The report ‘West Cumbria Opportunities and Challenges’, provides an accessible, evidence-based picture of need across West Cumbria, with examples of projects which improve the lives of residents.
The aim is that businesses looking to invest in the area can use the report and focus their activities that can make the greatest impact.
Sellafield Ltd commissioned Cumbria Community Foundation to produce the report independently, as a follow up to 2017’s Oxford Economics report on the economic impact of Sellafield.
Gary McKeating, Head of Community and Development at Sellafield Ltd said:
Our Social Impact strategy, published last year, illustrates a significant shift in thinking.
We have always recognised the close interdependency between our business and the local community and as we continue to make Sellafield safer, sooner, we are working to make sure that our local community, the UK as a whole and the nuclear sector receives the maximum value from the £2billion of taxpayers’ money spent at Sellafield every year.
As a world class business, dealing with some of the most complex scientific and engineering challenges on the planet, we want our activities to benefit as many people and businesses as possible. This isn’t just something for Sellafield Ltd, it’s for all of those companies in our supply chain as well.
There’s a lot to be done, but by working collectively, we can address the issues raised in the report, and the entire community can succeed. Look at how the investments from Sellafield Ltd and the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority leveraged in excess of £30 million for the new Campus Whitehaven. This represents the biggest educational investment in Whitehaven for over half a century and will address some of the issues highlighted in the report.
This is an illustration of the kind of social impact we should all be striving to achieve, and this report will help because it highlights the issues and areas in which work can be most impactful.
Some of the issues highlighted in the report include:
- childhood obesity – one in ten children are starting school overweight
- adult obesity – two thirds of people in both Allerdale and Copeland are overweight.
- deprivation – one in seven households are living on less than £10,000 a year.
- education – 1 in 4 adults have no qualifications.
- schools – half of all secondary schools are performing below national average.
Further reading:
The economic impact of Sellafield – June 2017 – Oxford Economics report
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