Member Article

Funding support for Merseyside waste reduction projects

More than a dozen community projects working to cut food waste, and recycle or reuse everything from textiles to furniture have been selected to spearhead a £180,000 initiative across Merseyside and Halton.

The winners of Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority and Veolia Environmental Services 2014 Community Fund have been announced, with six Merseyside-wide schemes each receiving up to £20,000 to put their ideas in to action.

The six Merseyside and Halton wide projects are:

• Faiths4Change’s innovative Sew Many Trees project have been awarded £19,980 and will work with 24 community groups across the region to develop sewing skills and encourage reuse and repair of clothes and textiles helping to divert textiles from landfill. One key part of the project will be to create a ‘textile forest’ of decorative trees that will form part of a public artwork.

• Community Action Wirral’s Donate and Create Change project have been awarded £19,980 and will give local groups who would not normally be able to afford to rent retail space to have their own ‘charity shop for a week’. The initiative will help a range of groups to raise funds by selling pre-loved goods and ensure that resources are recycled and reused.

• Emmaus Merseyside’s Recycling Superstore have been awarded £14,500 to support their newly opened ‘Superstore’ in Seaforth that actively works with homeless people and gets them involved in recycling and reusing unwanted goods which are then sold to the public. The new facility is multi-functional and provides both accommodation and support services. The Community Fund grant will be used to encourage members of the public to get involved by volunteering, donating goods and becoming Superstore customers.

• Neighbourhood Services Co. have been awarded £18,618 for a project, based at Larkin’s Farm in Croxteth. The grant will help the project create a new environmentally friendly education facility reusing waste wood and will also offer school visits to Farm. The funding will also help develop existing projects involving people with special educational needs in practical recycling/reusing activities like making bird boxes.

• Bulky Bob’s Fresh Start project which has been awarded £20,000, builds on the success of its existing support work with agencies and charities across Merseyside and Halton such as PSS, Salvation Army and the YMCA. The Fresh Start project provides furniture for referred people and families in critical need.

• Children’s Food Trust Mersey Waste Munchers which has been awarded £19,610, will be building on its successful cooking project with school and community groups across the region. The project will help set up 15 new Mersey Waste Muncher cooking clubs that provide classes and hands on cooking experience on heathy eating and reducing food waste.

A further eight local, district-based projects will also share an additional £67,000.

MRWA Chairperson, Councillor Graham Morgan said: “The Community Fund is about reducing and preventing the amount of household waste we all produce but, in supporting these groups, will this year directly support whole communities and help everyone, from homeless people to vulnerable families, as well.”

MRWA Chief Executive Carl Beer said: “This year’s Fund will help some fantastic projects and make a real difference to the waste disposal habits of Merseyside homes.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Simon Malia .