A £100,000 plan has been unveiled to help Barrhead do its bit in the battle against food waste.

Every year 380,000 tonnes of food and drink are thrown away which didn’t have to be, costing Scots more than £1 billion.

But community group Auchenback Active hopes to ensure Barrhead pulls its weight in the drive to reduce that figure with a new educational initiative funded by the Scottish Government’s Climate Challenge Fund.

The Auchenback Active food growing initiative was awarded £96,443.27 which will be put towards developing a community learning network for residents to share knowledge and practical skills to address food wastage.

Staff at Auchenback Resource Centre have been assigned a patch of land at the new Arthurlie Family Centre by the local authority as a base for the project – which includes a food growing site.

Building work is to start in October, and if the project is successful could help reduce Barrhead’s carbon footprint.

Barrhead schoolchildren are set to play a key role in the delivery of the project, alongside a number of partners including Barrhead Housing Association and Voluntary Action East Renfrewshire.

Brian Connelly, Auchenback Active chairman, said: “This is a fantastic opportunity for the community of Auchenback to become involved in practical activities such as food growing and cooking, which would inform, engage and build knowledge and skills on issues relating to food consumption and food waste that reduce the impact of climate change.”

David Gunn, Climate Challenge Fund manager at Keep Scotland Beautiful, said: “We look forward to supporting Auchenback Active as they implement their project and empowering many more communities to take action on climate change.

“We see it as part of our work to make Scotland clean, green and more sustainable.”

Since the Climate Challenge Fund was introduced in 2008, 622 communities across Scotland have been awarded grants totalling £85.8 million to run projects which address the impacts of climate change.