The CaST Account
In 2021, United Utilities created a dedicated Catchment Systems Thinking (CaST Account), with a total value of £300,000, to support charitable organisations in delivering catchment based projects in the North West, specifically within United Utilities operating area. Applications closed in April and eligible projects were evaluated against two main criteria:
Engagement with nature:
Ability to demonstrate a social element to the activity, such as community engagement in delivery or educational focus.
Promoting natural capital markets:
Ability to demonstrate engagement of commercial interests in at least some of their funding and/or using markets to bring together potential funders of interventions with those who can deliver them.
Eight charities across the North West have been successful and received funding for their projects, having demonstrated they will either encourage community engagement with nature or bring together different partners to maximise funding for schemes.
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Eden Rivers Trust Eden Rivers Trust will work with school children and residents in Carlisle and the Eden Valley to create the next generation of river champions for the River Eden catchment. |
Mersey Rivers Trust Mersey Rivers Trust will establish a community-participation project focused on the lower catchment area of the River Bollin from Trafford to Macclesfield. It aims to increase the number of people connecting with nature and accessing local blue-green spaces for health and well-being. They will also engage volunteers and landowners in restoring the reed bed habitat at Tatton Mere. |
Ribble Rivers Trust Ribble Rivers Trust are seeking to explore other forms of quantified ecosystem services for woodlands, such as Natural Flood Risk Management, Public Amenity, and Air Quality. With interventions at Blueslate Farm, Brunghill Farm and Cockshotts Farm. |
Groundwork Cheshire, Lancashire, and Merseyside Groundwork Cheshire, Lancashire, and Merseyside working alongside the Rivington Heritage Trust project, will look to recruit and train 25 volunteers to begin conservation work at Lever Park in Rivington. This conservation work will involve both habitat and water improvements. |
Groundwork Greater Manchester Groundwork Greater Manchester will focus on the River Irk and its brooks within Manchester, Oldham and Rochdale, engaging local communities and partners to co-design and deliver a yearlong programme of events, networking and training opportunities. The project will raise awareness of the river corridor, connecting more local people to it, and to each other, to create a ‘Love Your River Irk’ network. |
South Cumbria Rivers Trust South Cumbria Rivers Trust will engage communities in the restoration of 800m2 of reed beds in Lake Windermere. The project will deliver a series of conservation tasks and events to demonstrate the importance of this declining habitat for water quality, wildlife and people. It will also enable the organisation to explore options for biodiversity offsetting to fund future water quality improvement works. |
The Conservation Volunteers The Conservation Volunteers will engage a wide audience of people into their local natural and water environments within the Upper Mersey Catchment, working across Tameside, Stockport, Manchester and Trafford. The project will target people who would not typically visit these environments including disabled people, young people, people from ethnic minorities and older people. Improvement projects will be chosen by participants and could include invasive species removal and planting trees. |
The Land Trust The Land Trust will deliver a programme of educational sessions, community events and activities, and school sessions for a wide range of people of all ages and abilities at Port Sunlight River Park in the Wirral |
