Community recycling and re-use groups receive lottery boost

The Cornish Real Nappy Project will be expanding its “Get Real” scheme following the award of just over 140,000. Lincolnshire's Shaw Trust has received almost 70,000, which will go towards a new community composting initiative. And in Manchester, the Tree of Life community shop received nearly 120,000.

Cornwall's Get Real scheme, which will benefit from 143,669 of lottery money, aims to inform parents of the benefit of re-usable or “real” nappies, in an attempt to reduce the amount going to landfill. Currently around 7,700 tonnes of disposable nappies are dumped into Cornwall's landfill sites every year.

The project has been running pilot schemes across the county and using the CRED funding these could become permanent. One of the more successful initiatives which they plan to expand are 'nappichinos' – informal coffee mornings where parents and carers can find out more about using re-usable nappies.

Sara Gambrill, the scheme's project manager, said: “The money will enable the project to extend its programme of 'nappichinos' and events, allowing more parents to receive advice and support, leading to more real nappies being used and less disposable nappies going to landfill.”

The nappichino idea is being used in several areas across the country following its inception during this year's National Real Nappy Week, which ran in March.

Lincolnshire
Meanwhile, the Shaw Trust in Lincolnshire has been given by CRED towards a project aiming to recycle green waste in Gainsborough, while helping provide employment opportunities for disabled people.

The Shaw Trust, a national charity specialising in training and employment work with disabled and disadvantaged people, will be collecting and composting green waste from households and converting it back into soil conditioner.

The soil conditioner will mostly be used to cultivate trees in an 11-acre &#39Ce;lebration Wood', which is open to the public. If enough waste is collected, the group hopes to provide the soil conditioner for the local community at a small cost to cover transport.

The CRED programme is managed by the Royal Society of Wildlife Trust (RSWT) and has a total of 36.5 million available for community recycling and waste projects in England.

Manchester
In Manchester, the Tree of Life community group is using a 119,544 CRED grant to help recycle unwanted goods at its shop and provide low-price re-used products to local residents in need.

The CRED money will go towards a new vehicle, driver and refurbishment work to increase capacity for the group's shop, as well as raising awareness of the project.

• The Oxfordshire Council for Voluntary Action has been given 32,791 by the Social Economic and Environmental Development (SEED) programme. The money will go towards the group's furniture re-use activities, a new van, and will establish an electrical repair workshop providing training and employment opportunities.Alison Baxter, director of OCVA said: “This award will help needy people in Oxfordshire and at the same time we'll be helping to save the environment.”