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Woodland cash up for grabs in Cheshire & Merseyside
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PEOPLE in
Cheshire, Merseyside and other parts of North West of England are
being invited to apply for thousands of pounds worth of grants to
help make the region greener, thanks to the Forestry Commission’s
English Woodland Grant Scheme (EWGS).
The English Woodland Grant Scheme aims to provide landowners with
support for providing public benefits including the improvement of
public access and biodiversity. Projects the Forestry Commission are
looking to support include high-quality tree planting schemes or the
stewardship of existing woodland that benefit the environment or
provide new places for people to enjoy healthy exercise.
In the last 10 years, grants worth more than £10 million have been
given out by the Forestry Commission, leading to the creation of
over 5,000 hectares of new woodlands in North West England. These
woodlands will provide social, economic and environmental value for
years to come.
Kevin May, Grants, Regulation and Partnership Manager for the
Forestry Commission in North West England, is amongst the key
speakers at Wednesday’s event, which is being held to introduce
people to the Rural Development Programme for England. He will be
explaining how EWGS works:- "The English Woodland Grant Scheme
offers amongst other things financial support for landowners to open
up their land to the public by improving access and providing
recreation opportunities for better health and well-being. This important scheme also aims to help manage the sensitive
restoration of ancient and native woodland habitats and attract a
wide variety of wildlife to them.”
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There are a variety
of woodland grants available payable in the financial year 2009 to
2010, ranging from the stewardship of existing woodlands to the
creation of new woodlands.
With woodland cover ranging from as little as 4% to 9% across the
region, the North West is one of the least wooded areas in England
and the proportion of ancient woodland is even less. In
addition, North West England has significant health and education
deprivation, so the Woodland Creation Grant offers the potential to
create new accessible woodlands as part of both health and education
initiatives in the places most in need. Woodland Creation
Grants can also have an important part to play in solving soil
erosion and sedimentation problems in sensitive water catchment
areas such as the Lake District’s Bassenthwaite Lake.
Woodland Regeneration Grant (WRG) funds will be managed to ensure
that no less than 30% of the grant allocation will be used
specifically to establish native species on ancient woodland sites.
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The closing date for Woodland Creation Grant is 30 September 2008.
For all other grants the closing date is 28 February 2009, although
they may close early if they are fully subscribed.
The Forestry Commission operates the EWGS under the Rural
Development Programme for England (RDPE). EWGS is part of the Defra
family of environmental support. Anyone interested in making
an application should contact the Forestry Commission on 017687
76616 or by
email. Further information can also be found at
www.forestry.gov.uk/northwestengland-grants.
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Local Southport girl hired to join the boardroom of popular kids TV
channel.
LUCY Sawkins,
aged 9 from Southport has beaten off competition from 2000
youngsters to be recruited as a member of the 1st ever Jetix Kids
Council. Lucy joins 7 other budding junior media moguls from across
the country to become a Non-Executive Board Director of the popular
kids TV channel.
In an industry first, the Non-Exec Board members will use their
brilliant TV minds to feedback and help make crucial decisions about
the type of programmes, characters, adverts and competitions they
see on the Jetix channel and website.
Lucy and her counterparts will bring their fresh ideas and talent to
the table in bi-yearly face-to-face board meetings in addition to
regularly feeding back through their own ‘virtual boardroom’.
Talking about her participation on the Jetix Kids Council, Lucy
commented:- “I’m really excited to be part of the Council, I
think it’s a really good idea kids like me are given the chance to
have their say.”
Boel Ferguson, Managing Director, Jetix UK, says:- “We're
constantly looking at new ways to listen and engage with our viewers
so we're delighted this unique concept will deliver yet more fresh
insight to Jetix. This is our 1st year of the Jetix Kids Council but
kids who missed out will get the chance again next year!”
FINAL CALL FOR BUDDING FILM MAKERS/SCRIPT WRITERS IN SOUTHPORT TO
CELEBR8 DIVERSITY
ASPIRING
scriptwriters and film makers in the Southport are reminded there’s
still time to enter celebr8’s film competition for a chance to
represent Merseyside as our deadline has been generously extended to
28 July – so don’t forget to send us your script!
The competition aims to give the North West’s hopefuls, the
opportunity to pitch their ideas and concepts to some of the
region’s leading film experts, with a winner from Greater
Manchester, Merseyside, Cheshire, Cumbria and Lancashire having
their film produced professionally and premiered across the region.
The celebr8 competition is open to individuals, community groups,
students or anyone who feels they could be the next Richard Curtis,
Russell T Davies or Ken Loach. The competition is part of the
celebr8 (don't discrimin8) festival of diversity and will highlight
the cultural, social and economic benefits diversity brings to the
North West. The winning films will be shown at The Foundation
for Art and Creative Technology (FACT) in Liverpool on 16 September
2008 and then screened at cinemas across the region. The deadline
for entries is 10 am on 28 July 2008.
Entrants are asked to submit a script or piece of creative writing
which can be turned into a short film, lasting no longer than 3
minutes, illustrating ‘What diversity means to me’. The
entries will be judged by a panel of experts from the world of film
and TV as well as key diversity and equality champions. 5 finalists
will be chosen: one from each of the region’s counties of Greater
Manchester, Lancashire, Cheshire, Liverpool and Cumbria, with one
overall winner.
Christine Burns MBE, Chair of the North West Equality and Diversity
Group, commented:- “The North West has always had such a rich
and diverse cultural heritage and is famous for its vibrant creative
community. This competition is a platform to explore people’s
thoughts and feelings about diversity, stimulate debate and raise
awareness of the benefits equality and diversity brings to our
region. I can’t wait to discover what people within the region have
to offer us, and to see the responses this competition will
generate.”
Celebr8 and Stockport Arts Team will host workshops across the
region in June for budding film makers offering first class tips and
guidance from professionals on scriptwriting, acting and production.
Further details can be found at
www.celebr8.org. or by
contacting the Stockport Arts Team on 0161 474 4453/4454, or via
email
or
www.stockport.gov.uk/artgallery
celebr8 on the Silver Screen information and entry packs can be
downloaded free of charge from
www.celebr8.org, or to
can be requested by calling:- 0161 238 9422 or by
email.
The festival is coordinated and funded by the North West Regional
Assembly, North West Regional Development Agency, Government Office
North West and NHS North West, and benefits from the support of
numerous groups, organisations and businesses across the region
including; ACAS, We Love the Web, Stockport Arts Team and the
Equality and Human Rights Commission.
Further information on equality and diversity is freely available at
www.equalityhumanrights.com. |
