Voting opens for Suffolk's 'Green Hero' in Suffolk Creating The Greenest County Awards 2023
Residents are being encouraged to vote for their 'Green Hero' in Suffolk County Council's Creating The Greenest County Awards 2023.
Voting is now open for the award, which will go to an individual who inspires others to care for the environment, connects people and brings environmental projects to life in their area.
There are a total of 10 nominees, which have been put forward by members of the public. These nominees are...
1. Jason Alexander - Rubbish Walks
Jason has been raising awareness about littering and waste across the county, with the organisation of campaigns and litter picks.
During one 24-hour pick, in which he collected money for Cancer Campaign In Suffolk, he walked 34 miles around the streets of Ipswich, was joined by over 50 volunteers and collected over 60 bags of litter.
In just over a year he has completed more than 300 personal litter picks and organised more than 40 public litter picking and beach cleaning events.
2. Debbie Bartlett - Litter-free Felixstowe
Debbie leads 1,250 members at Litter-Free Felixstowe, organising group litter picks on the beach.
She has launched creative ideas including a loyalty card to collect stamps for free reusable water bottles and tote bags, as well as education schemes for children and businesses in the area.
She was recently asked to be a UK ambassador at Clean Up Britain and has met several times with local MP, Therese Coffey, Secretary of State for DEFRA.
3. Martin Cant - Ipswich Wildlife Group
Martin runs the Wildlife Homes project at Ipswich Wildlife Group where he is responsible for the volunteers who produced more than 7,000 nest boxes in the last 9 years.
He takes his wildlife kits to schools and scout groups and is also a regular weekly volunteer for the Greenways Countryside Project and for the Friends of Holywells Park.
4. Nan Eshelby - Bombus the Bee
Nan is working to make Suffolk a more nature-friendly place and, in Summer 2022, she opened her Haverhill garden, which is full of wildflowers and pollinators, to visitors.
She is dedicated to education and has written a series of children’s books – ‘Maisie, Daisy and Mo love Nature’ - which she has published with her own money and donated to schools.
A scientist herself, her research showed that the common use of the weedkiller, Glysophate, had a damaging effect on pollinators which she worked with councillors to successfully ban.
5. Steph Holland - West Suffolk Hive CIC
Steph founded West Suffolk Hive, the culmination of her three not-for-profit organisations St Edmundsbaby, Nature Explorers and West Suffolk HomeEd Hub, and has arranged several eco-friendly campaigns.
She has been on the local residents’ Air Quality Forum since 2020 and started working with the River Lark Catchment Partnership in 2020.
She helped to arrange a churchyard bug and flower count, the BioBlitz with Bury Water Meadows group and teamed up with Bury Rickshaw to test a prototype Bicycle Bus to improve air quality around local schools, as well as many other projects.
6. Eamonn O'Nolan - Woodbridge Climate Action Centre
Eamonn initiated and carried out testing for E.Coli in the river Deben. He also launched the growing Woodbridge Climate Action Centre.
He has organised two climate action meetings already this year and is a mentor to the Youth Climate Action Group in the town.
7. Milly Sandoval - Rethink, Reuse, Repurpose, Repair, Rewild, Recycle
Milly is a mum living in the Shotley peninsular area who leads a growing group of local people to learn about their impact on the planet.
In lockdown, she used the group Facebook social media page “Rethink, Reuse, Repurpose, Repair, Rewild, Recycle” to talk to people about making greener changes to their lifestyles.
8. Lucy Seppings - Broome Beck Meadow
Lucy's love of nature, which started in childhood on her family farm, inspired her to launch her own chemical-free and locally sold flower company on a corner of her family’s meadows in Broome.
She uses no herbicides or pesticides wherever possible and attends many Wild Learning courses to enable her to better understand how to care for the environment.
She also spreads the word through an active social media presence and two websites.
9. David Townend - Ringsfield Hall Eco Activity Centre
David has set up Ringsfield Hall Eco Activity Centre which upcycles green waste into new, useful items.
Other projects include woodland regeneration, with 400 tree saplings being planted at the site, a wormery, and wild meadowland which is being allowed to grow naturally.
David has also worked with EastCoast College staff, providing voluntary opportunities for SEN students who are interested in gardening.
10. Helen Walters - Laxfield's Food Share Initiative
Helen and her partner Kevin go to Laxfield Co-op at the end of every day to collect food, which would otherwise be thrown into landfill, and then leave it in a purpose-built shelter at the edge of their property for people to collect free of charge.
This massively reduces food waste, but also helps support struggling families who cannot afford goods.
Helen, a former school teacher, and her partner also took in two Ukranian refugees earlier in the year, who are also involved in the initiative.
The Greenest County Awards for 2023 will see a total of nine awards presented to schools, businesses and communities from across the county.
You can place your vote for your 'Green Hero' here.
Councillor Richard Rout, Suffolk County Council’s Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance and Environment, said: "We’ve had well over 100 nominations across all our awards this year, which just goes to show much Suffolk’s communities care about our local environment.
"The nominees help us all to understand that we must make significant changes to the way we live, by protecting our natural environment, reducing carbon emissions, making our homes more efficient, and reducing our energy and water use.
"Our judging panel will select the winners for each category, but the Green Hero award will be chosen by the public. Over 1,000 people voted for our last Green Hero which was Debbie Bartlett from Litter-Free Felixstowe."
The other awards categories are:
- Green Business
- Green Small Business
- Green Tourism
- Green School
- Green Hero
- Green Community
- Enhancing Biodiversity and Landscape
- Waste Reduction and Recycling
- Derek Moore Award – for outstanding contribution
