People living in Hull and East Riding can find out more about the area’s flood risk and the work being done to protect the region from flooding at a new facility which opens this week.
The Living With Water Community Hub, which is located at Wilberforce Sixth Form College, Saltshouse Road, East Hull, is a one-of-a-kind facility providing an inspiring and interactive space for schools, students and the wider community.
It has been created by Yorkshire Water and Living With Water, in partnership with Yorkshire Flood Resilience and Wilberforce Sixth Form College.
The facility showcases the innovative water management work being carried out locally and provides an opportunity for residents to learn how to protect their homes with property flood resilience (PFR).
Schools are also able to use the Living With Water Community Hub to deliver Key Stage 2 curriculum around water cycles in the Yorkshire Water Learning Lab – a fun, interactive, hands-on ‘wet lab’, which provides an engaging and inspiring space for pupils to learn.
There will also be information at the facility around the Living With Water – the partnership between Yorkshire Water, Hull City Council, East Riding of Yorkshire Council, the Environment Agency and the University of Hull – all of which have a role to play in managing water in Hull and the East Riding.
Lee Pitcher, Head of Partnerships at Yorkshire Water, and General Manager at Living with Water, commented:
“The Living With Water Community Hub has been created to showcase our projects and work around flood resilience and water management, as well as provide an interactive space for students to learn more about water cycles and causes of flooding.
“With 100,000 homes in Hull and the East Riding at risk of flooding, Living With Water aims to help build understanding about the threats and opportunities water brings to our region. We hope the Community Hub will support this.”
Ben Wallis, Vice Principal at Wilberforce Sixth Form College, said:
“It’s great to see the Living With Water Community Hub open its doors at Wilberforce Sixth Form College. Our partnership with Living With Water provides a fantastic opportunity for our students to learn more about flood risk in our area, and to inspire them to play a role in building resilience.”
Steve Wragg, Project Manager for Yorkshire Flood Resilience, added:
“We’re delighted to have been able to provide funding towards the development of the Community Hub, which is fantastic resource for the people of Hull, East Yorkshire and beyond.
“As part of our work to raise awareness of property flood resilience, we’ve ensured that there are some examples of the different types of measures available to protect people’s homes and business premises available for them to see at the hub. We’ve also had a flood resilient model house created to go on display there to demonstrate exactly how the measures work.”
The Living With Water Community Hub has two key spaces – The Yorkshire Room and the Yorkshire Water Learning Lab.
In the Hub’s Yorkshire Room, visitors can find out more about flood risk and resilience work in Hull and the East Riding. They will find information on plans for sustainable drainage solutions (SuDS, and the large-scale engineering projects that are helping to make our area more resilient to flooding.
In conjunction with Yorkshire Flood Resilience, the Yorkshire Room also displays property flood resilience (PFR) measures to help people protect their homes from flooding. Installed by flood technology manufacturer M3 Floodtec, these PFR examples include airbrick covers, flood doors and gates.
The Yorkshire Water Learning Labis a hands-on space designed to educate people on water cycles and flood risk in our area. Within the ‘wet-lab’, there is a 3D model to showcase sustainable drainage solutions (SuDS) and how they work, as well as an interactive LED wall screen to be used as a teaching tool on the topic of flooding.
The space will be used by Yorkshire Water’s education outreach team to deliver lessons to school pupils around water cycles, which support Key Stage 2 curriculum requirements.
Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the Living With Water Community Hub is not yet open to the public for walk-ins. However, people interested in visiting can make an appointment by emailing enquries@livingwithwater.co.uk
For more information on the Living With Water Community Hub, visit livingwithwater.co.uk/hub