Earthmovers Awards

1. Earthmovers Awards Presented each year to celebrate the achievements of the local groups network.

2. Nominations for Group of the Year • Bradford Friends of the Earth • Leeds Friends of the Earth • Manchester Friends of the Earth • Walsall Friends of the Earth • Wycombe Friends of the Earth

3. Leeds Friends of the Earth! The journey the Leeds group has been on over the past 12 months has been inspiring. A year ago the group consisted of two members meeting in a noisy pub. A new co-ordinator took over the group and they focussed recruiting ne members. • The group revamping their mailing list setup and website, • Found a better meeting venue • Used the Renewables campaign and local Age of Stupid showings to raise their profile. • Built coalitions with other local campaign groups and played a key role in a range of community campaigns, building momentum and contacts.

4. Leeds Friends of the Earth! The group now has a steadily growing active membership (currently 15), and an average attendance of 10 people to their fortnightly meetings at accessible locations. New people regularly just "turn up" to meetings now. Occasional allotment days, composting master classes and social events have recently been added to the mix and help the group appeal to a wide audience. The development of the group's membership base has meant that it's been possible to make a big impact on a number of campaigns: • Over 200 postcards were signed on the Renewables campaign • A presence at 5 showings of the Age of Stupid • "Greening the City" and incinerator campaigns • A flying start to the Get Serious About CO2 campaign.

5. Leeds Friends of the Earth! The group has focused on creating a strong team ethos. They use rotating chair and facilitation techniques to make sure that everyone contributes equally. Less experienced group members are frequently paired up with more experienced members. All members are pro-active and committed to action.

6. Judges Comments “We were impressed by the steady growth of this group, and how they have built a solid base of members and group processes. This is not one of those groups that has a large number of email members but no one to campaign! Neither do they act in isolation but network effectively. Top marks for development, commitment and sustainability.”

7. Nominations for Campaign of the Year • Caerphilly FOE (plastic bag campaign) • Barnet and Enfield FOE (mass cycle rally) • High Peak FOE (Torrs Hydro New Mills Project) • Marinet (marine reserves campaign) • Manchester FOE (clean air now campaign)

8. Manchester Friends of the Earth The Clean Air Now campaign began when the 10 Greater Manchester Authorities outlined a bid for £3bn towards improving public transport from the Government's Transport Innovation Fund (TIF) which required the introduction of a congestion charge across Greater Manchester. The group • campaigned to get local government to bid. • for a YES vote in the subsequent regional referendum. In order to assist with this, they founded the Clean Air Now (CAN) coalition of 30 supportive organisations across Greater Manchester and campaigned relentlessly for the 18 months up to the referendum in December 2008.

9. Manchester Friends of the Earth Over the 18 months of the campaign, the group's strategy was planned and then led by a small steering group within Manchester Friends of the Earth which used email and a Wiki extensively, and met roughly weekly. Given their limited resources, they focussed on • building alliances with other organisations, • using the media to carry messages to a wide audience • using humour to catch the media and public imagination

10. Manchester Friends of the Earth The group gave a near-continuous voice to the environmental lobby and provided constant positive information to counter the negative messaging of the opposition. Highlights include: · • Engaging in debate at every opportunity, making over 30 broadcast and many more print appearances • Establishing a website http://www.cleanairnow.co.uk/ to give public access to their resources and "mythbusters" • Using new media creatively, producing a YouTube viral video for "Let Me Breathe", an accompanying report, and running a Facebook group • Delivering a series of "stunts" including a popular World Toilet Day action   • Organised ‘Tour de TIF' and gained coverage for an 80-mile group cycle ride covering all of Greater Manchester's boroughs.

11. Manchester Friends of the Earth The scheme was good, but complex and difficult for the public to understand, and well funded opposition coordinated by the motoring lobby and an alliance of large commercial interests meant that the vote became about "whether or not you want to be taxed". So, the referendum returned a "No" vote and the funding and the scheme was lost. But the group was one of the most positive voices for the "YES" vote, hugely boosting their reputation in the city region, and gaining enormous political capital, which is now directly assisting them in their current campaigns.

12. Judges Comments “They really took the bull by the horns in going for such a substantial and difficult campaign. Their collaboration and use of media was inspiring. Top marks for tenacity, bravery and ambition.”

13. Nominations for ‘Spreading the Word’ • Penistone FOE (energy project) • Birmingham FOE (creative campaigning) • Leicester FOE (communications strategy)

14. Penistone Friends of the Earth After a highly-successful plastic bag campaign, the group decided to start getting people thinking positively about energy by focussing on simple, cost-saving and practical projects that people could do in the home: • They won £1194 funding which they invested in energy monitors and a light-bulb display stand to support their campaign • They ran craft activities to make people smile about energy saving, such as sewing waste material into draught-excluding snakes and hot water bottle covers, and decorating a tree in low-energy light bulbs for Penistone church's Christmas Tree festival • They persuaded an energy supplier to give them 1000 free light bulbs to give out on stalls. Energy monitors are loaned out via the local library.

