AN AWARD of £700 has been given to a group of Northleach residents for their work to create a green community.


Cotswold District Council gave the group the money after they started a website to encourage local borrowing, reducing their need to buy everyday items like ladders as a community.
At the heart of this is a new initiative known as Streetbank, a UK-wide movement of people who share with their neighbours.


The council’s competition challenged communities in the Cotswolds to come up with ways to reduce, reuse and recycle to decrease the amount of waste being sent to landfill.
Using Streetbank the group in Northleach is doing just this by using a free website to share within their community.


Through lending ladders, borrowing buggies and swapping sewing machines, the Northleach group has found they are producing less waste and less clutter.


Northleach resident and Streetbank champion Jenny Moss said she was confident that this was just the beginning for the scheme.


She said: ““It all started when I needed a roof box, and it occurred to me that rather than buy a new one, maybe one of my neighbours would have one I could borrow.


“I did some digging around online and discovered streetbank. Very quickly I set a group up in Northleach. It’s really easy to join and use and is a great way of bringing a community together.”


Cabinet member for the environment and communities at Cotswold District Council, Cllr Sue Coakley, was full of praise for Jenny’s initiative.


She said: “When the Streetbank group applied for the GRR

Reen competition we had no hesitation in awarding them a £700 prize because they had such impressive plans for increasing the recycling and reuse of everyday items, while also reducing consumption of new goods.


“We also felt that this was a good model which could be replicated across the whole District.
“People are buying more items than ever before and an increasing number of quality goods are being thrown away.”


Across the country 1500 people are exchanging through Streetbank every month.
There are over 60,000 members and it’s the largest website of its kind with 38,000 things and 12,000 skills worth a total of £1.5m listed so far.


Using the fund won in the gRRReen Awards, Northleach Streetbank group plans to expand not only in their community, but also within Gloucestershire, helping others set up their own groups.


If you are interested in getting involved or would like more information please visit www.streetbank.com for more information.