People in West Dunbartonshire with bright business ideas that could tackle the climate emergency are being urged to apply for funding.

A new programme has been launched which offers between £30,000 and £50,000 to social enterprises responding to environmental issues.

Delivered by social enterprise agency Firstport and funded by the Scottish Government, the programme called 'Boost It' will help enterprises strengthen their businesses so they can successfully sustain trading.

Boost It awards will be offered as ‘repayable grants’, with recipients paying back a small proportion of their profits over a period of three years.

All repayments will go back into the programme, allowing Firstport to support more social enterprise ideas to get off the ground.

Josiah Lockhart, chief executive of Firstport, said: “We are excited to be opening this new, innovative fund.

"Having delivered the Social Entrepreneurs Fund for 10 years, we know there is often a funding gap after our two existing levels of awards.

"Social entrepreneurs have realised their ideas have potential and have decided to turn them into their full-time jobs, but they are still far from achieving sustained trading.

"In addition, many times social entrepreneurs do not feel ready, or confident enough, to access social investment."

Mr Lockhart said Boost It fills this gap by providing social entrepreneurs with a further level of support.

He added: "The climate emergency is one of the most pressing issues of our generation and we aim to unlock the potential of Scottish social enterprises to address this challenge.”

Applications for Boost It are open until February 3 and interested applicants are encouraged to visit the Firstport website for more information.