Thousands of pounds requested for environmental schemes
Councillors are due to hear that funding is being sought for Live Here, Love Here schemes and the Eco Schools project
Tens of thousands of pounds has been requested from council for a series of environmental projects.
The Operations Committee of Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council is due to hear this week that Live Here Love Here delivers a range of Northern Ireland-wide environmental initiatives, which council has supported for many years. The initiatives include Adopt a Spot; Big Spring Clean, LHLH litter awareness media campaigns, Community Awards, Connecting Communities events, Healthy Oceans Healthy Minds and an annual report on public attitude towards litter.
A report said that the council and the local community benefit from all these initiatives, as well as the Small Grants Scheme which provides grants of £500 to £3000 to local groups delivering practical environmental improvement projects. While 20% of the funding is retained by LHLH to administer their overall programme, 80% is distributed directly to community projects within the council area. In addition, LHLH has secured £1.5 million National Lottery funding, and in partnership with Inspire, will be delivering the Climate Minds NI programme, which is expected to start in early 2027 and will ‘further enhance environmental engagement and wellbeing initiatives across Northern Ireland’.
In 2026/27, council contributed £26,250, with funding spilt equally between LHLH’s core community engagement programme and its Small Grant Scheme. LHLH has requested continuation of the current funding arrangement for 2027/28 with an inflationary increase 3.13% with a total annual contribution of £27,072. The report said that the financial provision for the funding support has been included in the 2027-28 estimates. It has been recommended that council continues financial support of the Live Here Love Here programme in 2027-28 to a value of £27,072.
Another report said that Live Here Love Here co-ordinates the Eco-Schools Programme which aims to combine pupils’ learning with action to improve the environmental performance of the school.
A report said: "The Eco-Schools Programme is extremely popular across the Borough with 16,120 pupils reached in schools with active green flags. As of June 20206, 59% (44 schools) in Antrim and Newtownabbey have an active Green Flag, a healthy increase from 54% in June 2025. Our Council area now has seven Ambassador schools supporting other schools and demonstrating excellence in environmental education. This is a strong indicator of excellence, the highest number of Ambassador schools in any other council area is four. The Eco-Schools programme has undergone significant enhancement in recent years, informed by feedback from participating schools and delivery partners.
"The introduction of the myEARTH platform has streamlined the application process, making participation more accessible and reducing administrative burden for schools. In addition, the programme has strengthened engagement through the delivery of a more interactive award ceremony and expanded suite of educational workshops and resources aligned to the curriculum."
Last year, £11,400 in financial support was agreed for the 2026/27 academic year, which provided 'a vital environmental education role for council and included a dedicated Field Officer who supported schools and delivered workshops on waste, recycling, biodiversity and climate change'. The funding request for 2027/28 includes two funding options - to support of the Eco-Schools Programme at a cost of £12,775, which includes Eco-Schools programme and award ceremony planning and delivery plus bespoke environmental education package including up to 60 hours of premium workshops direct to schools and additional structured Field Officer support to schools for Green Flag applications. The second option is to support of the Eco-Schools Programme at a cost of £5,665 which includes Eco-Schools programme and award ceremony planning and delivery.
The report said: "As members will be aware, the Eco-Schools Programme is part funding by DAERA. Additional DAERA funding (at no extra cost to Councils) will provide access to other Eco-Schools resources including Climate Ready Classrooms and new water quality workshops and teaching resources called Yah to Lough Neagh. Given the success of the Eco-Schools programme throughout the Borough and the significant number of schools already benefiting from the funding supplied by council, officers would recommend Option 1, £12,775 as this provides the best for value for money and the ongoing provision of support to schools. This cost has been included in the estimates for 2027-28.”