12
FEATURE
FEATURE
Winners ‘can
make a real
difference’
SCHEME to
help a food cooperative expand
and a project to
help people reduce
fuel bills and carbon
emissions were just two of
the winners in the National
Grid Community 21 Awards.
Ten local authorities
shared almost £50,000 in
prize money in the awards
scheme that celebrates the
best new ideas in
sustainability.
There was also a £10,000
award for Wealden District
Council for demonstrating
outstanding community
leadership. The money will
be used to establish the
priorities of communities on a
more localised basis than in
an earlier strategy.
The awards scheme aims
to help councils in England
and Wales play a bigger part
in encouraging sustainable
development in their
A
From this…
communities and it
is run in partnership
with the
Improvement and
Development
Agency and the
sustainable development
charity Forum for the Future.
The winners were
announced by leading
environmentalist Jonathon
Porritt, chairman of the
Government’s UK
Sustainable Development
Commission and programme
director of Forum for the
Future. He said: “We are
celebrating hard-edge
projects that serve people in
real ways and make a real
difference to their lives.”
He added that the joy of
the scheme was the
opportunity it gave to
celebrate the work of
activists, community groups,
local authorities and private
enterprise involved in
sustainable development.
to this…
Stable hand
Kieron
Ashforth
carries a bale
of shredded
cardboard
PICTURE: CAVIAR HOUSE
via this…
MAIN PICTURE:
Caviar ready for
sale
RIGHT (from top):
the worms in
action; Terry
Rutter feeds
worms to
sturgeons; Terry
holds one of the
Siberian sturgeon
You can have a fishy on a little
dishy when the board comes in
HERE’S A recipe for success:
q Take a pile of old cardboard, shred it
and give it to farms and stables for horse
bedding
q Muck out the soiled bedding and
compost it by feeding it to worms
q Remove the excess worms and feed
them to sturgeon fish
q Sell mature fish to top hotels
q Keep some fish and produce caviar for
sale.
Sounds unlikely, doesn’t it? But that’s
exactly the process involved in the
community-based demonstration scheme
run by the Andrew Barker Lepton
Employment Project at an equestrian
centre at Lepton, near Huddersfield.
But it’s not just about demonstrating
how waste cardboard packaging,
previously destined for landfill, can be
used to produce compost, fish food and
ultimately fish and fish products for human
consumption. It is also about providing a
support system for disadvantaged young
people and their communities from the
“We were able to get going when the
owner of Lepton Equestrian Centre offered
us land and a derelict building,” said Terry.
“The trainees were involved from the start,
helping virtually to rebuild the
accommodation, using recycled materials
where possible, and learning building skills
from Mick as work progressed.
“Getting involved at this stage
generated ownership for the trainees —
they really felt able to buy into the project,
and it also created team spirit.
“We furnished the place with unwanted
office equipment donated by the Halifax.
Surplus equipment was given to other
projects or sold to raise funds. GBNrecycled carpet tiles were laid on the
office floors and we even used recycled
plastic planks and flooring blocks made
from old plastic bags.”
A 15-metre by two-metre purpose-built
worm bed was constructed and a fish
tank installed. The tank filters, cleans and
recirculates water, greatly reducing the
quantity used. Even the nutrients
captured in the filter are useful. “We have
KIRKLEES Metropolitan Council’s
winning Cardboard to Caviar project is
one of the most innovative schemes to
scoop a National Grid Community 21
Award. It has attracted huge media
interest and the attention of Treasury
Minister John Healey, who visited it
himself. GridLine takes a closer look at
the scheme that is breaking new
ground in sustainability, as well as
providing an opportunity for
disadvantaged and long-term
unemployed young people.
Wakefield area by providing employment
opportunities and the opportunity to
boost their job-seeking skills.
The project — a partnership between
Kirklees Council, the Green Business
Network, East Wakefield Primary Care
Trust and the charity Turning Point — was
conceived more than two years ago.
Since 1995, GBN has been helping
local businesses improve their
environmental performance by recycling
their waste cardboard — shredded
packaging is supplied to farms and
stables for bedding.
ABLE was designed to take things a
step further. It got under way in
September 2001 with five trainees, led by
project manager Terry Rutter, 47, with
help from employment mentor, fish fanatic
and qualified builder Mick Hinchliffe.
Terry — a keen angler, fish breeder and
experienced manager — spent 25 years in
banking with the Halifax before taking
voluntary redundancy. He was looking for a
new direction and found it with ABLE. “The
job encompassed everything I enjoyed and
gave me a chance to put something back
into the community,” he said.
The trainees — their average age is 25
— are offered a placement for up to 12
months. They get paid a proper wage for
a 371⁄2-hour week and receive training in
life skills, such as job search techniques
and computer literacy. Their health and
welfare is also catered for and there is an
opportunity to work towards an
environmentally-based NVQ Level Two.
grown watercress and other plants on it
— showing that in a larger operation, we
could grow it commercially as a cash
crop,” said Terry.
For the initial research and development
phase, 26 three-year-old Siberian
sturgeon were introduced to the tank.
“They are very different from other fish,“
said Terry. “Although very strong, they are
not aggressive and are curious creatures.”
The Siberian sturgeon g ɽ