Veolia, the UK’s leading resource management company is delivering ecological transformation through its Sustainability Fund, supporting six grassroots projects with almost £4,000 in funding, chosen for their exemplary initiatives to support their local communities and nurture the environment in Southwark.
The Sustainability Fund was launched in 2021 after a challenging couple of years, during which, many community spaces and local services suffered. The Fund set out to help grassroots projects that make a positive, sustainable difference and to support long-term social and environmental benefits within local communities.
In its second year, the Fund has grown, welcoming partnerships with four new local authorities and the number of projects supported has doubled, from 47 projects in 2021 to 95 in 2022, donating over £80,000. This is a testament to the Education, Communication and Outreach teams working across the country who truly believe in the power of local action to make a difference.
There are so many inspiring projects to choose from but here are some of the highlights from across the borough:
- Bellenden Primary School Garden teachers saw that without a garden at home, many students don’t have access to a green space where they can build environmental awareness. With support from Veolia’s Sustainability Fund for tools and compost, the gardening club of twenty children started planting in September 2022.
- We Are Wilder’s Canopi Borough Wildlife Garden is part of the Wilder Mile Project aimed at radically improving biodiversity in one square mile of Southwark. After depaving 200 square metres surrounding the Canopi Borough office building, organisers and volunteers began work on the woodland garden with pollinator friendly plants and compost provided by the Fund.
- Mint Street Music Festival CIC’s ‘Our Plastic, Our Thames’ Participatory Art campaign will transform hard-to-recycle plastic waste, such as crisp packets into public artworks. The aim is to start conversations about plastic pollution in the River Thames and ask residents how they can take action to minimise their waste and protect their natural environment.
To celebrate the fund’s success, representatives from projects in Southwark, Westminster, Brent, and Buckinghamshire attended a networking event at the Southwark Integrated Waste Management Facility. Attendees learnt more about Veolia’s Sustainability Fund, got to know their fellow funding winners, and toured the facility to understand how recycling is sorted before it is transformed into new materials.
If you are a Southwark resident, email [email protected] to request a tour.
Pascal Hauret, Managing Director, Municipal at Veolia said:
We are incredibly proud to see how Veolia’s Sustainability Fund has grown in just its second year. Through this campaign we can increase our impact towards ecological transformation by working with residents and groups on the ground to find local solutions to everyday challenges. Supporting the communities we serve is at the heart of our partnerships with Local Authorities and we’re looking forward to another year of supporting their projects in 2023.
Hannah Metcalfe, Mint Street Music Festival CIC, Our Plastic, Our Thames Participatory Art:
Plastic is useful for so many things and it can even be beautiful in its own way, brightly coloured or reflective silver. Unfortunately a lot of plastic isn’t recycled and ends up polluting the environment for decades to come. Our project is to work with the Southwark community to highlight the impact we have on the river Thames, a force of nature running right through our city but compromised in its ability to sustain life by the constant stream of plastic rubbish that flows into it.
Matthew Crane, Southwark Regional Manager said:
We’re delighted to be supporting six incredible projects dedicated to improving Southwark’s local environment through community engagement, creative material reuse, and fostering a greater connection with our natural world. We look forward to seeing these projects flourish over the next few months and opening Veolia’s Sustainability Fund for applications in April 2023.
The Sustainability Fund supports a range of not-for-profit organisations, community groups and individuals that help transform their local community through enhancing biodiversity, promoting sustainable waste behaviours, protecting or preserving resources and the environment, or using recycled, reused or reclaimed materials. If you are a Southwark resident, you can sign up for a community tour here.
If you have an idea, head to Veolia.co.uk/Sustainability-Fund for more information about Veolia’s Sustainability Fund.
Applications will open again on Friday 21st April 2023, just in time for World Earth Day!