EASST and the Kier Group were delighted to be presented with an International Green Apple Award for Environmental Best Practice at an Award Ceremony at the House of Commons on November 16th 2015. The prize was given to the EASST / Kier joint project to provide Moldovan farmers with high visibility clothing to improve their safety on the roads.
The project came to fruition when Kier, after the acquisition of the engineering firm May Gurney, found themselves with 5000 surplus safety jackets. Kier generously agreed to donate the items to EASST, who arranged for them to be distributed to farmers in the Moldovan village of Lăpuşna to improve their safety when using horse carts on the road.
EASST’s Emily Carr (right) represented EASST at the award ceremony
Lăpuşna is one of many villages where motor vehicles and horse carts compete for road space and put farmers at risk on a daily basis. The need for help with equipment to alleviate this problem was identified by the villagers themselves when EASST conducted road safety training for community leaders.
Emma MacLennan, Director of EASST said ‘I am delighted that this project has gained international recognition and won a prestigious Green Apple Award. EASST is keen to develop this area of our work and we are co-operating with several UK companies to distribute further surplus equipment to our EASST partners to support their vital road safety projects.’
Jamie Edmonds at Kier said ‘We are proud to have been a partner in this project and delighted to see our surplus stock be used for life-saving initiatives. We are already working with EASST on similar projects and look forward to continuing our successful partnership to reduce waste and save lives’.
