Our resident Deb Hoskin is highly commended for the Unlock Net Zero Awards because of her forward-thinking environmental approach.
After founding her charity, Horticultural Therapy Trust (HTT), back in 2012, Deb has continued to help schools, social prescribers, Harbour Pathways, Rethink and us to connect the community with the environment.
Deb believes the award has made her reflect on her 25-year journey of helping the environment and supporting the people’s mental wellbeing through nature.
She said: “The award speaks out about nature and people’s wellbeing and that’s a really lovely thing… To achieve this award makes me feel really warm inside and it supports me to keep doing what I’m doing.”
The Unlock Net Zero Awards celebrates those who are leading the way for others by enforcing net zero solutions and helping reduce the Earth’s carbon footprint.
Talking about her achievement of being highly commended for the Unlock Net Zero Awards, she reflected to the time when she took her two-year-old grandson to the park on her LiveWest estate along with his mother and auntie.
“I helped my children plant 18 native trees from seed 18/20 years ago and now it is an amazing woodland.
“What’s lovely was seeing the woodland now and thinking did I think I was going to see those trees grown in my lifetime and now there’s my grandson at two able to see the nuts growing on the trees.
“For him to be told that your mum, auntie and grandma planted those trees had an impact on me, it was a realisation of the work I have done.”
Taking one step further in helping our planet, Deb has achieved net zero in her horticultural work, which removes carbon emission from the atmosphere and helps more people involved in nature.
“All the people who have worked for LiveWest have been really lovely and supportive to help me grow into my potential,” she said.
Through funding from LiveWest’s Community Grant, Deb has also been able to help children at Marlborough Street Primary School in Devonport in a therapy project, where she created wildlife gardens, a pond, hedgerow and much more.
We have also supported Deb to create a tree nursery with children her the community, plant an orchard and join an after-school environment club at Millbrook Primary School in Cornwall.
We are also on our journey to reach Net Zero by 2050 and we plan to have our homes at an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating C by 2028, as we continue to work towards reducing our carbon footprint.
We have secured Gold accreditation in this year’s Sustainable Homes Index for Tomorrow (SHIFT) assessment in recognition for the work we are doing to reduce the impact we have on the environment.
Outside of the HTT, Deb continues to volunteer and take part in a vast majority of green projects to help connect people in the community with nature.
She said: “My daughter seems to think that I have this unending energy, but I think that just comes from care and there is just something really wonderful about seeing things grow.
“Personally because of climate change and so much being unknown, I don’t shut myself off. I really take in what’s true about it and the possibilities.
“We have got to hope and care for the small parts of the Earth now and it will make a difference.”
Deb even admitted that she’s still a little surprised with all the work she had done and continues to achieve.
She said: “Back in the day, I would read something and think ‘wow, look what they’ve done’ and now, in a way, I am doing those things.”
From replanting weed seeds as a child to connecting more people with nature and wellbeing, Deb said: “Through LiveWest’s housing, they given me a garden… my real growth was as an adult in my own garden, caring my for the little bit of Earth.
“Even down to me and my family home. Having my affordable home, and a really lovely home, is really appreciated because it has given me a good base to bring my children up and allow me to do what I do.
“Many people I work with don’t have gardens or a safe green space, so I have helped to create green spaces for people and wildlife in my voluntary and working life.”
Asked if there was any advice help people get involved and help the environment, she said: “Just do it. Start with one small step.
“Interestingly what I have learnt, and it took me a long time, is that I wanted to do so much. I was in my late 20s or early 30s and I remember going up to the head teacher in my local primary school to volunteer and I was shaking in my shoes.
“We don’t have to be anything special to help the environment. It doesn’t take an awful lot. I don’t have a lot of confidence but it is my drive to care.
“Taking the first step is always the hardest.”