EAST HULL PARTERSHIP CELEBRATES £800,000 LOTTERY WIN!

Environmental and Management Solutions (EMS) Ltd and partners are delighted to have been awarded over £800,000 from The Big Lottery’s Communities Living Sustainably Programme – one of only 12 awards nationally.

EMS Ltd in partnership with lead delivery organisations Preston Road NDC Ltd, Probe (Hull) Ltd and the local community have developed a winning proposal designed to help local people live more sustainably, by reducing their fuel costs and overall carbon footprint

The project entitled Green Prosperity will be run over a three-year period covering the Longhill and Southcoates East wards.

Green Prosperity will have a number of strands which include

Energy & Waste Reduction – Information surveys, one to one support and practical solutions to reduce fuel poverty, domestic energy costs and the production of waste.

Green Enterprise – Grass roots support for local people to create new green enterprises.

Food – In association with East Hull Community Farm to give practical support and advice to residents in growing their own produce and the development of a range of skills relating to sustainable lifestyles.

Green Homecare – An innovative approach designed to link supporting and caring for elderly/vulnerable people whilst offering green choices.

Eco House – A demonstration house developed and fitted by local people as a training/learning opportunity for local residents. The eco house will be used to demonstrate best practice and will encourage take up of energy saving measures/renewable technologies by the local and wider community.

Jan Boyd, Chief Executive of EMS Ltd said “We are delighted that Big Lottery has agreed to fund our proposal. We now have three years to really make a difference to the lives of residents living within the Longhill and Southcoates East wards.

Geoff Groom, Chief Executive of PRNDC Ltd said “This is marvellous news I am sure our project will go a long way to help residents cope with rising food and energy costs, rest assured we are fully committed to working with the community to bring about obvious change.”

Steve Alltoft, Managing Director of Probe Ltd reiterated the above by saying. “This is an exciting an innovative approach to improving the prosperity and well-being of the local communities and our partnership welcomes the opportunity to work with local people to achieve real change.”

THE BIRDS AND THE BEES MAKE HULL RESIDENTS GO GREEN

A wide ranging environmental scheme launches in Hull today that includes plans for local residents to keep chickens and bees to help fight the impact of soaring food prices.

The Green Prosperity project has today received £812,956 from the Big Lottery Fund to help over 20,000 residents of Southcoates East and Longhill to tackle rising food and energy bills. As well as people producing their own eggs and honey, the funding will be used for a number of other exciting elements including the building of a demonstration Eco house, fitted out by local people, to showcase a variety of energy saving measures.

A waste reduction scheme will help families cut costs through home information visits and has set the target of a five per cent reduction in the levels of domestic waste in the project area.

Jan Boyd, Chief Executive of Environmental and Management Solutions which will be delivering the Green Prosperity project, said: “This is a fantastic opportunity to work with local residents and partners to develop a range of projects bringing communities together to tackle inequalities.

“The Big Lottery Funding will make a huge difference and we aim to make every penny count in inspiring residents and supporting them to become sustainable.”

A total of 12 projects across England have today received up to £1million each from the Big Lottery Fund’s Communities Living Sustainably initiative which is focused on inspiring people to reap financial, environmental and health gains by adapting the way they live, work, and connect together.

Vanessa White, Big Lottery Fund Head of Region for Yorkshire and the Humber, said: “This project will help to make green and sustainable living like second nature for communities across Yorkshire and the Humber and go a long way towards helping people reduce their food and fuel costs.”

“With adverse weather affecting crops globally – which is likely to cause an increase in food prices in UK supermarkets*- and with fuel bills predicted to rise this winter, now is the time to encourage people to take small steps towards sustainable living at a local level which will help people cope with these added pressures during the recession.”

Supporting the groups each step of the way will be a partnership, led by Groundwork UK and including BRE, Federation of City Farms, Energy Savings Trust and nef. It will offer advice and guidance and also establish a learning support network to capture and share learning with other communities and inform the future development of investments of BIG’s Sustainable and Resilient Communities strategy. (www.communitieslivingsustainably.org.uk)

Communities Living Sustainably is part of the Big Lottery Fund’s £50m Sustainable and Resilient Communities strategy, which aims to encourage behaviour change among individuals and communities so they can cope better with the environmental, economic and social impacts of a changing climate. Vulnerable people, including those on low-incomes or older people, are less likely to cope with the negative effects of climate change such as floods, heat waves or severe cold weather.