Funding boost for biodiversity and community groups
We are helping to improve the environment by supporting another eight projects, which are working to help biodiversity in our supply area. The eight charities and community groups will receive funding totalling almost £27,000 for projects that encourage and enhance biodiversity in 2.87 hectares (equivalent to almost three rugby pitches) as well as having a positive community impact.
The projects include river restoration, creation of habitats for birds, bats and bugs, and wildflower planting.
- Wildtrout Trust, Melbourn:
River Mel Channel restoration – scrub removal and restoration of the river bed to improve the river for wildlife. - Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire, Babraham:
River Granta Habitat Improvement – reshaping banks to increase the channel and flow diversity - Cherry Hinton CofE Primary School and Nursery: Cherry Hinton
Community Biodiversity Garden – planting native trees, shrubs and wildflowers, and installing bug hotels and bird boxes, creating all-season habitats for insects, birds and pollinators. - Metropolitan Thames Valley Housing, Cambridge and Waterbeach:
Cultivating Communities – creating biodiverse community gardens at two housing schemes, with wildflowers and other bee-friendly plants, plus bug hotels and hedgehog havens. - Cambridge Past and Present, Wandlebury:
Wandlebury Pollinator Garden – creating a new garden to provide a food source and habitat for invertebrates to help pollinate a nearby orchard, which provides fruit for a foodbank. - Gaminglay Village Primary:
Forest School Development – returning part of the school field to a meadow and creating an orchard to help develop the wildlife that live near Mill Brook. - Arbury Road Baptist Church, Cambridge:
Wonderfully Made Community Garden – the creation of a community garden for clients of the support group, who have mental health and isolation issues. - St Philips Primary School, Cambridge:
Nature Garden – transforming a neglected patch of grass into a nature area, with pollinator-friendly sensory planting and all-season varieties, with bird boxes and bug hotels.
"We’re not just here to provide our customers with high quality water, we want to improve the environment for current communities and for future generations.
We do that by supporting and funding the community groups and charities, which are working hard to increase the variety of natural living things and the diversity of the habitats where they live. This is work which not only benefits wildlife, but also enhances local communities and our open spaces.
This year's successful projects were chosen by a combination of our staff volunteers across the business and customers on our online community. I’m looking forward to seeing how these projects progress."
Dan Clark, Water Resources and Environment Manager.
PEBBLE fund
Find out more about our PEBBLE fund
Posted: 7 October 2022