Greggs Foundation – Environmental Education for Local Communities
BART are pleased to announce that we have received support from the Greggs Foundation to run our LoCATE Project alongside the Bristol Frome through Bristol and South Gloucestershire.
The LoCATE (Local Community Action Through Education) Bristol Frome Project will work with communities along the Bristol Frome (focusing in the towns of Yate, Chipping Sodbury and Frampton Cotterell) to help them to locate their nearest section of river and will help those groups by providing education and involvement opportunities designed to help them improve the Bristol Frome as a community asset.
Thanks to funding from the Greggs Foundation, the project will aim to involve people of a wide range of ages and backgrounds, but especially young people, school children and those from disadvantaged backgrounds. We will do this by running the following activities: Eel in the Classroom, river dipping for minibeasts, Riverfly monitoring support, litter picks, the coordination of FreshwaterWatch water quality monitoring to schools, as well as angling clubs and the farming community, Himalayan balsam pulling events and ‘Yellowfish’ anti-pollution awareness events (spraying fish alongside storm drains and handing out leaflets/putting up posters).
BART will encourage those involved with the project to sign up to become BART Beacons, our ‘eyes and ears’ on the ground, spotting and reporting issues and opportunities for improvements. These Beacons, coupled with trained Riverfly and FreshwaterWatch monitors, will ensure an ongoing legacy of improvements to water quality in the Bristol Frome.
Please keep following us for updates and if you know a school or community group who would like to get involved then please email our Project Officer Harriet on harriet@bristolavonriverstrust.org
You can also follow project updates on our Project Dirt page: http://www.projectdirt.com/project/17633/
Background
Following on from earlier initiatives in Wales and Scotland, in 2015 the Government introduced a charge for single-use plastic carrier bags across England, in order to reduce their use and encourage people to re-use bags. Prior to the charge, in 2014, over 7.6 billion single-use plastic bags were given to customers by major supermarkets in England alone. That’s something like 140 bags per person, the equivalent of about 61,000 tonnes in total. Asides from the considerable length of time they take to degrade in the environment, the bags degrade the environment, reduce aesthetic value of our towns and countryside, and can damage wildlife.
Through their charitable arm ‘The Greggs Foundation’ Greggs plc have donated the proceeds from the plastic carrier bag charge to support environmental education projects for local communities in and around rivers, in Wales, Scotland and England. The initiative aims not only to realise a range of environmental benefits but to also educate local people so that they have a greater appreciation for their local environment and are more likely to access and engage with it. The Rivers Trust provides overall management of the wider project, working closely with Afonydd Cymru (the Welsh grouping of Rivers Trusts) and Rivers and Fisheries Trusts Scotland (RAFTS).
