Watermark award
The Watermark award is an environmental grant scheme that has offered funding for projects in our region since 1993.
It enables groups, schools, councils and other organisations to apply for financial help when carrying out projects throughout the region.
Organised by the conservation foundation, all applications are considered by a panel of experts chaired by botanist and television presenter David Bellamy.
Grants from £100 to £1,500 are awarded quarterly to schemes which aim to improve, preserve or conserve the local environment.
A Watermark Gold award worth £2,500 is available if a special project has been singled out by the judges.
Since 1993 nearly 500 initiatives across the region have benefited and last year we awarded nearly £14,000 to 37 innovative environmental projects.
In Bournemouth, Corpus Christi Catholic School equipped a sustainable green centre for its children. Nadder Hall Committee in Tisbury, Wiltshire, planted fruit trees to provide healthy local produce and in Dorset seating was built at Castleton Waterwheel Museum to replicate a restored water wheel.
In Somerset, St Augustine of Canterbury School used a Watermark award to transform a neglected pond and grassy area and in South Gloucestershire Barrs Court Primary School developed open space for its pupils. Volunteers from St George's Flower Bank transformed a Bristol commuter route after they secured funding through the Watermark scheme to buy new tools and equipment to manage wildflowers along one of the main roads into the city.
To see if your scheme could benefit from the Wessex Watermark award scheme apply now or call 01225 526327 for more information.