North London community fund awards £168,111 to waste prevention projects
The North London Waste Authority's Community Fund expands to support twenty local projects with up to £15,000 each for initiatives targeting food, textile, plastic and electrical waste reduction.
The selected recipients, in the boroughs of Barnet, Camden, Enfield, Hackney, Haringey, Islington and Waltham Forest, will receive grants of up to £15,000 each to deliver projects targeting various waste streams including food, plastics, textiles, electrical items and household waste.
Councillor Clyde Loakes MBE, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Climate and Air Quality and Chair of NLWA, commented: "It's inspiring to see the creativity and dedication of our community groups in tackling waste prevention and we are proud to support twenty projects this year, an increase from last year's fourteen.
"By investing in these initiatives, we are not only cutting waste but also fostering a culture of sustainability and resilience in our communities as well as aiming to reach new audiences to ensure the groups reflect our diverse communities."
The twenty funded projects represent a diverse range of approaches to waste prevention across the seven boroughs.
These include New Tribe CIC, which will deliver workshops on natural dyeing and weaving with plant-based waste, Play it Again Toys CIC, running pop-up toy repair sessions, and Footprint for Good, which will empower young people through furniture upcycling workshops.
Edible London CIC will work across five boroughs (Barnet, Enfield, Hackney, Haringey, Islington) while other projects will focus their efforts within specific communities.
Some projects focus on specific waste streams, such as Hackney Foodbank addressing food waste in Hackney, Screen Share UK targeting electronic waste in Camden and Islington, and Woodshop of Recycled Delights (WoRD) working with discarded wood materials in Hackney.
The full list of funded organisations is: Calthorpe Community Garden, Clapton Support and Advice, Cooking Champions, Edible London CIC, Footprint for Good, Forest Recycling Project (FRP) and REACT, Friern Barnet Community Library, GB Carnival CIC, Green & Silver Enterprises, Hackney Foodbank, Living Way Ministries, New Tribe CIC, Play it Again Toys CIC, Refugee Workers' Cultural Association, Screen Share UK, South Hampstead and Kilburn Community Partnership, The Enfield Alevi Centre, Waste Not London, Woodshop of Recycled Delights (WoRD), and Yad Voezer Day Centre.
The fund is part of NLWA's ongoing commitment to waste prevention and resource preservation, with the authority managing approximately 820,000 tonnes of waste and recycling collected by the seven boroughs each year.
Since its launch in 2017, the North London Community Fund has now enabled 81 projects to reach thousands of residents across north London, building capacity for waste prevention at community level.
