LEEDS / AGILITYPR.NEWS / October 02, 2024 / Leeds: The Woodhouse Wetlands Warriors, a conservation group in Leeds, has been awarded a £4,635 grant from The Ernest Cook Trust's Blue Influencers Scheme. This funding will support the restoration of the Woodhouse ridge wetland, a small pond system near Meanwood beck in Leeds.
Project Overview
The Woodhouse Wetlands Warriors, in collaboration with Leeds University Union Conservation Volunteers (LUUCV), will use the grant to:
The project aims to involve local communities, schools, youth groups, and young offenders in conservation efforts, creating a 'Blue Community Hub' to foster environmental stewardship.
Blue Influencers Scheme
The grant is part of The Ernest Cook Trust's Blue Influencers Scheme, a £2.25 million initiative co-funded by the Trust and the #iwill Fund. The scheme supports young people in areas of deprivation to tackle environmental and climate issues.
Jack Hurrell of Groundwork Yorkshire serves as the Blue Mentor for the Woodhouse Wetland Warriors, recruiting and mentoring young 'Blue Influencers' to create impactful environmental projects.
Quotes
Jack Hurrell, Blue Mentor: "The scope and scale of the project is particularly exciting. We're grateful for the opportunities this sizable grant offers and can't wait to get started. Keep up to date with our progress on Instagram @luuconservationvolunteers."
Ed Ikin, Chief Executive of The Ernest Cook Trust: "The Blue Influencers Scheme is having a big impact across the country, and these additional grants are helping to underpin the excellent work being done by our Blue Mentors and the Blue Influencers. These young people really are making a difference in their communities."
About The Ernest Cook Trust
The Ernest Cook Trust is a leading UK funder and provider of Outdoor Learning. It offers hands-on outdoor learning opportunities and distributes approximately £3 million in grants annually to support Outdoor Learning initiatives.
For More Information
Find out more about Groundwork https://www.groundwork.org.uk/yorkshire/
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NOTES TO EDITORS
For further information, please contact Nicholas.Ripley@groundwork.org.uk
ABOUT GROUNDWORK
Groundwork Yorkshire
Groundwork Yorkshire. Groundwork Yorkshire has been working for 30 years where we’re needed most – on the ground in communities, delivering hundreds of projects every year. We provide training and create jobs, reduce energy and waste, re-connect people with nature and transform whole neighbourhoods. Step by step we’ll go on changing places and changing lives until everywhere is vibrant and green, every community is strong enough to shape its own destiny and everyone has the opportunity to reach their potential. Environment and Business Centre, Merlyn-Rees Avenue, Morley, Leeds LS27 9SL T: 0300 3033 292
Groundwork UK
Groundwork is a charity working locally and nationally to transform lives in the UK’s most disadvantaged communities. We’re passionate about creating a future where every neighbourhood is vibrant and green, every community is strong and able to shape its own destiny and no one is held back by their background or circumstances. We help people gain confidence and skills, get into training and work, protect and improve green spaces, lead more active lives and overcome significant challenges such as poverty, isolation, low skills and poor health: www.groundwork.org.uk
Blue Influencers Scheme
The mission of the Blue Influencers Scheme is to assist young people to create deep, lasting and meaningful connections with the natural environment. Through this scheme young people will learn and build skills which will help them contribute to the local community through environmental action.
The Scheme was developed by The Ernest Cook Trust as a match-funded project with the #iwill Fund. In total, the #iwill Fund and The Ernest Cook Trust are providing £2.25million over 3 years (from January 2024 to December 2026) to fund youth environmental action.
The Ernest Cook Trust has provided grants to Host Organisations (registered charities and non-profit organisations) across England to employ Blue Mentors to help young people between the ages of 10-14 years (known as Blue Influencers) to create environmental projects in local schools, youth groups and communities.
The full list of Host Organisations to receive grant is
The Ernest Cook Trust
The Ernest Cook Trust offers children and young people, their families and communities, the chance to learn from the land through hands-on outdoor learning activities.
The Ernest Cook Trust is a charity limited by guarantee with the sole charitable objective of education.
The Trust places education at its very heart by offering children and young people a chance to connect with nature and to take action on the environment in a meaningful and positive way.
The Trust awards around £2m per year in grants based on relevance and impact against organisational objectives. Grants are given to schools or charitable organisations for activities in the UK with a particular focus on areas where there are fewer opportunities to experience the outdoors.
For more information about The Ernest Cook Trust visit https://ernestcooktrust.org.uk/ or contact press officer Jo Smyth – email media@ernestcooktrust.org.uk.
#iwill Fund
The #iwill Movement
The National Lottery Community Fund
We are the largest non-statutory community funder in the UK – community is at the heart of our purpose, vision and name.
We support activities that create resilient communities that are more inclusive and environmentally sustainable and that will strengthen society and improve lives across the UK.
We’re proud to award money raised by National Lottery players to communities across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and to work closely with government to distribute vital grants and funding from key government programmes and initiatives.
As well as responding to what communities tell us is important to them, our funding is focused on four key missions, supporting communities to:
Thanks to the support of National Lottery players, we distribute around £500 million a year through 10,000+ grants and plan to invest over £4 billion of funding into communities by 2030. We’re privileged to be able to work with the smallest of local groups right up to UK-wide charities, enabling people and communities to bring their ambitions to life.
National Lottery players raise over £30 million each week for good causes throughout the UK. Since The National Lottery began in 1994, £47 billion has been raised and more than 670,000 individual grants have been made across the UK - the equivalent of around 240 National Lottery grants in every UK postcode district.
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Contacts
Nicholas Ripley
Nicholas.Ripley@groundwork.org.ukEnvironment and Business Centre Merlyn-Rees Avenue, Morley
Phone: 07971842768
https://www.groundwork.org.uk/yorkshire/