Peterborough’s Environmental Project (PEP) has received a significant boost to its funding after Brian Pearce scooped a prestigious international award.

Brian, who has worked at Perkins for 42 years, has spent his free time developing the PEP on three acres of land made available by Railworld in the city centre.

His 12 years of hard work were recently recognised when he was awarded the first ever Chairman’s Community Service Award by Jim Owens, chairman of Caterpillar.

The award, which included £12,500.00 ($25,000.00) for the PEP recognised Brian’s dedication and commitment to the city centre site which is set to open later this year.

In 1995 Brian, a senior product trainer set to work on building a wildlife haven at the Railworld site to help improve the local environment for current and future generations. 

It has taken more than 12 years to turn his vision into a reality as over time the scope of the project has continued to grow. It now includes a wildlife habitat and an 8000 square foot environment centre with classrooms, large rotating globe and a state of the art energy management system, and Brian still has more ambitious plans in mind.

As well as working at the site in his spare time Brian has spent hours filling in grant applications, liaising with businesses and addressing local groups, in an effort to raise the necessary funds for the PEP.

But it has been his ability to engage volunteers of all ages and from across the Peterborough community that has really brought the project to life. College students have helped design and develop the site, enthusiastic residents have given their time, and businesses have donated materials, equipment and labour.

Caterpillar and Perkins have also provided continual support through employee time, furniture, materials, the provision of earth moving equipment and even a redundant drive from a company security gate traffic barrier to drive Brian’s ‘World’.

It was Brian’s enthusiasm and dedication to the project that led Perkins’ president Hans Haefeli to nominate him for the prestigious Community Service Award.

“What has really impressed me about Brian has been his enthusiasm for this project and the way he has gone out and really involved the local community and got the school children enthused about it,” stated Hans.

Over the years Brian and the PEP have received a number of awards, but the news that he had received a Chairman’s Community Service Award, plus £12,500.00 to put towards the next phase of his project left Brian on ‘cloud nine’.

The Caterpillar funding will enable Brian to install much needed safety fencing around the site, meaning the wildlife haven will soon be able to welcome school parties.

The money will also be used to help build an amenity block with offices and toilets, next to the education centre. When finished the offices will be rented out to environmental and wildlife groups to ensure the project has a sustainable income. 

Brian’s ambitious plans for the site continue with the announcement that a TransEco Centre is soon to be created.

After three years of negotiations, Railworld, the charitable trust which owns the site has brokered a deal with developers to bring about a 50,000sqft prestige riverside development in the form of the TransEco Centre, dedicated to environmental entertainment and education.

The main thrust will be transport and ecology, with the centre becoming a source of solutions for global environmental issues and scientific research. This new facility will, said Brian, complement the wildlife haven and education centre.

“It’s amazing what you can achieve when people work together. The most important thing was to want to do it. I could never have given up because so many have helped me along the way,” he explained.