LEEDS – Pupils at Meadowfield Primary School in Halton Moor are in the process of rewilding their school meadow thanks to a grant from enfinium.
The grant has been awarded as part of a £50,000 Community Benefit Fund, made available to community groups and organisations in Leeds during the construction phase of enfinium’s Skelton Grange Waste to Energy Hub project, which is scheduled for completion in 2025.
Over recent years, the school’s once impressive wild meadow has slowly declined – with part of the space being used as a car park and the rest lacking the vibrancy and life it once enjoyed.
But all that’s set to change now, with the enfinium funding helping pupils and teachers to breathe new life back into the meadow. Plans are now in place to bring the meadow back to life, rewilding it with new flowers and building an exciting new outdoor learning space, where pupils will learn about sustainability, science, and nature.
New benches and outdoor furniture will all be made from recycled materials, and the project will help to restore ecosystems, create new habitats, and help improve the overall health and emotional wellbeing of children and staff.
Lisa Ullyart, learning assistant at Meadowfield Primary School said: “We are extremely grateful to enfinium for awarding this grant to our school. The project to bring the meadow back to life has already had a significant and positive impact upon pupil wellbeing. Our children are immensely proud of all they have achieved so far in their efforts towards recycling and reducing waste. They are now committed to bringing about further change, creating a sustainable future for their community and future generations. This funding will enable us to create a wild, beautiful, and inspiring outdoor space for them to enjoy and learn from.”
Mike Maudsley, Chief Executive Officer at enfinium, said: “We are already creating jobs and generating supply chain opportunities for local businesses – but we know that our commitment to Leeds goes further than this. We will always be a good neighbour to the communities in which we operate and are delighted to be supporting the great work that Meadowfield Primary School is doing. We look forward to seeing them recreate this meadow and educating the next generation on the importance of looking after the environment we live in. It will be great to see how this grant – and the other grants we have been making across Leeds over recent months – make a real difference.”
enfinium’s £50,000 Community Benefit Fund has been made available to community groups and organisations in Leeds via enfinium Skelton Grange, which is currently under construction and scheduled for completion in 2025.
Applications to enfinium’s Community Benefit Fund are still open and will be accepted from projects or organisations that will directly benefit the communities neighbouring the facility’s site. Organisations who are based outside of this area are also eligible to apply for grants, as long as they can prove how the award of funding will have a beneficial impact on these communities. Applications are welcomed from registered charities, schools, places of learning, not-for-profit companies, community organisations and groups – including those supported by public funding.
All applications must demonstrate that the project or event in question will either deliver environmental benefits (such as the promotion of clean energy, waste reduction and / or recycling improvements), improve standards of health, safety and wellbeing or enhance the wider community. This could mean promoting skills and educational development, environmental improvements or activity that helps boost community cohesion.
Application criteria and application forms can be downloaded from the project website: www.enfinium.co.uk/facilities/skelton-grange. For more information please call 0800 422 0036 or email skeltongrange@enfinium.co.uk.
ENDS
About enfinium
enfinium is a leading UK energy from waste operator with four operational sites in the UK, in West Yorkshire, Kent and Flintshire, and two in construction. enfinium diverts 2.3 million tonnes of unrecyclable waste from climate-damaging landfill, putting it to good use by turning it into home grown energy, enough to power 500,000 UK homes. enfinium’s ambition is to transform its facilities into local ‘decarbonisation hubs’ powered by the millions of tonnes of unrecyclable waste the UK will produce for decades to come. Using existing energy from waste infrastructure, enfinium could contribute to heat networks, produce electrolytic hydrogen, or use carbon capture technology to provide durable, high quality carbon removals which will be critical for the UK to achieve net zero by 2050. For more on enfinium, please visit www.enfinium.co.uk.
