Partner Article

Millionaire goes back to mining town

One of Channel 4’s secret millionaires is returning to Easington Colliery to see how his chosen community project is faring a year down the line.

Carl Hopkins appeared on the Channel 4 programme in August 2008 and spent ten days in Easington Colliery.

At the end of his visit he awarded £13,000 of his own money to the SPYRAL Project (Sandhills Project for Youth Recreation and Leisure), a community allotment garden in Murton, County Durham set up by former miner, Jimmy Naylor, seven years ago.

After his stay in Easington, Carl asked the local community to help improve the allotment. In response, regional water company Northumbrian Water agreed to provide volunteers under its Just an Hour programme.

The SPYRAL Project provides an opportunity for local people to gain new skills and hope to tackle anti-social behaviour at the same time. The 18 allotments are self-funding, through the sale of bedding plants and organically-grown fruit and vegetables.

Carl said: “I was delighted when Northumbrian Water responded to my request for help. They rustled up a team of 19 volunteers who will dedicate a whole day to helping me, Jimmy and the kids transform an overgrown allotment area.”

Jane Morland, corporate responsibility team leader for Northumbrian Water, said: “We believe we have an important role to give something back to the areas we serve and our employee volunteering scheme, Just an hour, is one of the ways in which we support local communities and partners.

“Jimmy and Carl have been inspirational figures to work with and the community allotment garden is a shining example of a project that can benefit the entire community, especially the young.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .