Veolia Opens Up Community Fund

Veolia Opens Up Community Fund for
Waste and Recycling Projects in Merseyside

Veolia has just announced that its 2019-2020 community fund is open for applications, with £115,000 up for grabs to make Merseyside a greener area. Volunteer groups, schools, not-for-profit organisations and faith groups can apply for a share of the fund if they can show that it will be used to encourage recycling, reduce household waste, or prevent carbon emissions. As well as this, any projects applying for the fund will have to show that they have a wider positive impact on the environment, health, and education across Merseyside.

A 2018-2019 recipient, Northwood CommuniTree 4aRts is using the money they’ve been given to develop an arts and crafts programme that makes things solely from recycled materials.

Tackling the key issues

The fund is donated by the Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority (MRWA) and the Veolia Community Fund 2019/20. Successful groups and projects will be given up to £25,000 for their scheme.

Each group that applies must tackle issues relating to at least one of the four household waste streams that MRWA has identified as a priority; food, plastics, textiles, or furniture. These are given high priority because a previous household waste analysis found that these materials had the highest potential of being reused or recycled.

The successes of previous years

The 2017/18 fund supported 12 projects which created 28 new jobs, provided volunteer opportunities to 486 people, diverted over 1200 tonnes of waste from landfill and reduced carbon emissions by almost 1200 tonnes. A resounding success.

The chairperson of MRWA said that giving groups the chance to look after their local area and the wider environment has benefits for everyone and can make people see the value in items rather than just throwing them away.

Previous successful fund recipients include:

- Building a sensory learning garden made out of reused materials at a St Helens college

- Opening a shop in the Wirral which sells used clothes and teaches people how to sew so they can reuse textiles rather than throwing them away

- Repairing furniture to be given to people in need

- Opening a bicycle repair and maintenance workshop in Knowsley

- Teaching staff members in a charity shop how to sell more goods online

- Setting up cookery clubs to teach people how to eat well on a budget and reduce food waste

- This year’s successful projects will receive their funding in April and the deadline for applications is 4^th January 2019.