Fife Climate Hub Award Funding for a Composting Toilet, Wormery and Pathogen Testing

Fife Climate Hub has awarded £70,000 to 35 local community groups, supporting grassroots projects that tackle the climate emergency while strengthening communities across Fife, including The Sanctuary Garden.

The Sanctuary Garden has been awarded funding to purchase a composting toilet, not particularly glamorous, but a fundamental facility for a community garden. Eats Rosyth have two composting toilets that they have been in use for 7 years and based on their experience, the same model will be ordered for our garden in January 2026.

The fund also allows a wormery to setup that allows the ‘solid’ from the composting toilet to be added to the top of the wormery and the resulting vericompost will be tested for pathogens.

“Achieving Pathogen Stabilization Using Vermicomposting” by Bruce R. Eastman, published in BioCycle (Journal of Composting and Recycling), November 1999, pages 62-64. The paper details a two-year testing project in Florida where vermicomposting reduced levels of key pathogens—including fecal coliform, Salmonella, enteric viruses, and helminth ova—by three to four times within 72 to 144 hours. This is below the thresholds required for EPA Class A biosolids classification, making the material suitable for unrestricted land application.

In December 2025, Fife Climate Hub awarded £70,000 in Seed and Development funding to 35 community organisations. This major investment will help groups across Fife deliver practical action for climate and nature, while also supporting community wellbeing and resilience.

Now in its third year, the funding forms part of the Community Climate Grants scheme, a joint initiative between Fife Climate Hub and Climate Action Fife. In 2025, the Seed and Development Fund was significantly boosted by £50,000 from the UK Government’s Shared Prosperity Fund, in addition to the usual £20,000 provided by the Scottish Government.

Alice Henderson, Fife Climate Hub Manager, said:

“It is a real privilege to be part of a Fife-wide community that values climate action so highly. We received a record number of applications from groups taking action on climate, and additional support from Fife Council increased the funding pot by 250%. The quality of applications was exceptionally high, making the panel’s decisions very difficult. Alongside grants, we also offer a funded peer-to-peer learning programme that helps build capacity in community groups, independent of them receiving a grant.”

Full list of organisations which received funding:

• Saline and Steelend Fabulous Food Pantry
• Lucky Ewe
• Aberdour Climate Action Network
• Greener Kirkcaldy
• Kinghorn Community Land Association (KCLA)
• East Wemyss C.A.F.E. (Community Access For Everyone)
• The Ecology Centre
• Blue Sky Community Aid
• North Queensferry Climate Action Network
• The Sanctuary Garden
• Inverkeithing Community Garden
• Vegan Fife
• CLEAR Buckhaven and Methil
• CLP Nature Action
• Touch Community Garden Ltd
• Transition University of St Andrews
• St Andrews Environmental Network
• Footprint East Neuk
• Seafield Environmental Group
• FEAT Trading Community Interest Company
• Big Green Market
• Methilhill Childrens Community Initiative
• The Hive Kirkcaldy
• Burnturk and Kettlehill Community Trust
• Kirkcaldy Islamic Centre
• Dunnikier Country Park Development Group
• Plant Based Fife
• Over Rankeilour Walled Garden
• Forgan Arts Centre
• EATS Rosyth
• Fife Seed Library
• Floral Action Burntisland
• Fairway Fife
• Nourish Support Centre
• Levenmouth Foodbank Community Support Project