237 projects in Cumbria have been boosted by support from Nuclear Waste Services – from employability initiatives and sports kits, to playground improvements and winter heating.
Hundreds of community projects have benefited from millions of pounds-worth of funding from Nuclear Waste Services in the last three years.
In total, over £10 million has been awarded to over 260 initiatives across Cumbria and Lincolnshire ranging from youth schemes, mental health initiatives and mountain rescue.
The funding is part of the process to find a site for an underground radioactive waste facility.
Areas of Cumbria and in Lincolnshire are taking part to see if they could be possible locations for the facility, known as a GDF.
Three GDF Community Partnerships are currently engaging in the siting process – Mid Copeland, South Copeland and Theddlethorpe in Lincolnshire – an available funding can increase to £2.5m a year if a site is selected for drilling deep boreholes.
Up to £1m a year was made available to those communities, in recognition of the fact that the main benefits that come from hosting a GDF will not materialise for many years.
The Low Level Waste Repository’s Socio-economic Fund also awards £85,000 every year to support local groups and projects and he Copeland Community Fund recognises the service Copeland provides the nation by hosting the Low Level Waste Repository near Drigg.
Copeland Community Fund is funded by NWS to the level of £1.6 million per year, in addition to an initial endowment of £10m.
The fund provides grants to a wide range of non-profit organisations for the benefit of the local community in line with the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority’s Social Impact and Communities Strategy 2024.
Mike Brophy, head of social impact at NWS, said: “At NWS, our vision is to make nuclear waste permanently safe, sooner and we never lose sight of supporting the communities we operate in.
“Our work in these areas is vital. The GDF programme is a huge environmental protection project and at the Repository, we aim to make the biggest socio-economic impact we can, locally.
“We’re thrilled that this funding is making such an impact and look forward to making a difference to more local organisations and the people they benefit in the coming year.”
Mid Copeland partnership chair, Andy Pratt, said: “It’s brilliant to see all of these local projects receiving funding, coming to fruition and making a huge difference to so many people across our communities.
“There’s such a wide range of projects which shows the versatility of the funding and all of the different ways it can be used to provide new and enhanced facilities.”
Funding was granted to groups including:
- £75,000 for a new emergency vehicle for Wasdale Mountain Rescue Team.
- Always Another Way in Allerdale was awarded £40,000 to support children, young people and adults with issues around mental health.
- Friends of Eskdale School received £37,000 for the installation of Cumbria’s first school biodome at St Bega’s, as well as planters, soil, seeds, seedlings and nutrients; and Millom Bowling Club were awarded £16,000 for a new greens mower.
Recent recipients of the Low Level Waste Repository Socio-economic Fund include:
- £9,275 to Time To Change (West Cumbria) to support local homeless people by refurbishing rooms at Calderwood House – an emergency homelessness hostel in Egremont, which since 2015 has had over 400 users of the facility.
- £5,000 to I CAAN West Cumbria to support people and families with autism, in and around Cumberland by providing a programme of activities.
- £125,000 to the Cumbria Community Foundation towards Better Tomorrows programme encouraging people within Cumbria to become accredited in youth work and increase the number of young people having access to support from youth workers to reach their full potential.
The fund also supports the Dream Placement programmes, a unique Cumbrian initiative, project managed by the Centre for Leadership Performance, that brings together young students aged 16-18 for work experience in the February half-term across businesses and industry in the county.
