‘In association with the Aviva Community Fund’
Today I’m happy to be sharing news about a local volunteer initiative, who were recently awarded by the Aviva Community Fund.
‘Grow’ applied for funding from the Aviva Community Fund last year and were fortunate to be chosen as one of the winners, receiving an award of up to £25,000. Grow, is a project run by the 10:10 Foundation, a volunteer group with projects focused on tackling climate change at a community level, in the UK.
After they heard they were successful in their application for funding, I got in touch with Daniel Jones, Press and Profile Officer at 10:10 Foundation to find out more and to hear all about their recent planting in Wolverley.
Why is this project important?
“The world is already feeling the impacts of climate change. Here in the UK one of the most obvious ways we are seeing its effects is through flooding. We’ve seen flooding devastate communities across the UK several times over the last decade, impacting hundreds of thousands and costing billions of pounds of damage.”
“Community-led tree planting presents a unique solution to this multi-layered problem. Trees remove the carbon that’s causing climate change from the atmosphere, while also helping to slow the flow of water in flood prone areas. This project is bringing people together to take tangible and empowering action to stop climate change, while protecting vulnerable homes and businesses from the effects of climate change that we already live with.”
What has winning in the Aviva Community Fund meant to you?
“The money as a result of the Aviva Community Fund has meant we can establish our very first tree planting project in the beautiful village of Wolverley, Worcestershire. Over the course of this year, we’re working with the Wolverley Flood Forum to plant hundreds of trees around Wolverley, which will reduce the likelihood of flooding and make it less severe when it does happen.”
“The group has been taking action locally on flooding for years, following four flood events in the village in the last decade alone. So it’s been amazing to be able to support them to make this project happen with the Aviva funding this year.”
How can people get involved with the project?
“In the autumn we’ll be inviting members of the public from the local area and around the country to get stuck in by planting trees with the community at public planting days – helping people in Wolverley to take action for a flood resilient future.”
“If you’d like to come along to a planting day, or find out more about the project, please email Ellie at [email protected].”
What’s next for Grow?
“Following the launch of the project this month, we’ll be supporting the community to get the sites ready for planting this autumn, and to source the best trees for flood protection. We’ll also be raising awareness about the project locally, so that as many people as possible have the chance to come along to the planting days in the autumn.”
You can find out more about Grow and 10:10 here.
I enjoyed finding more about projects in my area, and with so many volunteer groups all over the UK, I think the Aviva Community Fund is a great initiative. The nationwide initiative, now in its third year, calls upon passionate residents to submit a project close to their heart to be in with a chance of securing funding.
This year, over 6,500 groups entered the funding initiative, each galvanising the support of their local community to vote for their entry in four categories: Health & Wellbeing, Skills for Life, Community Support, and Inclusivity.
Over 592 community groups were awarded funding by the Aviva Community Fund this year, ranging from £1,000 to £25,000.
You can find out more about the Aviva Community Fund here. Take a look to find out which groups in your local area were awarded funding and then do consider entry for 2018 when it opens later this year. Do you know someone that this might help? I bet most of us do, so let them know!