
The project’s overall aim is to promote behaviour changes that lead to low- carbon lifestyles within Dundee’s West End community.
Gate Church International also has hopes of becoming Scotland’s “greenest” church and the Climate Challenge Fund money will enable it to add to the extensive programme of energy efficiency measures at the Grade A-listed St Marks Church on Perth Road and at the community centre.
Solar panels were installed on the roof of the community centre to generate renewable energy but the funding will enable the church to go even further, with work on more energy efficiency measures starting in the summer.
It is expected that the improvements will be completed by March 2017.
The church was built in 1868 to the design of architect Frederick Thomas Pilkington and the measures will reduce the carbon footprint of the building and, in helping to protect its fabric, ensure that future generations will be able to enjoy this important piece of Scottish architecture.
The project manager at Gate Church International, James Anthony, said: “We are grateful to the Scottish Government for providing this additional funding and we are excited by the potential of our weekly community events launching this summer.
“The energy efficiency work which will be carried out to our buildings is all part of our goal to be Scotland’s greenest church.
“These improvements will also assist our ongoing efforts to provide facilities that are fit for the needs of modern community use.”