Hi everyone,

We'd like to say a big warm thank you to everyone in Newcastle who braved the cold / wind / rain / sleet / snow on Wednesday to stop and talk to us about our Rainwise initiative.

It was freezing cold but we still spoke to lots of you about the things that you can do to help reduce flood risk around your home. It was great to hear many of you are already quite Rainwise in your gardens, with your water butts and planters!

Thanks for taking the time to stop and look at the model we'd borrowed from Yorkshire Dales Rivers Trust and the Environment Agency too, it really helps to visualise how simple changes can make such a difference.

Our Rainwise campaign will be taking place in the NE1 area throughout February...if you see our adverts in and around town why not tweet us a pic for us to share!

We'll be looking to see if there are any opportunities for us to carry out flood risk reduction projects in the area too, working with our partners and yourselves. We'll keep you updated and involve you every step of the way.

Finally, we hope you enjoyed the chocolate hearts we were giving away on Wednesday! :)

Hi everyone,

I hope you're all ready for Valentine's Day tomorrow! We'll be out in Northumberland Street in Newcastle all day on our big blue customer engagement vehicle, 'Flo', encouraging you all to shower your gardens with love!

We're going to be raising awareness of how our Rainwise initiative can help you build resilience against flood risk around your own home by installing planters, water butts and rain gardens.

Pop along and see us if you're out and about - we'll be giving away plant seeds that thrive in wet conditions to help you kick start your own rain garden or planter, as well as giving away chocolate hearts...well, it is Valentine's Day after all! 

Looking forward to seeing you all :) 

Hi,

I’m Chris Austin and I’m the Project Manager for our Rainwise project in Newcastle City and the surrounding area.

You’re going to see and hear us, out and about in Newcastle throughout February as our Rainwise campaign kicks off, we might even be visiting your child’s school!

We’ll be busy raising awareness of Rainwise and the small changes that you can make to help reduce the risk of flooding around your home.

We’ve got bucket loads of ideas - take a look at the downloadable top tips leaflet to the right of this page, for ways that you can get involved.

Over the coming months, we’re also going to be looking for opportunities to reduce the amount of surface water (the rainwater from roofs and roads) getting into our sewer network, which will help increase space in the pipes and reduce the risk of flooding.

We want to do this as green as we can too, by using sustainable solutions that manage rainwater in it’s natural environment.

We’ll keep you informed if we identify any opportunities and will always seek your views before we carry out any work. In the meantime, keep your ears open for us on the radio and your eyes peeled for us in the area!

If you’d like more information on rainwise, please visit www.nwl.co.uk/rainwise and if you do see us, come over and say hello!

Thanks