Keith Riley, managing director of Onyx Hampshire and a resident of Surrey, is to take over the chairmanship of the regional panel of the Onyx Environmental Trust covering London and the Home Counties, which includes the former Berkshire authority areas.

The panel, comprising key members of the community, meets on a bi-monthly basis to consider applications for funds to support environmental projects from the area and to recommend them for approval by the board of directors.

The Trust was founded in 1997 as an environmental body and charity to support environmental improvement and development through the Landfill Tax Credit Scheme.

One of the schemes already funded by the Trust in the local area was a grant of £50,000 to the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead to launch an Ecobus exhibition. The bus - designed to run on green fuel - was 'recycled' from an existing vehicle, fitted out using materials from sustainable resources and transformed externally with an eye-catching yellow and purple livery. It tours local events, schools and businesses giving advice and information on saving energy and waste in the home, garden and at work.

The five categories under which projects are considered for funding include contaminated land remediation and restoration; prevention and removal of pollution; research and education in sustainable waste management; provision, improvements and maintenance of parks and public amenities, and repair restoration and maintenance of churches and historic buildings.

Said Keith Riley, "The Onyx Trust is unique in setting up panels of local people in five regions across the country to assist in the selection of projects on a local basis and to ensure that we give the widest possible geographical coverage to the ones we support.

"This year we are particularly keen to encourage applications for projects that are community based, particularly in the fields of pollution control and remediation. I am looking forward to seeing the projects put forward in the inner city areas and to making an impact on improving the environment."

8 March 2000

For further information contact Keith Riley, Managing Director at Hampshire Waste Services, Poles Lane, Otterbourne, Winchester, SO21 2EA or 01962 764000.

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