"Three years ago Powys Zero Waste Ltd began delegating £2.75m of grants that have enabled a broad cross section of community sector firms throughout Powys to pursue a variety of recycling and reuse projects, as well as providing training opportunities for disadvantaged individuals.
To date this funding has helped create 40 jobs and 200 training posts, as well diverting thousands of tonnes of waste from landfill.
Throughout this time the three members of staff based in Powys Zero Waste's Welshpool office have provided business support and advice to the organisations it has funded. This close support has enabled the groups to develop their projects and begin the journey towards sustainability.
Many of these organisations have been able to restructure their original ideas, and have seen their projects grow and flourish; this has been a direct result of the support and guidance offered by Powys Zero Waste.
One such group is Powys Events Recycling based in Llanwrtyd Wells. In April 2007 Powys Zero Waste gave them a grant of £128,000 to develop an events waste management project, in what was seen as an undeveloped area of operations.
The project has grown from an initial idea of providing recycling to small shows in Powys to a firm that is now providing a complete waste management and cleaning service for the small events at The Royal Welsh Show ground in Builth Wells.
As with all businesses, growth requires financing, and the problem this organisation now faces is where to source the necessary funds to allow for this growth. As large scale funding from the national and European governments is being withdrawn from eastern Wales, there is a real need to find alternative funding for the county.
Powys Zero Waste has come up with a solution to this problem - the Powys Lottery, which has been modelled on the highly successful Pembrokeshire Lottery.
The Powys Lottery will raise funds for interest free loans of up to £25,000 for Powys businesses, and grants for community groups of up to £5,000. These funds will enable environmentally sustainable development and employment, throughout Powys.
So what is it? There is a weekly cash prize of £2,000 and it costs £1 a week to play. Take a look at our website, which is listed to the right of this page, for more details.
It's simple! The profits are distributed as interest free loans and return to be loaned out again and again. As more players play there will be even greater benefits for the county.
Article by Jay Syrett-Judd
