Past Community Fund Successes

PAST COMMUNITY FUND SUCCESSES

The Merseyside Recycling & Waste Authority and Veolia Community Fund is all about investing in great projects that will benefit communities across the Liverpool City Region, and which have the potential to reuse, upcycle and prevent waste, save money and avoid landfill.

The funding benefits individuals and communities by providing training opportunities, making environmental improvements, supporting isolated or vulnerable people and helping households struggling on low income.

All of the projects we support represent a real range of great ideas and show just how creative people can be when it comes to thinking of new ways of encouraging people to change their waste disposal habits. Projects we’ve helped fund over the years include:

British Dietetic Association – Let’s Get Merseyside Saving used the funding to reduce avoidable household food waste through a series of training clubs, a waste-saving tips pamphlet and a community event. Let’s Get Cooking Project Manager Suzanne Mitchell said: “The funding was crucial in allowing us to run the Let’s Get Cooking and Let’s Get Saving initiatives over the past couple of years, which has helped the local community improve their cooking skills and reduce food waste, and to help those who need to access fresh and healthy food.”

 

 

Centre 63 – Remake Yourself: this ongoing programme continues to provide sewing classes and upcycling furniture workshops while supporting the skill development of young women. It rescues unwanted furniture and textiles and the reuse and recycling of plastic and food waste. Cheryl Roach, Centre 63 Business Development Manager, said: “Our Remake Yourself Hub will ensure that the young people taking part have the knowledge and skills to refurbish and repair rather than having to buy new.”

 

 

 

Changing Communities – ReStore St Helens: The money was used for staff support at the ReStore shop in Sutton which sees volunteers upcycle donated/unwanted furniture which is then sold to the general public. The Project Manager at ReStore Julie Waring said: “Our project is preventing valuable and reusable materials from being wasted, while at the same time giving local people practical work skills. I’m absolutely thrilled with the success of the shop, the amount of furniture being rescued and the ongoing support of the community.”

 

 

Global Feedback Ltd – Your Food Needs You was a programme of quirky, high-profile food-waste-busting events, pop-up ‘Food Labs’ and urban harvesting days which helped bring Merseyside communities together to learn about, appreciate and enjoy food, and simultaneously reduce waste. Lucy Antal of Alchemic Kitchen said: “At the heart of ‘Your Food Needs YOU!’ is an environmental message about the value of food and the environmental and climate impacts of wasting it. In addition to reducing food waste, we anticipate that participants will be more aware of wider links between what we eat and climate change/biodiversity loss, such as reducing how much meat we eat.”

 

Groundwork – Let’s Speke About Food was a programme of practical cookery sessions, a set of six recipes using leftovers, and home composting workshops in South Liverpool which helped minimise household waste associated with food. Groundwork Project Manager Brendan Cassin said: “Learning to cook gives people control over what they’re eating. By using step-by-step recipes householders will be able to cook low cost, healthy meals from scratch. It’s good for them as we are pushing healthy eating messages, and it’s good for the environment.”

 

 

Liverpool World Centre – the 10 Tonne Clothing Challenge helped reduce the amount of textiles going to waste by raising awareness of textile consumption and waste; enlisting schools in the 10 Tonne Challenge to recycle textiles; engaging nine schools champions to learn about the textile journey of an individual garment, and created innovative case studies for how to reduce, reuse and recycle. Pablo Guidi, Director at Liverpool World Centre, said: “The whole project will connect children and adults to environmental issues. The educational activities will highlight the life cycle of textiles, including the production and disposal of clothing, delivered through teacher training, assemblies and student workshops.”

 

 

Regenerus – The Big Community Glean Up: a project which looked to stop food waste and to ensure good food gets into the hands of those who need it the most. Volunteers were shown how to successfully forage for the food at farms, as well as community gardens and public spaces, then learn about the different ways to preserve and cook the produce at food workshops. Ruth Livesey, Business Development Manager at Regenerus, said: “We have gleaned cabbage, cauliflowers, winter veg, onions and pumpkins – the end result has been the same – the fresh produce we glean is distributed to local residents with the help of South Sefton Foodbank and community organisations back in Bootle where it is eaten and enjoyed.”