Examples to everyone. SPREADING the word on green issues

Stanley Youth Centre's Environmental Action Team shows how community campaigning should be done. It is the young people who set the eco-agenda at the town's youth- centre, coming up with ideas and making them a reality. The Environmental Action Team was born when one of the youngsters who used the centre challenged youth workers to do more to go green. A group of teenagers set up the team to think of positive ways to help the environment, save money and spread their eco message. They have worked hard to find ways of saving energy at the youth centre. These include using low energy light bulbs and proximity lighting. They have also focused on cutting water use and have brought in water-saving devices for the toilets, taps and showers. To pass on their knowledge and experiences to others, the group made posters and stickers to be put up around the centre. There are now plans to turn Stanley Youth Centre into an eco friendly building, with double glazing and LED lights, which will cut its carbon footprint and benefit more than 600 staff and young people. A wind turbine and solar panels are also planned. Auxiliary worker James Shorten and centre user David McElhone accepted the award.

 

Youth worker Bob Bland, who dominated the team said: "This project has empowered the young people to do something at the centre and allowed them all to make a contribution. This is a nice reward for all the hard work they have put in.”

 

Category sponsor SustaiNE provides the Brighter'Futures Together toolkit which offers help and advice for communities so they can take action on issues such as climate change, reducing waste, saving energy, supporting local shops and promoting fair trade

 

The website is brighterfuturestogether.co.uk.

 

Winners David McElhone and James Shorten of Stanley Youth Centre

 

Bellord Energy Saving Together (Best) grassroots green campaigning is at the heart of Belford. Set up last year by a group of villagers in Belford Northumberland, the project aims to show how small actions taken by communities add up to a big change for the better for our environment. They devised a community action plan with the ambition of cutting the village’s energy use by 10%. By the end of this year they will have involved children from the local middles schools.

Sustrans Tyne Area Rangers (Stars)
They are the eyes and ears of Tyneside's cycle paths, giving up their time to voluntarily patrol more than 100 miles of the National Cycle Network.


From teenagers to pensioners they play a major role in keeping cycle ways clear and pleasant for use by picking litter, taking away fly tipping, planting flowers and removing overhanging trees. The group was formed in 2002.

 

Evening Chronicle
Tuesday March 2 2010
 


Published 30th June 2010

Tagged in: news