Partnerships & Community Groups

Thank you to our main sponsor for 2012 - The Radisson Blu East Midlands Airport Hotel

The Radisson Blu East Midlands Airport Hotel is the greenest hotel in the country. The five-storey, 216-bed hotel features a state-of-the-art leisure club and a stylish restaurant. Guests can relax in the sauna, spa pool and steam room, or try indulgent treatments in the beauty spa. The Radisson Blu also features a fully equipped fitness centre and an indoor swimming pool.

The shortlisted projects:

Appleby Environment Thermal Imaging Project

Appleby Environment ran this village-wide project to raise awareness of heat loss from buildings and encourage people to take action to reduce their home energy use. The group gained permission to take thermal images of practically every home and community building in Appleby Magna, then organised a public exhibition to share the results and provide specific advice to home owners. The aim was to ‘make people feel that their individual actions added up to something bigger’. The exhibition attracted 157 people and got everybody in the village talking about energy reduction.

Coalville Resource Centre Community Garden

This project saw the development of a community garden and wildlife sanctuary and was led by a core group of 12 adults with learning disabilities, who meet every Wednesday. The team has volunteered over 1200 hours of their time and created an accessible community space, where they produce their own organic produce that they sell to help self-fund the project. The garden is a haven for wildlife, such as butterflies, birds and invertebrates. The project has brought together people from different cultures, ages and abilities and helped the group acquire new skills and form new social networks.

North West Leicestershire Volunteer Rangers

This diverse group is actively involved with the conservation of over 16 country parks and local nature reserves across the district. The group meets three times a week every week and collectively the 300 volunteers have contributed 5620 volunteer hours over the past year. They link in with a wide range of partners and have supported local schools and groups on a number of projects such as the installation of floating islands as nesting habitat in the Grange Nature Reserve. Volunteers have also been involved with community events throughout the year and set up a work readiness project to pass on their skills to long-term unemployed individuals.

And the winner is: NORTH WEST LEICESTERSHIRE VOLUNTEER RANGERS

Members of North West Leicestershire Volunteer Rangers with Leicestershire County Council Rangers receive their award from the sponsor, Daniel Keane, General Manager at the Radisson Blu East Midlands Airport Hotel.