The Ski Club Members Green Award

ski1The Ski Club Members Green Award

2016 sees the launch of the Ski Club’s Inspire Awards, designed to continue the legacy of the Club’s founders back in 1903. The first of these is the Members Green Award which will offer funding of up to £1,000 for sustainability and environmental snow-sports projects. Open to all Ski Club Members, the award will use money from the 50p membership levy and follows on from the Club’s previous Respect the Mountain campaign.ski2

Launched to coincide with the Climate Coalition’s #showthelove campaign, the Members Green Award will be handed out in two-month cycles throughout the year, with the first award being made at the end of April. Application forms can be downloaded here – just tell us in under 1,000 words the outline of your project and how the money will make a difference.

With news that 2015 was the warmest year on record the clamour for action is growing ever stronger. Some good progress was made during the COP21 Conference in Paris, with nations from across the world agreeing to limit global warming to a maximum of 2C, but more needs to be done and the Ski Club is aiming, through our Members Green Award, to be a part of this change.

We will look at all applications, so whatever the size of your project – do get in touch. Whether you’re organising a litter pick up in the Cairngorms, planting trees at your local dry slope or carrying out fieldwork for university abroad then we want to hear from you.

Here are a few examples to help get your brains whirring and to show you the kind of activities we’re looking to fund:

Clean Ups

Numerous volunteer parties head out to mountains across the world to clear the‘leftovers’ from the ski season – whether this is cigarette butts, lost ski poles or broken fencing. For example, last year the Ski Club donated money to the Scottish organisation Save Our Snow to help with the removal of decades of rubbish build up on the iconic Meall a’ Bhuiridh at Glencoe. Over four skip loads of old steel, cables and detritus were removed thanks to a team of enthusiastic volunteers.

http://www.saveoursnow.com/index.php/2015/09/04/glencoe-mountain-clean-up/

School/University Research Projectsski3

Funding is available from the Ski Club to fund field work and research into the environmental impacts of the ski industry. Whether you’re heading to the Alps to research the impacts of artificial snow on mountain plants or simply down to your local dry slope to look at water usage, then get in touch. We’ll look at applications of all levels.

ski4Doctorate/Funded Research

If you’re looking further ahead in the academic world, and are aiming to secure funding for high-level research then also let us know. Numerous studies are out there assessing the link between the ski industry and environmental impact, but if you’re keen to add to this research then let us know, as the Members Green Award is hoping to make a long-lasting positive impact in this sector. Some excellent examples can be found in Swiss researcher Christian Rixen’s book.

So whatever you’re looking to do, please get in touch by filling out the simple application form which can be downloaded at www.skiclub.co.uk.

#showthelove

ski5Between February 1st and Valentine’s Day on the 14th, the UK’s largest group of people dedicated to action on climate change, Climate Coalition, are turning hearts green to raise awareness for their plan to have 100% clean energy within a generation. Their combined supporter base covers over 15 million people in the UK, almost a quarter of the total population, and incorporates organisations such as Christian Aid, Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, the National Trust, Oxfam, the RSPB, Unicef, the Woodland Trust and WWF.