Jurassic Coast Trust celebrates success in bid for coastal volunteering!
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government have today announced the successful coastal projects who will receive a share of fast-track Coastal Communities funds to help deliver sustainable growth and jobs across the Great British Coast.
One of these awards is a grant of over £258,000 to the Jurassic Coast Trust to create a joined-up network of volunteers and businesses along the Jurassic Coast, working with local partners.
As part of the fifth round of the Coastal Communities Fund, sixteen ‘ready to go’ projects have been selected to start work to transform their coastal communities in 2018-19.
The projects, which includes the Jurassic Coast Trust’s Volunteer Network, were chosen for their ability to deliver sustainable growth and jobs. Since 2012, the Coastal Communities Fund has awarded grants to 295 projects across the UK, totalling over £173 million.
The Jurassic Coast Trust grant will be used within the next three years to create a network of volunteers with links to local businesses, creating pathways to employment, particularly within the industry that supports the Jurassic Coast. It will include training, accreditation, recruitment, use of an interactive IT platform, and extend the full length of the World Heritage Site between Studland Bay in Dorset and Exmouth in East Devon.
Alexandra O’Dwyer, Chair at the Jurassic Coast Trust said: “Our Volunteer Network project is all about developing the skills and capacity of people and places along the coast so that they can better support the World Heritage Site, as well as boosting businesses and communities. The Jurassic Coast is a tremendous natural asset that needs to be looked after by all those who use it, but at the same time it also should create opportunities and real benefit for people. We are thrilled to receive the funding to make this happen and, as a relatively small charity with over 95 miles of World Heritage to look after, we are looking forward to the boost it will give our work.”
Coastal Communities Minister, Jake Berry MP, who has announced the successful organisations who will receive funding, said: “It’s really exciting to see money from the Coastal Communities Fund help kick start these shovel ready projects, which have the potential to unlock the barriers to development and growth of our coastal communities. Investment in our seaside areas, through projects such as these, will provide nothing short of a New Deal for the Great British coast creating thousands of jobs, training places and opportunities along the shore.”
Jurassic Coast Ambassador and voluneer
