Groundwork honoured at awards ceremony

Community charity Groundwork East has been honoured at the CPRE’s (Campaign to Protect Rural England) Bedfordshire awards for its work across in Luton & Bedfordshire.

Groundwork received a ‘recognising excellence’ award at the Living Countryside Awards 2018 as recognition for the work they do to change places and lives of those living in Bedfordshire.

The charity is working in Luton to reduce food poverty and improve the health and wellbeing of both local residents and those who have migrated to the area from different countries. Residents attend a community hub to grow fresh produce and cook healthy meals. They also share their produce with those in Luton who are suffering from food poverty. All the volunteers at the hub have previously been in food poverty and are using their experiences to help others.

Groundwork has also been improving the health of the River Lea by engaging local residents, including young people, to learn how to monitor and boost the river’s condition. By monitoring levels and pollution in the river, the volunteers will help to increase its biodiversity.

Unemployed residents across the county have also been benefiting from Groundwork. A number of local people have enrolled on the Green Team – an employment and skills course. The programme sees them gain new landscaping and horticulture skills by improving a local area and gaining City & Guilds qualifications. During the course they also improve their employability by undertaking mock interviews and CV workshops.

Steve Harvey, Executive Director for Groundwork East said “We are thrilled to have been recognised by CPRE for our work in Bedfordshire. We are working to improve communities across the county and to be acknowledged by the CPRE is an honour and a credit to our Bedfordshire team.”

Groundwork was presented with its plaque at the awards ceremony on 3 October 2018 at Harpur Suite, Bedford.