Groundwork is a federation of Trusts in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, each working with their partners to improve the quality of the local environment, the lives of local people and the success of local businesses in areas in need of investment and support. As part of UK wide changes to the Groundwork Federation all Groundwork regions are in the process of establishing themselves as independent members of the Federation. In the East of England a new limited liability company and charity called Groundwork East of England was established in September 2009 and became operational on 1st November 2009.
The nature of the work of the regional team does not change and neither does this affect our local independent Groundwork Trusts in Hertfordshire, Luton & South Bedfordshire and South Essex or our partnership and programme work in Suffolk and Haven Gateway.
The changes are designed to allow for greater flexibility, streamlining and devolution of activities from Groundwork UK, so we can provide an even better service to our partners and communities.
For further details contact Judith Grice on 01234 766058.
For information on how to find your way around this website and any new additions please click here.
Community Spaces giving a little bit more...One of the unique features of a Community Spaces grant is the additional funding every successful applicant is allocated in the form of a Sustainability Grant.
In addition to the money that the group secures to deliver their project, they are also, in principle, awarded a sum of money to begin working on sustainability. The additional funding can be used for activities and equipment that will support the continued use of the project and encourage local people to stay involved. Please see latest press release to the London regional media and you can click on the logo above for further information; there is also a new blogging site to share good news at http://blog.community-spaces.org.uk/
You can now download our latest issue of our newsletter 'From the Ground Up' for January 
2010 which has a focus on Climate Change.
For previous newsletter editions, please click here. If you would like to receive future editions of this newsletter by email or post, please email us at info@groundwork-eastofengland.org.uk
Look out for our next newsletter due for release in April 2010.
REEmarkable!...
Groundwork East of England is pleased to announce that they have been selected by Renewables East to join an advisory panel that provides expert support to the 
Resource Efficiency East (REE) programme. The REE programme provides a range of resource efficiency support to small and medium size businesses across the East of England region and is delivered under the ‘Solutions for Business’ brand. Support is available up until March 2011.
Cut Carbon and Save Money - Interest Free 3 Year Loan
The ANSWER project have the 'answer' to help homes, businesses and schools in Suffolk cut their energy use by providing a Carbon Reduction Loan Scheme.
The loan covers the initial costs of the work, so that you can repay as you start seeing the benefit from lower energy bills.
Loans will pay for anything, from insulation to solar panels, that will reduce the carbon emissions associated with energy use.
For further information please click here.
Suffolk Coastal Business Service Update...
Our Business Energy Advisor has already calculated a cumulative total annual carbon footprint of 1,567 tonnes a year and a cumulative total energy spend of £318,424 a year from 30 audits within Suffolk Coastal.
If these SMEs were to implement simple good housekeeping measures, as detailed in each tailored energy report and action plan, savings of over £47,750 could be seen. Cost savings of nearly £50,000 could be seen from lighting upgrades, nearly £17,000 from upgrades to heating systems and over £20,000 from improvements to building fabric insulation. These actions give the potential to save a minimum of 257 tonnes of carbon each year. In addition to this, if 11 of the SMEs (that participated in the waste analysis service) were to recycle their waste, that they are currently sending to landfill, this would save a minimum of 245 tonnes of carbon each year.
For further information please contact Anna on 07748 320286 or email anna.martin@groundwork.org.uk.
Resource Efficiency Work
Our resource efficiency work with small businesses is going from strength to strength. Our small environmental business team is working flat out and it is likely that we will need to grow our team and increase our capacity. The focus of our work currently is providing energy audits, but we have growing interest in water and waste as well as broader support demands for Environmental management schemes. See recruitment section if you would like to register an interest in being involved in our work.
Groundwork's Suffolk Business Advisors are encouraging businesses to take up the challenge of “Creating the Greenest County”
In Suffolk , real action is being undertaken by community groups and individuals. For example, through funding from a variety of sources, including the Green Suffolk Fund, Great Barton will be installing a groundsource heat pump and photovoltaic panels to their community hall. This will allow the hall to become an inclusive centre for all to use for a variety of activities, as well as reducing energy costs for the village. 
Suffolk will be effected by climate change and through local actions we can work towards reducing the impact for everyone. The Copenhagen Conference will be considering the actions taken by local government and its partners through the Local Government Climate Sessions and network .
Please open the poster and print off and display it in your premises for two weeks.
Together we can start to make a real difference!
For more information about Creating the Greenest County and how your community, school and business can win an award please visit www.greensuffolk.org
Groundwork Hertfordshire builds new equipment for Bennetts End's Young Adventurers
Hemel Hempstead MP, Mike Penning, and Deputy Mayor of Dacorum, Cllr Roger Taylor, joined young people at the formal opening of a new piece of equipment at Bennetts End Adventure Playground on 2nd December. At the celebration event, they were able to see for themselves the transformation of the playground and congratulated all those who participated in the project. For further information please click here.
Partnership Working Seminar held on 27th November 2009
Groundwork East of England and North Hertfordshire Homes joined forces in delivering a 
joint, successful, seminar demonstrating and promoting best practise in partnership working between Affordable Housing providers and the Charitable Sector.
A number of projects were presented that show how working together with the residents has improved community cohesion and offered real life changing opportunities, such as Beech Hill, Valley Road and West Mill.
Groundwork East of England also presented The Green Doctor, a free service to residents which provides support to households that would like to save money on their energy bills. Groundwork can also provide other partnering in business services, please see our Business Brochure.
For further information on the Green Doctor or other partnering in business services which Groundwork East of England can provide please contact James Edge, Regional Development Manager on 01234 766058.
(Photos credited to 1Point Media & Marketing)
New Website Coming Soon....
Groundwork East of England are in the process of changing the structure and visual appearance of our website. The new website is well advanced and will come live in January 2010 with a new website address www.eastofengland.groundwork.org.uk. Till then we are limiting our updates to this current website, just keeping the News section up to date. If you have any queries please contact Susan Foenander on 01234 766058.
The ANSWER Programme (A North Sea Way to Energy Efficient Regions)
Groundwork East of England representatives Paul Bradford, Senior Environmental Business Advisor, and Tim Wray, Assistant Business Advisor, have recently helped Suffolk County Council run a two day workshop with delegates from partnering agencies in the East and West Flanders, Sweden, Germany and the Netherlands. The objective of the workshop was to look at the role of "on line" carbon calculator tools in helping SMEs reduce their carbon footprint. Highlights were a presentation from Sallie Davies of Gotelee & Goldsmiths, detailing how they have benefitted from our business advisor service. A working lunch followed at the Museum Street cafe with a presentation by the owners explaining how working with Groundwork has helped to reduce their carbon footprint. For further information on this programme please click here or visit ANSWER website at www.answerproject.eu.
To view other recent news, please visit our News page.
For further details on Groundwork programme development and activities in the East of England, please contact susan.foenander@groundwork.org.uk.
Groundwork East of England
Forest Centre
Station Road
Marston Moretaine
Bedfordshire MK43 0PR
T 01234 766058
