This week we have risen to the challenge to prove that you don’t need to spend a fortune to make tasty meals. We have completed five cooking on budget sessions with our willing participants ranging in age from 3 to 18 years old.

The average cost of each meal is 80 pence per portion with the pizza recipe working out at 40p.

Pictures below are a sample of what residents have been cooking this week. All of the meals are cooked using a single pan.

If you are interested in hosting a Cooking on a Budget session just drop us a line and we can arrange a date.

Sometimes it seems like a lifetime since a cold day in 2009 when EMS came to life, but mostly it feels like the blink of an eye. We have delivered a whole range of projects way to many to list in full but I will give you a taste of one or four of them.

Neighbourhood Management: Working with resident/communities to ensure the services that are delivered to neighbourhoods meet their needs. A very lively but ultimately rewarding project to see services providers and residents working together to make “Preston Road a place where everyone would want to live.”

Community Allotments: We now have four allotments with 54 plots and four community gardens. But it all started with on Ryehill Grove with a garden funded by Ward Councillors on land donated by Preston Road NDC. I am pleased to say the garden is flourishing and is being maintained by The Eden Project and students from Archbishop Sentamu Academy. The allotments are only offered to residents within walking distance to the site and in some locations we even have waiting lists!

Energy Efficiency: We have been working with residents for the last four years to provide easy but effective energy advice and support all with the aim of reducing utility bills. We have also fitted over 500 energy monitors so residents are able to see how much electric items cost to run in their homes. The average saving is about £200 with one resident saving a whopping £1000!

Hull Community Shop: We work with residents who become HCS Members and provide them on a weekly basis with affordable food. Surplus produce is collected from Tesco, Marks & Spencer’s, One Stop Marfleet and Sainsbury’s Local. The money generated by residents buy the surplus produce is used to purchase tins to supplement the food on offer.

We would not have been able to deliver the above projects and all of the other work we undertake without help from our partners and our extremely dedicated EMS Board of Trustees, so huge thanks to all involved.

Finally I would like to thank all of our volunteers and the residents we have engaged with over the last seven years, we would not be here without you.

So happy birthday EMS and here’s too many more!

Jan Boyd
Founder and Chief Executive of EMS Ltd

We work with residents, community groups and local businesses to alleviate food and fuel poverty.

We need people who can help us achieve our mission and ensure the organisation is effectively managed. You would need to be able to make a commitment to the Charity and devote the necessary (meetings are held bi-monthly in east Hull) time as well as have strategic vision, independent judgement, an ability to think creatively and a willingness to speak your mind. Ideally, the new trustees will also have skills and experience in one or more of the following areas:

We are particularly keen to achieve a more diverse board of trustees, and we welcome applications from all sections of the community

To find out more about the charity see our website www.emsyorkshire.co.uk

For an informal discussion about the role please contact Jan Boyd on 01482 709810 or jan@emsyorkshire.co.uk

Environmental and Management Solutions Limited (EMS Ltd) in Hull has been awarded a funding boost of £5,000 through the Yorkshire Bank Spirit of the Community Awards to recognise the important role it plays in the local community.

Yorkshire Bank announced the substantial donations to voluntary groups at an awards ceremony in Leeds on 22 June 2016 to recognise the charities and not for profit organisations which are going the extra mile.
Fifteen community groups across England were selected to share funding of £75,000 to make a real difference in their local area including EMS Ltd in Hull.

EMS Ltd is an independent charity working with residents, community groups and local businesses to alleviate food and fuel poverty. The organisation was awarded £5,000 to develop an unused green space into nine community allotment plots for single people or families to manage.

Now in its fourth year, the awards programme aims to recognise charities and not for profit organisations for the invaluable contributions they make to their local communities. Groups were invited to enter the awards programme under one of three categories; projects which help people to have a healthy relationship with money, projects which help people to improve their local environment and projects which help people into employment.
Debbie Crosbie, Chief Operating Officer at Clydesdale and Yorkshire Banks and Chair of the Yorkshire and Clydesdale Bank Foundation, said: “Yorkshire Bank’s Spirit of the Community Awards aim to recognise and support the vital contribution that voluntary and charitable projects make to their local communities. This is our opportunity to say thank you to the incredible community groups across England for the inspiring work they undertake.

“All of the successful organisations are extremely deserving winners which have been recognised for their role in their local communities with these awards from Yorkshire Bank.”

Jan Boyd, Founder and CEO of Environmental and Management Solutions Limited, added: “I am very proud to accept this award on behalf of EMS Ltd. Winning the award means we can now put extra resources into developing another community allotment site so residents can grow healthy, organic food, and make new friends right on their doorsteps. The award also recognises the hard work of the EMS team and our tireless volunteers as we continue our fight to alleviate food and fuel poverty.”

