Day: 26 February 2020

UN Women and Unilever team up in Tanzanian tea plantations to create safer communities for women

Stuart Mitchell

Dusty winding roads circle mist-shrouded mountains, and mighty rivers snake towards Unilever Tea Tanzania’s five plantations and three factories in the Mufindi district of Iringa region. The tea produced here is highly acclaimed for its taste and quality. It has also created decent jobs for local communities, including women, and fostered sustainable development. Unilever is one of the largest private-sector employers in Iringa and Njombe regions, providing jobs for more than 6,000 people. Nearly half of its managers include locally recruited women. “Women are a key resource that drive tea…

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National Trust set to fund ‘biggest ever conservation spend’ of £3m a week in its 125th year

Stuart Mitchell

The National Trust is set to spend an average of £3m every week this year on conservation for the first time as it continues to invest more in houses, collections, coastline and countryside. The news comes as Europe’s biggest conservation charity lays out plans for its biggest ever sustained investment in protecting nature and the environment as it continues to tackle the “crisis caused by climate change which is leaving nature in peril”. Last month, Director General Hilary McGrady announced in a landmark speech that by 2030 the Trust will…

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New year cash boost for young people with £9m extension to #iwill Fund

Stuart Mitchell

Youth-led social action programmes are receiving a £9 million cash boost from the #iwill Fund, a joint fund supporting youth social action programmes made possible through the investment of The Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and The National Lottery Community Fund, the largest funder of community activity in the UK. The #iwill Fund currently works in partnership with 25 funders, who match the investment. Thanks to this cash boost, the #iwill Fund is expanding its ambition to work with further funders who are interested in joining this…

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Six places in England begin their journey to tackle inequality through boosting their social economy

Stuart Mitchell

Local Access is a joint funding programme, established by Access and Big Society Capital that aims to support the development of stronger, more resilient and sustainable social economies in disadvantaged places. After working with a range of partners with extensive experience in supporting place-based initiatives, Local Access invited twelve places to develop plans for how a blend of grant and repayable finance can support their local social economy. In January 2020 six of these twelve place were chosen.  The six places are: Bradford; Bristol; Gainsborough; Greater Manchester (Bolton, Oldham, Stockport…

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The UK Plastics Pact inspires latest in the global network tackling plastic pollution

Stuart Mitchell

WRAP is delighted to have supported the development of the South African Plastics Pact; the latest in the global network working together to tackle the scourge of plastic pollution. Launched yesterday in Cape Town, the Pact is closely modelled on the world-first UK Plastics Pact, set up by WRAP in 2018. It is the latest member of The Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s Plastics Pact global network, aligned with the New Plastics Economy vision. It now joins the UK, France, the Netherlands and Chile, to exchange knowledge and collaborate to drive a…

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