A share of £165,000 is up for grabs to help community groups make the Liverpool City Region a cleaner and greener place.
The funding – made available via the Zero Waste Community Fund 2024/25 – is for community and voluntary groups, schools and not-for-profit organisations, who can reduce household waste, encourage recycling and resource reuse and prevent carbon emissions.
There is up to £30,000 for projects which cover a minimum of four City Region districts, and between £1000 and £8,000 available for projects which work solely at one local authority level.
Chairperson of Merseyside Recycling & Waste Authority (MRWA), Councillor Catie Page, said: “We are so grateful for the partnerships we have with the region’s community groups. They are the backbone of our communities, the ones who are working on the ground to make a difference.
“Giving groups the opportunity to get involved in looking after their environment brings benefits to all and can help us appreciate items as valuable resources rather than something which otherwise might be just thrown away.”
Bids must tackle one or more of the five priority household waste materials which have been identified by MRWA as key, namely WEEE (Waste Electrical & Electronic Equipment), Food, Textiles, Plastics and Furniture. An analysis* of waste in the region highlighted that a greater amount of these materials could be re-used or recycled. Projects can also include other household waste materials, for example paper or metals.
Previous Community Fund projects have included local recycling guidebooks, cookery clubs to support healthy eating and reduce food waste, fruit and veg gleaning, restoring old furniture to sell for charity and refurbishing unwanted rugs for resale.
One organisation to have previously received funding is Toxteth-based Liverpool World Centre, who have been running clothes and textiles waste education programmes throughout the region.
Jacquie Ayre, Global Learning Education Officer at Liverpool World Centre, said: “Our projects in the past and the current one ‘Re-think The Waste Revolution’ work closely with teachers and youth group leaders – supported by our partner Faiths4change – to give them the confidence, knowledge, understanding and skills needed to initiate conversations within their settings.
“Currently we are supporting the creation of groups of young people to become peer led waste educators to deliver the rethinking waste message and engage with others to think critically about consumption. We anticipate these messages becoming more embedded in community and school settings and consequently behaviour around textile, food and electrical waste will start to change and waste will be reduced.”
A celebration event for the Community Fund was held on Tuesday 6th February, which brought together previous and current projects.
Interested groups can apply via www.merseysidewda.gov.uk.
The deadline for submissions is 11.59pm on Sunday 10th March 2024.
Successful projects should receive the funding by mid April 2024 and will have to deliver their schemes by March 2025.
Organisations interested in this year’s Community Fund can:
- Apply online at www.merseysidewda.gov.uk
- Contact the Authority:
Community.fund@merseysidewda.gov.uk
DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION OF APPLICATIONS:
Sunday 10th March 2024, 11.59pm