News

• Groups submitted projects based on environmental or nature themes to reflect Severn Trent’s partnership with the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games 
• Awards contribute to the ambition of the Severn Trent Community Fund to donate £10m over five years 
• Severn Trent customers were invited to vote for their favourite project in their regions

Thirty three non-profit organisations from across the Midlands have been awarded a share of £250,000 of funding from Severn Trent. The funding is the latest part of the company’s commitment to deliver £10million of grants to good causes, through the Severn Trent Community Fund, over five years. 

Following the company’s appointment as official Nature and Carbon Neutral Partner for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, groups and organisations from across Severn Trent’s region were invited to submit projects with a nature or environmental theme.

Severn Trent customers voted for their favourite project in each funding category – Bronze (£5,000), Silver (£10,000) and Gold (£20,000) – on the Severn Trent website, with over 9,000 people casting their vote.

Of the 33 organisations that took their places on the starting blocks, 20 received the full funding allocation at each tier, with 13 finishing as runners-up and receiving £1,000 towards their projects.

Neil Morrison, from Severn Trent, said: “We share the Commonwealth Games’ vision for positive, sustainable improvements to our environment and the natural world around us. This is a fundamental part of our core business, as demonstrated through our commitment to plant 2022 hectares of forests to help offset the carbon produced by the Games, alongside broader projects including the Get River Positive programme to protect and enhance our waterways, and the £566 million Green Recovery Programme. 

“We want to encourage the next generation of water, waste and environmental champions and the range of projects submitted for this fund have been absolutely fantastic, demonstrating a really broad variety of environmental and nature-themed schemes from organisations that can make a real difference in their communities.”  

A central objective of the 2022 Games is to deliver the most sustainable event of its kind, creating a carbon-neutral legacy. 

Jess Fidler, Head of Sustainability at Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, said: “Ensuring a lasting legacy of sustainability is absolutely at the front of our minds.  The projects that been successful through this competition represent some truly brilliant social and environmental initiatives and are aligned with our sustainability ambitions. We would like to congratulate all of the winners and runners up and look forward to seeing the delivery of their projects.”

A full list of awardees can be found by visiting https://www.stwater.co.uk/about-us/severn-trent-community-fund/projects-community-fund-has-already-helped/ and clicking on the tab labelled ‘List of Public Vote Winners’.