IT'S green for go in Eccleston which has just received a £99,000 National Lottery grant.

The cash will be used by the Eccleston Community and Environment Trust - an environmental project which will establish, promote and run a resource and information centre in the village.

The three-year grant will fund the salaries of a full-time project co-ordinator, a part-time project assistant and go towards running costs.

It builds on the success of the pilot Going For Green sustainable communities experiment, set up by Lancashire County Council three years ago.

Going For Green was a major national experiment in creating and encouraging sustainable development in local communities.

Helen Bradley, chair of Eccleston Community Environment Trust, said: "Now we have this local Eccleston initiative we hope that lots of people will get involved and that lots of good things can come out of this.

"We are extremely happy that the news has come through of our funding and I for one am extremely optimistic about the future. But it won't work unless the peope of Eccleston get involved in what is going on around them."

County Councillor George Slynn, chairman of Lancashire's planning, industrial development and tourism committee, hailed the award as a huge success for the people of Eccleston and the county council.

He said: "Right at the outset we maintained that the idea of the Going for Green project was to spark interest and enthusiasm in the local community.

"For the people of Eccleston to have formed their own group, the Eccleston Community Environment Trust, is a huge sign to us that we have been successful in what we have tried to do.

"The newly-formed trust has now got an assured future through this lottery grant."

The National Lotteries Charity Board has announced latest grants, both large and small, across the North West.

Twenty three groups in Lancashire will receive a total of £819,952. A total of 121 groups throughout the North West will share grants totalling £8,521,595.

For more information on how to get involved phone 452088.

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