Sheffield & Rotherham Wildlife Trust has won a £40,000 Movement for Good award from Ecclesiastical Insurance Group.
After receiving a £10,000 award last year, the Trust is one of five charities chosen by a panel of judges to benefit from the larger grants.
The additional £40,000 will enable Sheffield & Rotherham Wildlife Trust, which carries out natural flood management work in South Yorkshire, to extend the charity’s work to other suitable sites in the Upper River Don catchment area to mitigate flood risk.
The original £10,000 Movement for Good award enabled the charity to undertake natural flood management works in Greno Woods, north of Sheffield. Leaky dams and attenuation ponds will now hold back rainwater and release it slowly into the stream system, alleviating the flood risk to Chapeltown in the valley below.
Marta Alfaro-Tirado, Nature Recovery Manager (South) at Sheffield Wildlife Trust, said:
“Thanks to this funding, Sheffield & Rotherham Wildlife Trust can expand the use of this cost-effective, natural, wildlife friendly approach to mitigating flood risk – which climate change looks set to increase in the years to come. Natural flood management is 100% natural, less intrusive than modern methods of flood mitigation and will potentially benefit everyone who lives and works in the area by helping to reduce the damage caused by flash floods.”
Ponds will be dug which will store excess water in times of heavy rain until the natural water system is able to cope with it. Leaky dams built into the watercourses will hold back excess rainwater and release it more gradually into the streams to prevent them from becoming overwhelmed by flash floods. Wildlife benefits from using these techniques too. The woodland ponds help insect populations to thrive, providing food for bird and bat populations, while the ponds and dams provide habitats for amphibians such as frogs, toads and newts.
Mark Hews, Group CEO of Ecclesiastical, said: “At Ecclesiastical we believe business should be a force for good. Charitable causes need sustained support and a sense of financial stability. We received so many strong funding applications from deserving charities we decided to give five fantastic causes £40,000 each. We know that these additional grants can make a huge difference to the incredible work that charities do and we’re looking forward to seeing how these donations will change lives for the better.
“Ecclesiastical, the fourth largest corporate donor in the UK, is a unique financial services group. We are owned by a charity which means all available profits can be given to the good causes that are so important to our customers. As a company whose purpose is to contribute to the greater good of society, charitable giving is at the heart of our business.”
For further information on the Movement for Good awards please visit: www.ecclesiastical.com/movementforgood