Eco Champions for Pembrokeshire
An innovative project to help Pembrokeshire communities become more sustainable has been launched.
Community champion co-ordinator Mark Bond with Cabinet Member for the Environment and Welsh Language Councillor Cris Tomos
The Eco Champions Project, a partnership between Pembrokeshire County Council and PLANED is funded by the Local Action Group (LAG) for Pembrokeshire, Arwain Sir Benfro.
Administered by PLANED, Arwain Sir Benfro has provided funding of £77,000 to Pembrokeshire County Council for a project to work with a variety of groups across the County to identify Eco Champions in their area.
This is funded through the LEADER programme, which is part of the Welsh Government Rural Communities – Rural Development Programme 2014 – 2020, Funded by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development and the Welsh Government.
The authority has appointed a Community Champion co-ordinator to help the champions achieve their goals.
Cabinet Member for the Environment and Welsh Language Councillor Cris Tomos said the aim of the project is for the champions to help promote sustainable living through a variety of ecological initiatives. He believes it will be particularly useful when the changes to waste collections come into force this autumn.
“This project is an innovative solution for the need to help communities become more environmentally aware. It seeks to find active or aspiring eco-champions among the wider Pembrokeshire population, to build and support a network of people; disseminating information, organising and promoting events and celebrating good practice when tackling environmental issues.
“The champions will provide a means of increasing knowledge and identifying best practice for how to offer local people a chance to be involved with waste and recycling initiatives within their community and monitor recycling levels. The targets we face are challenging,” added Cllr Tomos.
“With a team of champions on board, we’ll go a long way to meeting them. There are 77 town and community councils in Pembrokeshire and it’s hoped to have at least three champions from each area.
“This will amount to over 200 champions for the county, having that many on board would be a great start for what will be an exciting and rewarding project.” added Cllr Tomos.
To receive an Eco Champions toolkit and find out how to become and Eco Champion, contact community champion co-ordinator Mark Bond on 07771 843113 or e-mail mark.bond@pembrokeshire.gov.uk