We have a few “Warm Home Packs” available (male and female varieties). To help older people keep warm this winter. Over 19,000 households in Hull suffer from fuel poverty and cold homes can lead to a number of medical ailments and exacerbate current illnesses.

The pack consists of a fleecy blanket, a box of cup-a-soup, a thermos cup, socks and a hot water bottle. We will also provide the recipient with a top tips for staying warm this winter guide.

If you know anyone over the age of 65 who would benefit from a pack, please contact Jan on jan@emsyorkshire.co.uk or telephone: 01482 709810.

A huge thank you to the hardworking staff of EMS Ltd. Here they are posing with our Guardian Charity of the Year 2015 Award. A very proud moment.

Thank you to everyone involved at EMS Ltd that help us help others.

At an award ceremony was held on 1st December at the Guardian Offices in London. EMS Ltd won Charity of the Year 2015, one of five selected to win from over 1,800 entries.

The Guardian Charity Awards, now in their 23rd year, seek to recognise excellence in small and medium sized charities. The five winners have demonstrated innovation, pioneering work and make an outstanding contribution to social welfare in the community. We hope these awards will bring recognition, increase credibility and open doors to future success for EMS Ltd and the other winning charities.

Jan Boyd EMS Ltd’s Chief Executive accepted the award on behalf of the EMS Team said.

“I am thrilled and very excited about collecting the Guardian’s Charity of the Year Award on behalf of everyone involved at EMS Ltd.”

“I am blessed with have a very hard working staff along with a dedicated Board of Trustees to help run EMS and deliver our services effectively. I know this award will give us the impetus to continue to grow and offer more assistance to residents who are suffering from food and fuel poverty.”

She also went on to say;

“Winning this award is not only great for EMS Ltd but we also hope for Hull, as the city continues to raise its profile leading into Hull 2017.”

Do you have financial/accountancy experience and have a bit of spare time on your hands? Would like to join a dynamic company Board?

We are an incorporated environmental charity who work with residents, community groups and local businesses to alleviate food and fuel poverty.

The Board meets bi-monthly at a Hull based location.

To find out more about the charity visit our website www.emsyorkshire.co.uk

For an informal discussion about the role please contact Jan Boyd on 01482 709810 or jan@emsyorkshire.co.uk

40 volunteers and their families attended the Green Prosperity Volunteer Celebration Event held at the Freedom Centre on Wednesday 18 November.

All of the volunteers hours were calculated from 1January 2015 to 31 October 2015 and they were presented with a certificate to show our appreciation for all the hard work they had undertaken during the last 10 months. One volunteer has committed a whopping 315 hours.

Green Prosperity is a Big Lottery funded project working with the residents of two wards in east Hull to reduce their carbon footprint with a range of projects including energy efficiency, green enterprise a eco-house and growing produce in residents gardens or at the East Hull Community Farm.

Jan Boyd, CEO of EMS Ltd who run the Green Prosperity said. “We are flabbergasted at the level of commitment and the number of hours that volunteers have put into the project. They have amassed over the last three years over 5,400 hours which is amazing and this event is a tribute to all their hard work.”

VOLUNTEERING heroes were celebrated at a special awards ceremony recognising the excellent work carried out across the city.

About 150 people filled the Freedom Centre in Preston Road, east Hull, for the annual Neighbourhood Network Awards.

The big winner on the night was the Green Prosperity Project, which scooped the Citywide Group Of The Year award.

The volunteers have fitted more than 400 energy monitors into residents’ homes and offered a range of energy savings tips and advice on how to save money on fuel bills.
The project also won the Park Area Award after seeing off competition from Acasta Way, Inspire Communities – Greatfield Project, Eleanor Court and the Marfleet Allotment Society.

Jan Boyd of the Green Prosperity Project was overwhelmed upon hearing the group had won.

She said: “We would like to thank all the volunteers who have helped over the years.

“They are remarkable people who just want to make Hull a better, greener place.”

Another big winner on the night was Margaret Cranwell who was awarded Community Champion for involvement with her church and allotment.

Collecting her award, Mrs Cranwell said: “I am shocked to be up here. I thought all I did was make tea.
“On a serious note, I would like to thank all the volunteers who I work with to make people’s lives just that little bit better.”

Other winners on the evening included Kingston Wesley Methodist Church, Rainbow Community Groups, Bransholme Buddies, Hull Street Angels Trinity, Friends of Pickering Park and the YMCA Humber Turning Point Project.

Louise Wilkinson, manager at Neighbourhood Network, said: “It was an absolutely brilliant evening and I am delighted so many people turned up.

“The Neighbourhood Network charity has continued to grow considerably over the past year and aims to reduce crime, develop a good community and create a safer environment to live in, where people are neighbourly and support one another.”

From the Hull Daily Mail