Green Cleethorpes

The railway line through Cleethorpes forms a natural barrier for pedestrians and cyclists. If you’re around North Cleethorpes then you can cross at the Fuller Street footbridge only. You used to be able to cross at the crossing at Sugitts Lane too. This was useful for pushchairs, wheelchairs and cyclists too. But unfortunately this has been closed for a couple of years now for Network Rail safety reasons.

So mapping paths and routes around Green Cleethorpes has to take into account crossing the railway line. Reaching North Beach or the open ground that we’re calling the ‘pocket park’ means Fuller Street bridge or the long route around into town and along North Promenade.

Local residents have been campaign to reopen Suggitts lane crossing or to come up with an alternative, and it may be in 2021 this might turn into a reality.

In the meantime this shows how barriers such as rivers or railways lines can interrupt natural circuits and walks of an area.

For now we’re sharing various routes around Cleethorpes, but by 2022, should the crossing (or bridge) become available then this will change the way people can get around the area.

Watch this space.

Clee.tv is a local, online community TV channel which you can find on Youtube. Local partners including Big Local North Cleethorpes and VANEL have been investing in some new video content showcasing local projects.  A couple of recent videos highlight Beacon Hill Allotments, a Green Grow Box project and local growers and residents.  Both worth a watch.

www.clee.tv
on Youtube here

A new project – Green Influencers – has started up in 2021 led by Voluntary Action North East Lincolnshire. It will cover all of North East Lincolnshire but that includes Cleethorpes of course. An exciting new opportunity. Read the press release below:

The pioneering Green Influencers Scheme is a project match-funded through the #iwill Fund which is funded by The National Lottery Community Fund and Department of Culture, Media & Sport which are each investing £25million seed funding to support young people to access high-quality social action opportunities.

Green Influencers aged from 10 to 14-years-old will spring up across North East Lincolnshire after Voluntary Action North East Lincolnshire was among 36 host organisations awarded grants to support the employment of 40 Green Mentor posts.

Together they will turn words into action with a wide range of measures to protect and enhance the local environment and tackle climate change.

Jenny Hodson, who will take on the role of Green Mentor for VANEL, said:

“We were delighted to receive the funding from The Ernest Cook Trust which will enable us to help young people from across North East Lincolnshire to support their communities with environmental projects.

“We’re delighted to be a host organisation for the Green Influencers Scheme which is being rolled out across England and we’re excited about the future because we know this will make a real difference to our local communities.

“What is really special about Green Influencers’ Scheme is that it will give young people a chance to lead the way, help, encourage and support each other and offer the chance to learn through hands-on outdoor activities.

“We’re sure that young people across our area will quickly engage with us and join the scheme so we can work together to make sure it has a really positive impact on our communities.”

Over the next two years, under the Green Influencers Scheme, The Ernest Cook Trust will pay VANEL annually to fund the Green Mentor post to kick-start the programme and help identify further financial support to ensure they instigate lasting change right across their communities.

The young environmental activists will be at the forefront of youth social action projects that will benefit schools and communities across England after The Ernest Cook Trust awarded grants worth a total of £720,000 to host organisations.

Dr Victoria Edwards OBE, Chief Executive of The Ernest Cook Trust, said:

“Inspired by teenagers like Greta Thunberg, young people across England have been leading the climate change and wildlife crisis debate.

“The Ernest Cook Trust’s new funding programme will empower young people in North East Lincolnshire to follow in Greta’s footsteps and positively engage in environmental social action projects.

“The pandemic has a huge impact on the communities the Trust supports but by campaigning, fundraising and volunteering, the Green Influencers will create long-lasting benefits for everyone.”

The scheme is being rolled out nationwide following successful pilot schemes at Action for Conservation in London, East Riding Voluntary Action Services in East Riding of Yorkshire, Groundwork Greater Manchester, Groundwork Northamptonshire and Staffordshire Wildlife Trust.

The initiative also gives participants a valuable opportunity to develop leadership skills. Nine people aged 14 to 20 are members of the Scheme’s Youth Advisory Board. They have steered strategic decision-making and will help select grant awards for Green Influencers projects.

Anyone interested in joining the Green Influencers Scheme should contact Jenny Hodson by email: jenny@vanel.org.uk or telephone: 07742 274669

For information about the Green Influencers Scheme visit The Ernest Cook Trust website or email greeninfluencers@ernestcooktrust.org.uk.

We’re interested to explore the wildlife and bird life we have across Cleethorpes. Since we’ve been mapping green spaces and places across the area, it’s clear that there is plenty of bird life to observe.

With a large country park, a nature reserve and the estuary and sand dunes, it’s clear that the area as a whole is important for bird life.

A recent article on the Council website demonstrates this by explaining about rare birds making their home in the area.

Now, you’re not likely to see a rare bird sat in the pond at Sidney Park, but what birds are out there?

There’s a register of the nearly 200 species of bird that are common for North East Lincolnshire here. So if you’re interested you can find out more about them and what they look and sound like. Maybe you can spot a few.

If you get out and explore our local parks, spaces and green places then you might be able to spot some of our native bird life.

If you have more of an expertise in birds than we do, we’d be interested to hear from you. Have you got photographs of interesting birds taken in Cleethorpes? Can you tell us more about how to spot birds locally? Over to you

Only a few years past there were raised beds built outside Beaconthorpe Church on Grimsby Road. The beds were filled with plants – mostly edible – and were tended by the community.

Beaconthorpe Church is now very different and the Beaconthorpe Edible Garden and those raised beds are long gone.

Were you involved? Can you tell us more about the project? Do you have photographs you can share?

We’d love to be able to build a page on this site explaining about that green space/activity. What did it mean to you? Did you get green fingers as a result of being involved?

What if we could create something like it again somewhere around Cleethorpes? Would you be involved? Where could it go?

Do get in touch.

karl@vanel.org.uk