Waste no time to apply for Community Funding
The council is inviting community groups and charities to apply for funding to initiate waste prevention projects in their local community. £50,000 will be available and will be split equally between Cumbria’s 6 local committees. A total fund of £8,300 will be available for each Cumbrian district to support project delivery. Applications will be invited from constituted, voluntary and community organisations and social enterprises for bids of between £500 to £3000 but bids for larger sums will be considered where they can demonstrate particular value.
The council’s community waste prevention fund is a grant giving scheme that supports the reduction of household waste whilst seeking to improve the quality of life for people living in Cumbria through community based projects.
The ultimate aim is to:
Reduce the amount of waste produced in Cumbria by encouraging specific behaviours relating to the waste hierarchy of reduce, reuse and recycle and encouraging resourcefulness through repairing, refurbishing, repurposing, sharing, swapping and composting.
- Reduce the negative impact of waste on our society and environment by encouraging better management of waste and exemplifying new ways of dealing with waste as a resource.
- Enable residents and communities to get involved in environmental and waste related initiatives and support permanent changes in individual behaviours.
- Raise awareness of resource efficiency and educate people around resource efficient behaviours.
In 2014/15 there was over 240,000 tonnes of household waste generated in Cumbria, but almost half of that was recycled, reused or composted. With the help of the local community supported by this new fund, we hope we can do even more and reduce the total cost of household waste to our beautiful County - both in terms of the environmental impact as well as the financial impact on the Cumbria householder.
Taking food as an example, almost 50% of the total food waste thrown away in the UK comes from our homes. Nationally this equates to 7 billion tonnes or 19% of all the food we buy. So for every £1 spent we are throwing 19p into the bin - the equivalent of £50 per month for each and every household.
The deadline for the first batch of project proposals, for the community waste prevention fund, should be received by 19 February 2016. The council is recommending those interested make contact with their local area team to discuss their project prior to any application. There is more information available online at www.cumbria.gov.uk/communitygrants.