15. Penistone Friends of the Earth The group helped to build support within the community for local renewables projects by organising a public meeting on the "Future of Energy", actively supporting local wind farms and starting to look for sites for a community owned hydroelectric project. They wrote to 11 local schools about a Co-operative Group grant scheme to provide solar panels for schools and helped two schools to write grant applications. They also ran interactive sessions on energy and practical solutions at 8 local primary schools and an "energy challenge" at a cub and a scout group.

16. Penistone Friends of the Earth All activities were promoted using a strong logo and 'brand name' which focussed on the local: Penistone Energy Project . A key hook was saving money in the home. The practical solutions they supported were aimed to be easily accessible to a range of people with little or no awareness of renewables or energy-saving. Literature was written in a lively and entertaining style, without technical jargon or complicated explanations. Events promoted renewable energy and energy saving in a positive light, focussing on benefits and opportunities, rather than gloomy climate change predictions or confrontations with anti-wind protesters. Arts & craft projects also helped to lighten the message and activities with younger audiences were made fun and interactive.

17. Judges Comments “A lot of thought and effort put into spreading a relevant message to a defined audience. Their reach was demonstrable. Some other groups put in equal effort but Penistone was the most focussed. Top marks for planning, persistence and relevance.”

18. Nominations for Friend of the Earth • David Longthorn (Hull FOE) • Deni Newham (Halton FOE) • Dina Baird (Warrington FOE) • Fiona Kells (Walsall FOE) • Herbert Eppel (Leicester FOE) • Margaret Lynch (Birmingham FOE) • Robert Saunders (Telford FOE) • Viv Stein (Brent FOE)

19. David Longthorn (Hull) David joined Hull Friends of the Earth in 2001 and immediately started work on the then new Hull FOE Wildlife area on the site of allotments in the city. In the area he has created • a pond • woodland • meadow • field margin areas • log piles for bugs • bird boxes For five years, David was a committed helper on the group's weekly CARGO (Collecting and Recycling Garden Organic waste) scheme, which collected garden waste from residents for subsequent composting on the wildlife site.

20. David Longthorne (Hull) In 2004, HEYwoods (Hull and East Riding woods) was launched to increase the amount of trees in the city. David arranged a tree planting scheme along the Beverley and Barmston Drain (a local watercourse) to kick-start the campaign and has represented the group at HEYwoods ever since. His work involves the planting of trees and wild flowers on brown field sites alongside cycle /footpaths using local trees from Yorkshire Wildlife Trust's tree nursery and wild flowers grown from local seeds. David manages the nursery and has brought on thousands of trees from seeds and cuttings etc that have been obtained from local sources.

21. David Longthorn (Hull) David has managed to support hundreds of school children at various times in tree and flower planting activities covering nearly every part of Hull, including some very built-up areas. For example, volunteers from five Primary schools with Yorkshire Wildlife Trust have been involved in ten planting sessions in the last three years - planting over 800 trees. A further 13 planting sessions around the city have included volunteers of all ages from the Sculcoates Neighbourhood Association, group members, local residents, councillors, volunteers from the local hospice and recently Community Payback workers with the aim of involving as many as possible. On odd occasions, David has met people coming back to see how well their tree is doing!

22. Judges Comments “This was the most difficult to judge as all the nominees were fantastic and showed such devotion to Friends of the Earth, their communities and their groups. David stuck out as so dedicated and passionate about his local environment in all sorts of weathers and unpleasant conditions that he had to be the winner! Top marks for consistency, achievement and passion.”

23. Photo of the Year York & Ryedale Friends of the Earth Members, Guy Wallbanks and Caroline Duffy (Miss Earth), raise the profile of Marinet's Marine Reserves campaign earlier this year. The photo and accompanying story was featured in the York local paper, on the group's website and in the newsletter of York MP, Hugh Bailey, after the group met with him about the campaign.

24. Quote of the Year Warrington Friends of the Earth Over 100 people saw the film at the Cheshire Oaks screening, which also included talks via satellite from speakers around the world and a live speech from group Co-ordinator, Dina Baird, on the need for positive, confident and inspiring action in the run up to Copenhagen. “That was an amazing film - it made me want to get involved and do something. It was a real eye opener how people living in the most desperate situations still have the same dreams and aspirations that we do”. Rachel Frith, 14, after watching Warrington Friends of the Earth's screening of The Age of Stupid in Spring 2009.