Soil Squad wins £1,000 Breakspear Park sustainability grant
Breakspear Park, Hemel Hempstead's leading business campus, is delighted to announce that Soil Squad - a St Albans Community Interest Company that turns local food waste into nutrient-rich compost at their Community Composting Hub - has been awarded a £1,000 grant as the third recipient of its 2025 Community Sustainability Fund.
This quarterly fund reflects Breakspear Park's commitment to environmental responsibility and its ambition to foster a greener future for Hertfordshire. The finalists for the first grant were Soil Squad, St Albans Civic Rose Garden and Redbourn in Bloom. With over 600 public votes cast, all three were worthy contenders, but Soil Squad secured the win with 73% of the vote.
A cheque for £1,000 was presented to Vicky Gutteridge, Founder and Director of Soil Squad CIC, by Dina Mistry, Marketing Manager at Breakspear Park. The grant will support a programme of hands-on workshops and webinars, expanding access to sustainable composting practices for local schools, businesses and residents.
On receiving the grant, Vicky Gutteridge, Founder and Director of Soil Squad CIC, commented: “This grant will help us turn even more food scraps into community compost. We’ll use the funding to run practical workshops and webinars that make composting easy, fun and accessible - from school eco-clubs to workplaces and households eager to put their waste to its very best use. We’re so grateful to everyone who voted for us, and to Breakspear Park for championing simple, local actions that create a lasting impact for St Albans.”
Dina Mistry, Marketing Manager at Breakspear Park, added: “Soil Squad is a brilliant example of community-led climate action — simple, scalable and rooted in Hertfordshire. Their work diverts waste, enriches local soil and brings people together around a positive, practical solution. We’re proud to support their next chapter through our Community Sustainability Fund and can’t wait to see the impact of the training they’ll deliver.”
Breakspear Park is now inviting the public to nominate green projects run by charities, initiatives or causes they believe deserve the final £1,000 grant of 2025. Eligible projects must be not-for-profit and benefit both the environment and the people of Hertfordshire.
Nominations should be submitted via email to [email protected] by midnight on 2.11.25. Submissions must include details about the specific project or initiative, how the £1,000 grant will be utilised and contact information for both the nominee and the nominator.
Breakspear Park’s management team will select three finalists, who will be featured on the business park’s Facebook page for a public vote. The winning project will receive the final £1,000 grant in December 2025.