Community funding

The Hills Group recently gave a grant of £60,000 via the Landfill Communities Fund to help Wiltshire Wildlife Trust purchase Bay Meadows, a much-loved nature spot backing onto Rabley Wood, just to the north of Marlborough.

Wiltshire Wildlife Trust is now consulting on the best way to restore this unique haven and river Og which, as well as being a critical habitat for water voles, could become the perfect spot for otters, kingfishers and wild brown trout along with wildflowers, butterflies and wading birds.

A programme of detailed work will then commence on improving the 12 hectares of water meadows and internationally rare chalk stream.

The site should eventually see visitors enjoy wider access with the installation of a new footbridge and steppingstones over the river, to create links to the existing public bridleway and cycle track as well as the riverside walk.

Faringdon Rugby Club held a family day in September to celebrate the installation of fencing for the perimeter of the rugby pitch which was funded by a £10,000 grant from Hills through the Landfill Communities Fund. Mary Hardwidge of Community First, who administer the fund on Hills’ behalf, attended the event to hand over the commemorative plaque. The works mark phase one of a larger project to include the installation of a community café and later an extension to the rugby club building.

“The Hills Group has a strong connection with Swindon with our operations being based here for over 120 years. We are delighted to be able to provide funding for this important community space.” Mike Hill, CEO.

Swindon Town FC Community Foundation has been awarded £10,000 from The Hills Group through the Landfill Communities Fund.

This funding is to support the creation of a new state-of-the-art, indoor, community sports facility which will allow access to key projects and programmes to enhance people’s health and well-being. It will also become an important support centre for disadvantaged members of the community while building on the success of Foundation Park, the foundation’s new base. Head of Foundation, Jon Holloway said: “We are delighted to have secured funding from Community First and The Hills Group to build this new community facility.

“It will provide disadvantaged members of our community with new ways to engage within the heart of the community, and increase the capacity of the overall site, to run additional services and slots for play and training.

“We can now very much look forward to work commencing on site within the next few months and the opening of this facility in the Autumn of 2022.”

Sponsorship has, once again, been confirmed for the Fire Cadets scheme, run in Swindon and Trowbridge by Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service from 2022 into 2023.

Christine Sharma, Partnerships Manager DWFRS, said: “Thanks to Hills’ funding, we can cover the cost of uniform and resources to enable weekly sessions for both Cadet units.” Paul Elling, Compliance Manager, Waste Solutions, said: “Hills is proud to offer sponsorship for another year and we trust that the new recruits will be as successful as those from this year’s cohorts.”

This season saw Waste Solutions become an Official Partner of Somerset County Cricket Club (SCCC) giving the company a platform to drive awareness of the business and reach a wider audience. This proved to be effective with the company’s logo appearing on SCCC’s shirts throughout the Vitality Blast T20 competition through to the finals day.

Hills has renewed its sponsorship of Swindon Wildcats for the 2022-23 National Ice Hockey League Season. Through extending our sponsorship this year, the Hills logo will feature on the full team shirts as well as having a rink side advertising board and glass branding.

The company has been a sponsor of the team for many years and is looking forward to seeing the club’s performance over the coming season. Good luck Wildcats!

The Hills Group has been supporting the cost of Wiltshire Cricket’s Talent Pathway with funding going towards facility hire and equipment for two seasons. Around 300 children are supported annually by Wiltshire Cricket’s talent pathway which provides a winter coaching programme and summer match-play programme for girls and boys from under 10s through to under 18s.