Green Award for Yorkshire Ambulance Service
Tuesday, 03 January, 2012
Alexis Keech, Environmental and Sustainability Manager at YAS
Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust won an award for its environmentally friendly work and its commitment and dedication to reducing carbon emissions.
The Trust won the Leadership Award at the Energy Saving Trust Fleet Hero 2011 Awards in November. The Energy Saving Trust Fleet Hero Awards highlight public and private organizations, which are successfully reducing their carbon footprints and lowering their fuel bills through fleet travel and transport policies.
The judges chose Yorkshire Ambulance Service, which provides 24-hour emergency and healthcare services to a population over five million, for the award for its wide range of 'green' initiatives and said that the Trust provides an example of impressive leadership within the emergency services.
It highlighted that the Trust, which has a fleet of almost 1,500 vehicles, which cover over 25
million miles per year, has:
• become the first ambulance service in the country to begin a Carbon Management Programme
• started eco-driving skills training for all new staff in its emergency and non-emergency services
• identified the potential to reduce the carbon emissions of its fleet by at least 30%, far exceeding the legal requirements.
Alexis Keech, Environmental and Sustainability Manager at Yorkshire Ambulance Service, helped the Trust to become the first ambulance service in the UK to participate in the Carbon Trust Carbon Management Programme. She said: "We are delighted to have won this award and I would like to thank everyone at the Trust for helping to make the initiatives we have implemented so successful.
"Due to the nature of the work of our Service, the impact on the environment is a high priority and the challenge to reduce carbon emissions is huge. So far, in a bid to help reduce fuel consumption and, in turn, reduce the carbon footprint of the Trust, we have taught our staff eco-driving techniques and are looking at purchasing frontline vehicles, which are more economical and efficient. We will continue to find ways of reducing public spending on fuel and of becoming a greener, more efficient organisation."
The Energy Saving Trust is a non-profit organization that provides free and impartial advice on how to save energy. For more information see the Energy Saving Trust website www.energysavingtrust.org.uk Yorkshire Ambulance Service's concerted efforts to reduce the Trust's carbon footprint have led to a wide range of awards, including Sustainability Team of the Year at the Business Green Leaders Awards and a Green Fleet Public Service Fleet Manager of the Year award.