- Area:
- Wales
- Release date:
- 4 3 2013
A 16 year old from Newport who turned his life around after being excluded from school is among those learning new skills and benefiting from over £45 million awarded by the Big Lottery Fund (BIG) to a range of projects which tackle the impact of climate change in Wales.
Climate change is one of the greatest challenges facing the world today. To help raise awareness about environmental issues during Climate Week (March 4 – 10), BIG is highlighting how the £45 million it has awarded to over 760 projects in Wales is helping communities to reduce the impact of their carbon footprint whilst improving the lives of people most in need.
BIG is also calling on environmental community groups and charities across Wales to use Climate Week as a golden opportunity to attract volunteers to support their projects by registering any volunteering opportunities on their interactive map www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/climateweek
Sixteen year old Billy Foley from Newport is among the number of young people from the Newport and Torfaen areas to benefit from a project run by recycling group Wastesavers Charitable Trust (view Billy’s video here http://youtu.be/S2FGJqqdnRE ).
In addition to supporting Newport City Council with their kerbside recycling collection, Wastesavers also run the PEAK project which works with local schools to provide a working and learning environment for disengaged young people such as Billy looking for practical hands on experience outside the formal classroom setting. The project offers courses such as bicycle maintenance, carpentry, IT and drug and alcohol awareness sessions. Young people on the project are able to gain work experience in preparation for the world of work.
Billy Foley was 14 when he first came to Wastesavers after being excluded from his school. He skipped school most days and regularly got into trouble. However, thanks to the support and the opportunities he’s received from the PEAK project, he’s rarely missed a day at Wastesavers, has learnt a range of transferable skills such as carpentry; has passed qualifications in health and safety and now has aspirations of going to college next year.
Highlighting the positive impact the project has had on his life so far, Billy says: “I used to get in trouble when I was hanging out in big groups and things like that. They couldn’t manage me in school but they’ve helped me a lot here. My family like me coming here because they know I’m doing well compared to when I was in school. I’m better behaved because it’s somewhere to go instead of not going to school and causing trouble. I’ve also got qualifications.”
Explaining how the project benefits the environment whilst helping young people like Billy, Ian Pearce, PEAK project Tutor, says: “Part of our work involves reclaiming old bicycles, bringing them in here and getting the young people to fix them up. We teach them the proper way to do it and they get qualifications from it. We have a number of other projects such as carpentry. With the scraps of wood that’s donated to us they’ll build such things as flower pot men and bird boxes and bird tables which are then sold on. They seem to enjoy it. There’s a lot of laughter, a lot of smiling and of course they get qualifications out of it.”
BIG on the Environment:
From small awards of just £5,000 for local initiatives to grants of up to one million pounds which have a far-reaching impact, BIG has awarded funding to a range of environmentally focused projects throughout Wales, including:
• The Cilgwyn Community Group, Pembrokeshire - Awarded £24,600 to buy an electric van and car and establish a community electric transport club in the village of Cilgwyn which will provide a car sharing facility for the community.
• The Federation of City Farms and Community Gardens (FCFCG), Wales-wide - Awarded £600,000 to support Welsh communities with access to land to grow to help reduce the impact of climate change.
• Gwent Wildlife Trust, Ebbw Vale - Awarded £250,000, to run the People and Wildlife project which works with volunteers at its Silent Valley Nature Reserve in the Upper Ebbw Valley. It provides groups of young people who are not engaged in education, training or employment (NEET) with experience of working in conservation to increase their practical skills and help them work better as a team to achieve a goal.
• The Centre for Alternative Technology, Machynlleth, Powys - Awarded £409,979 to upgrade displays, exhibits and interactive elements around Energy and Power, Waste and Recycling and their Whole Home display. The project enables visitors to understand the environmental impact of their own activities and encourages them to make changes to their daily lifestyles.
Highlighting the importance of funding projects which tackle climate change, Big Lottery Fund Wales Director, John Rose, says: “Whilst we appreciate that this is a global issue that needs to be addressed on a much broader scale, the projects we have funded on a local and regional level in Wales demonstrate that everyone can make a positive contribution to reduce the impact of their carbon footprint.”
“We want to arm communities with better knowledge, skills and abilities to enable them to take action to address the causes of climate change, build resilience to climate change and live in a more sustainable way. We want to see more communities reducing their carbon footprint and adapting to the consequences of climate change. Ultimately, we want to ensure the money we award has a significant long term impact and makes a big difference to the environment and the lives of people throughout Wales.”
Climate Change - The Facts for Wales:
• Wales is likely to experience temperature increases of between 2.0 and 2.5°C by 2050
• Future sea level rise is likely to result in more severe coastal erosion and inundation events more likely in low-lying coastal areas.
• The relative sea level rise around Wales (taking into account land level changes) is predicted to be 36cm by the 2080s
• Across Wales the summer average rainfall is predicted to decrease between 10% and 40% by the 2080s, with the greatest decreases likely to be in South-West Wales
• Across Wales the winter average rainfall is predicted to increase between 0 and 30% by the 2080s, with the greatest increases in South-West Wales
Source: Climate Change Strategy for Wales
http://wales.gov.uk/docs/desh/publications/101006ccstratfinalen.pdf
For further information about the Big Lottery Fund and how to apply for funding, please visit www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/wales
Further Information:
Oswyn Hughes - Big Lottery Fund Press Office: 02920 678 207
Out of Hours Contact: 07760 171 431
Public Enquiries Line: 08454 102030
Textphone: 0845 6021 659
Full details of the Big Lottery Fund programmes and grant awards are available at: www.biglotteryfund.org.uk
Ask BIG a question here: https://ask.biglotteryfund.org.uk
Follow BIG on Twitter: www.twitter.com/biglotterywales
Find BIG on facebook: www.facebook.com/biglotteryfundwales
Notes to Editors
• In Wales, the Big Lottery Fund is rolling out close to £100,000 a day in National Lottery good cause money, which together with other Lottery distributors means that across Wales most people are within a few miles of a Lottery-funded project.
• The Big Lottery Fund, the largest of the National Lottery good cause distributors, has been rolling out grants to health, education, environment and charitable causes across the UK since its inception in June 2004. It was established by Parliament on 1 December 2006.
• Since the National Lottery began in 1994, 28p from every pound spent by the public has gone to Good Causes. As a result, over £28 billion has now been raised and more than 383,000 grants given out across the arts, sport, heritage, charities, health, education and the environment.
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