Key project awarded £1,000 from O2 community art competition
The Woodlands Communities project run by the Woodland Trust has been awarded £1,000 after a local student wins the public vote in O2’s Art in the Community competition held in the Wolverhampton store, Dudley Street.
The project will use the money to continue working on reconnecting local people with the environment.
Student Christopher Phillips of the University of Chester rose to the challenge of O2’s brief: “The world is a better place when communities are connected” and entered his artwork on behalf of the project. The winner was decided by using voting boxes within the O2 store, and the project with the most votes won.
The recently launched Woodland Communities Project, which covers 10 sites across Runcorn and Warrington, seeks to re-connect families and young people with their environment and to reverse elements of anti-social behavior, including fly-tipping, which until now have rendered many local woods ‘no-go’ areas.
The project has been made possible by £213K in funding from Access to Nature, a grant scheme that is managed by Natural England and funded through the Big Lottery Fund’s Changing Spaces programme.
Tim Kirwin, Woodland Trust’s officer responsible for the project, said: “The Trust is really pleased to see the Woodland Communities Project win local people’s votes in this competition – it helps us get the word out in the Runcorn and Warrington area about how woods are good for us and they’re free to use! I would like to thank both Christopher and O2 for putting in so much effort in on our behalf.”
Lorraine Upton, Branch Manager of the Wolverhampton store say’s “There has been a lot of interest in the project while Chris’ artwork has been up in the store. All artists have done a fantastic job representing their community projects and I’m sure it was hard work choosing a winner.”
O2 Art in the Community is a competition ran by O2 It’s Your Community. The programme hands out awards from £100 to £1,000 for ideas which benefit the community or build community spirit.
It’s Your Community has now given £1.3 million to over 1,600 community projects across the UK. But the awards programme is changing – so to find out more details, or to apply for an award please log onto: www.itsyourcommunity.co.uk