Ecominds newsletter 2 - April 2009

First Ecominds grants awarded

In mid-March the Ecominds Grants Panel awarded the first grants. Nine successful applications walked away with over £1 million in funding for their environmental and mental health projects. This represents seven large grants, 1 medium and 1 small.

One of the fortunate organisations was Finchale College in the North East with their "Load of Old Rubbish" project which will enable trainees, the majority of whom experience mental health issues, to design and produce a recycling and conservation themed garden to enter into the 2009 RHS Tatton Park Flower Show in Knutsford, Cheshire, in July.

See all the funded projects

Regional distribution

Ecominds are seeing a relatively even distribution of applications from across England. However, applications from the North East in particular, and also the East Midlands and East of England are particularly welcome.

Small and medium applications

View this table to see how many grants in each category have been awarded and how many still remain for the length of the scheme.

We are particularly keen to receive small and medium sized applications, that is funding up to £60,000, as we have had a huge amount of interest already in large and flagship grants.

Flagship applications

A reminder that any groups wishing to apply for a flagship project, that is funding between £150,001 and £250,000, must send their applications into Ecominds by May.

Green Groove

This interesting website suggests that if we all make a phased withdrawal of certain wasteful elements in our life, then we can all do our bit towards helping slow down and even reduce climate change. You choose a few areas that you will cut down on for a week and Green Groove emails you to track your progress.

A quote for our times

In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.
- Albert Einstein

Time to Change TV ad

Did you see the Time to Change campaign's stimulating ad about mental health? If not you can view it here. Time to Change is focused on removing the stigma of mental health in our society and they have some high profile public figures helping them to achieve it, including Ruby Wax, Alistair Campbell and Stephen Fry.

Did you know?

Over 22,000 people have visited the Ecominds website, from all over the world, since it launched in September last year!