Volunteers needed for drive to clean up Halifax park

Volunteers are being asked to meet at the Savile Park Moor at 1pm on Monday, September 20 by Calderdale Council to pick up litter and support small gardening tasks.

All volunteers will be issued with gloves, bags and litter pickers and will receive any help and direction needed from council workers.

The Manor Heath event follows a week of activities entitled ‘Let’s Clean Up Calderdale Together’ which saw community clean ups take place across the borough.

This included litter picks at West View Park and the HIMMAT Centre in Halifax, Norwood Green, Oaklands play area in Rastrick, Vale Baptist Church and the Addy in Mixenden.

Further events for Calderdale staff were also held at Shibden Park, People’s Park, Wellholme Park in Brighouse, Centre Vale Park in Todmorden and Heath Moor Park Road.

Meanwhile firms from across Calderdale will join an online webinar session later this month to discuss the role of businesses in tackling the climate emergency on a local level.

The session is being held as part of the 'Let’s Talk Trade' series of panel discussions delivered by Calderdale Council and the Mid Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce, which have so far focused on supporting firms in exploring new opportunities for international trade following the end of the Brexit transition period.

Topics including sustainability, carbon footprints and renewable energy will be discussed, with businesses invited to submit their own questions and issues for consideration.

Speakers confirmed for the event include Craggs Energy Group CEO, Chris Bingham; Calderdale Council Inclusive Economy Programme Lead, Vicky McGhee; Regional Manager for Galliford Try Highways, David Procter; and Resource Efficiency Manager for Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership, Jim Porter.

In 2019, Calderdale Council declared a climate emergency and set a target of net zero emissions by 2038, with significant progress to be delivered by 2030 – a target recently recommended by the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change across the UK.

This latest webinar session, to be held on Tuesday, September 28 at 10am, will seek to address these objectives, with opportunities for attendees to raise questions and concerns in a collaborative environment.

The session is free to attend and open to all businesses operating in Calderdale.

Councillor Scott Patient, Calderdale Council’s Cabinet Member for Climate Change and Resilience, said: “It is vital that we tackle climate change to protect Calderdale’s environment, people and businesses.

“Failure to act will see significant impacts on our health and wellbeing, extreme changes to our weather and events such as more frequent flooding and heatwaves, crop failures, collapsed ecosystems such as extinction of our plants, animal and insect species, and disruptions to our local infrastructure and economy.

“We are committed to taking the lead locally - the council and Calderdale hit our historic target of reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 40 per cent by 2020 – and we hope that this upcoming session will help underpin the realisation of our future ambitions, by bringing businesses together to collaborate, develop their knowledge and share ideas.”

To register to attend the event, visit www.talktrade.co.uk