Tackling climate change in Bradford is moving to the top of the agenda.

The Council has received more than £200,000 in Government funding for a campaign to change Bradfordians' attitudes to the global problem.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, has this week announced funding for 28 new projects.

The schemes totalling £3.5 million are designed to form part of an innovative way of raising awareness at a regional and local level of the urgent need to tackle climate change.

Clare Bussingham, the senior marketing officer involved in the campaign, said they would receive the money over two years to communicate the climate change message across the district. "What we want to get across is that every little thing helps. It could be as simple as not leaving the television on standby, turning the lights off when you leave the room, to recycling and car sharing."

This will be done through theatre, posters, a website, and printed materials. The first phase will focus on bringing the issue of climate change to people's attention and will include a survey to gauge opinion.

There will also be a schools programme to raise awareness of climate change amongst young people.

Councillor Anne Hawkesworth, portfolio holder for the environment, said: "Any funding is extremely useful and the most effective way of making changes is to get the message across that everyone has their part to play."

As well as the Council-run "Climate change - together we can beat it" project, another in the city has been successful in bidding for funding. Over the next three years radio station Bradford Community Broadcasting will receive £64,153 to communicate climate change issues to its listeners.

The project will incorporate radio features, programmes and jingles and will tackle a different theme each month.

Environment and Climate Change Minister Ian Pearson said it was important to develop new and exciting ways of communicating climate change.

"These grass-roots communication projects on climate change are vital to help change people's attitudes," he said.

The Climate Challenge Fund was set up to provide financial support for communications projects.

Defra received more than 500 applications from across England totalling nearly £60m of bids.

e-mail: jo.winrow@bradford.newsquest.co.uk