A SHARE of £115,000 is up for grabs so community groups can make Halton a cleaner and greener place.

The funding has been made available for Merseyside and Halton community and voluntary groups, schools, faith groups and not-for-profit organisations, which can create a project to reduce household waste, encourage recycling and resource, re-use and prevent carbon emissions.

The projects will also have to demonstrate wider positive impacts on the environment, health and education.

The money is coming from the Merseyside recycling and waste authority (MRWA) and Veolia community fund 2019/20, which has been running annually since 2006.

Successful applicants can be awarded up to £25,000 for schemes which operate across all six districts in Merseyside and Halton, and £8,000 for projects which work solely at one authority level.

Previous community fund projects have included creating a sensory learning garden from re-used materials at a college in St Helens and the repair and re-use of unused furniture for redistribution to the community in Halton.

The impact of the 2017/18 fund also created 28 full-time equivalent jobs, 486 volunteers, 29,435 people engaged, 1,222 tonnes of waste material diverted from landfill and a 1,181 tonne reduction in CO2 equivalent emissions.

Bids must tackle at least one of the four priority household waste materials which have been identified by MRWA including food, plastics, textiles and furniture.

Chairperson of MRWA, Councillor Tony Concepcion, said: "We’ve made this money available for new and existing projects which can have an impact on their community and make Merseyside and Halton a cleaner and greener place for us all to live and work.

"Giving groups the opportunity to get involved in looking after their environment can only bring benefits to all and can help us appreciate items as valuable resources rather than something which otherwise might be just thrown away."

The deadline for submissions is January 4, 2019 at 11:59pm.

To enter, download an application form here or email communityfund2019/2020@merseysidewda.gov.uk.