Nestlé Waters have announced plans to launch a new Get Better with Nature Community Grant in the High Peak Borough of Derbyshire, aimed at supporting smaller community-based initiatives which will help make a difference to their local community and natural environment.
The £2,500 grant is part of the Get Better with Nature campaign, which was launched by Nestlé Waters and Derbyshire Wildlife Trust in September. It will award one-off, small grants of up to £1,000 and will be targeted to local initiatives which can deliver a real impact to improving the environment and helping people to understand and appreciate nature’s benefits to health and wellbeing, communities and business.
Applications for the grant will be available at www.getbetterwithnature.co.uk. Interested applicants are asked to register their interest on the website.
Sian Chapman, Corporate Communications and CSV Manager at Nestlé Waters, said:
“We launched the Get Better with Nature campaign to empower people across the UK to understand and enjoy nature’s benefits and, in turn, inspire them to make a small difference to enjoying and protecting it.
“The Get Better with Nature Community Grant follows in this spirit by providing small, one-off grants to support a range of local, community-based initiatives that demonstrate the two way relationship between us and our environment and the value nature can bring – however big or small – to communities, health and wellbeing.”
The grant was launched at the Get Better with Nature Community Forum, which took place at the Lee Wood Hotel Buxton on the 20th November. The discussion was guided by experts from the nature conservation, academia and business worlds, who shared ideas and helped spark a lively discussion with audience members about the range of benefits nature can have.
Panel speakers included:
- Inder Poonaji, Head of Sustainability at Nestlé - discussed the business benefits of valuing nature and how Nestlé Waters looks to create shared value for its business and for society – whether it’s promoting careful water stewardship to sustainably using and protecting unique water sources.
- Rob Fitzsimmons, Head of Development at Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust - discussed the Trust’s work with UK charity MIND on the Ecominds project, which has used conservation, horticulture and wildlife gardening activities to improve participants’ mental health and wellbeing.
- Jan Flamank, Wild at Heart Coordinator at Sheffield and Rotherham Wildlife Trust - discussed the Trust’s ‘Wild at Heart’ project, which has used wildlife-related activities for older people and other vulnerable and isolated adults to improve their health and wellbeing, reduce isolation and give them to confidence to re-engage with the community.
- Paul Gately PhD – Professor of Exercise and Obesity at Leeds Metropolitan University - discussed his academic research that supports the benefits of nature on health and wellbeing.
Matthew Croney, Director of Living Landscapes at Derbyshire Wildlife Trust, said:
“At our first ever Get Better with Nature Community Forum, we had the opportunity to hear some truly inspiring examples of how people are gaining real benefits to their health and wellbeing through closer engagement with nature - in some case literally saving their lives.
“We’d be thrilled if similar nature-inspired projects came to Derbyshire, so we’re encouraging any group or organisation with a great local project idea for the Community Grant to apply and help residents in the High Beak Borough get better with nature too.”
The Get Better with Nature campaign is a collaborative, long-term programme aimed at helping raise awareness of the value of nature and its services to health, wellbeing, communities and businesses across the UK. It looks to encourage them to make a positive difference literally, and figuratively, in their own backyards. With a focus on water in the landscape, the activities of the campaign also include educational materials with open forums for discussion, involving local schools, individuals, community groups and Nestlé Waters and Wildlife Trust employees.
The campaign was launched in September this year following research which showed that 93% of local Buxton residents understood the value of nature to society and health, but that nearly two-thirds of respondents thought this appreciation was being lost between generations.
For further information and to apply for a grant from the community grant, please visit: www.getbetterwithnature.co.uk.
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Notes to Editor
For further information please contact:
Thomas Nguyen
[email protected]
020 7936 0544
About the Community Grant
The aim of the grant is to stimulate and support local, community-based initiatives which encourage and inspire people and/or supporters to get better with nature by making a small investment in their local environment – whether it’s in their community, local green space, wildlife or waterways.
Grants up to £1,000 from the fund will be awarded to community groups and organisations that can demonstrate that their project will make an impact to:
- raise awareness of the value of nature to our society, health and wellbeing;
- empower people to enjoy nature’s benefits;
- encourage and inspire people and/or supporters to “get better with nature” by making a small investment to improve their local environment – whether it’s in their community, local green space, wildlife or waterways.
Applications for the grant will be available at www.getbetterwithnature.co.uk. Interested applicants are asked to register their interest on the website. Applications will be viewed and judged by a panel of experts including Nestlé Waters, The Wildlife Trust and Derbyshire Wildlife Trust.
Nestlé Waters
Nestlé Waters is the world’s leading bottled water company, boasting a product portfolio of plain and sparkling water brands including S. Pellegrino®, Aqua Panna®, Perrier®, Buxton Natural Mineral Water® and Nestlé Pure Life®.
Nestlé Waters takes pride in helping its local communities and the environment with a variety initiatives. The company has invested over £35million in a state-of-the-art factory in Buxton and produces one of the lightest weight bottled water products in the UK, using an average of 25 per cent less PET plastic across the range of Buxton and Nestlé Pure Life. The factory achieved BREEAM Excellent for sustainable building and design and the Nestlé Waters business in the UK has been independently audited as zero waste to landfill. The company also supports biodiversity on its site with a SUDS pond and butterfly meadow.
Nestlé Waters partners with key collaborators to increase the benefit it can offer society and its local communities, working with NGO’s, Government, local authorities, volunteers, industry and competitors.
For more information about Nestlé Waters and its brands, please visit: http://www.nestle-waters.com/
Derbyshire Wildlife Trust
Derbyshire Wildlife Trust, a Registered Charity, is the only organisation working to protect all wildlife across the county. We are one of 47 in The Wildlife Trusts Partnership, a nationwide network of local trusts. We manage 41 nature reserves throughout Derbyshire, advise local authorities and landowners on nature conservation issues and run a range of conservation and education projects.
We are committed to The Wildlife Trusts’ strategy of creating Living Landscapes – robust, connected landscapes that address the challenges facing our wildlife and countryside.