Ruby’s Yard CIC in Atherstone will soon be able to create a brighter and greener environment thanks to Warwickshire County Council’s Green Shoots Community Climate Change Fund.
Green Shoots is a £1m fund, allocated from Warwickshire County Council, to support a wide array of small, community-powered initiatives across Warwickshire in addressing the climate change emergency. Ruby’s Yard Community Interest Company (CIC) has received £1805.58 in funding.
The Green Shoots funding will enable Ruby’s Yard to make the following additions to its Atherstone Site:
- Provide solar lights along the path leading from the toilet block to the picnic/mindfulness/camping area at the rear of the site; and
- To plant and grow native hedging alongside the wooden jetty and planting beds and improve the habitat for wildlife, especially insects and birds.
Ruby’s Yard CIC is currently transforming a former commercial boatyard on the Coventry Canal, at the top of the Atherstone Locks, into a green community space where local groups especially those serving young people, can enjoy the canal, experience the great outdoors and learn about the immense value of the natural world.
Ruby’s Yard has a 10-year lease agreement, planning permission and grant funding from Sport England to develop this site for outdoor sports and recreation. Current facilities include a toilet and shower block, landscaped area, car parking and secure boundary fencing. Planning permissions on the site include 8 am to 8 pm weekday opening + 8 camping weekends and the site has direct access onto the North Arden Heritage Trail.
The Canoe Foundation has recently awarded Ruby’s Yard a grant to improve the slipway and provide a new base /destination for paddle trails along with this extensive and beautiful, lock-free canal network.
Ruby’s Yard is planning to fully involve local community organisations and volunteers already associated with the venture, such as Warwickshire Young Carers, The Princes Trust, Duke of Edinburgh Award students and Warwickshire Wildlife Trust in the process of hedge planting. It is hoped that these activities will raise awareness of environmental issues, provide a unique experience of habitat creation and offer a future focus for small-group outdoor education about the canal as a green corridor.
Kate Gordon, Director of Ruby’s Yard CIC, said: “We are really delighted to receive this Green Shoots funding. It will help us make this former boatyard into a green and peaceful place that local people can enjoy, provide a new habitat for wildlife, and keep our carbon footprint low. We have 3 events planned for young people to plant hedgerows learn about nature and appreciate our local canal as a “living waterway.”
Cllr Heather Timms, Portfolio Holder for Environment, Climate and Culture, said: “Ruby’s Yard is a fantastic venture that is already adding incredible value to the local community by providing a safe, peaceful site for outdoor sports, recreation and learning.
“We were very happy to provide Green Shoots funding to the project to allow them to expand their environmentally conscious aspirations through the inclusion of solar lighting and extensive hedgerows and planters, which will provide important new habitats for wildlife.”
Further information about Ruby’s Yard CIC can be found here: https://www.rubysyard.org
A full list of projects that will receive Green Shoots Community Climate Change funding can be found here: https://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/news/article/2324/green-shoots-will-soon-be-springing-up-across-warwickshire-as-projects-set-to-receive-a-share-of-wcc-s-1-million-community-climate-change-fund-are-announced
For more information about the Fund, visit: www.warwickshire.gov.uk/greenshootsfund
For more information about how Warwickshire is facing the challenges of the climate change emergency, visit: https://www.warwickshireclimateemergency.org.uk/
Get the latest news about how Warwickshire County Council and partners are facing the challenge of the climate emergency and how you can get involved: http://eepurl.com/hrk-zf