MFC Foundation have teamed up with Redcar-based housing provider Beyond Housing to help deliver an exciting environmental renewal project in Loftus.
Together with Esh Construction, Groundwork North East & Cumbria, Loftus Town Council, Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council and Loftus ACCORD Walking Group, we have all united with the housing provider to transform a 4.6-acre disused allotment site into an accessible woodland park that connects local people to nature.
The park will also create work and training opportunities in groundwork and labouring for young people, giving them a taste of what it’s like to work on an environmental project this big and providing that vital experience for their CV.
When complete in March 2022, the woodland park will offer a schedule of family activities and opportunities for schoolchildren to venture out of the classroom to learn outdoors. There’ll also be two-metre-wide paths to support those with limited mobility and a specialist area for people with dementia, supporting the elderly and vulnerable people who will soon move into The View, a new supported living scheme Beyond Housing and Esh are currently building at the nearby Hummersea Hills estate. Alongside this scheme, an additional 85 homes are under construction for affordable rent or rent to buy.
The woodland project is one of just 68 schemes in the UK chosen to receive a financial boost from the Government’s £40 million Green Recovery Challenge Fund, with an impressive £124,100 secured in funding.
For more information or to volunteer at the Loftus woodland project, visit beyondhousing.co.uk, or e-mail Marc at marc.mcphillips@mfcfoundation.co.uk