In 2021 young people from across our programmes held their own ‘COP26’ event. The occasion led to the creation of The Change Foundation’s ‘Green Action’ team. The team have since introduced policies that improve how our charity, sports programmes and wider charity network make our communities greener and safer places.
Earlier this month the green team headed to West Sussex to meet our new charity partner ‘The Garden Army’ who run a community interest farm. The farm uses its 1.5 acres to support volunteers living with mental health, by educating them about sustainable farming practices. All crops and livestock produced on site is later sold to high-end kitchens or donated to local food banks.
The Garden Army advocate that by challenging traditional farming methods you can transform the lives of vulnerable people and create sustainable practises in our communities. It’s something that bears striking resemblance to our own ethos and encouraged us to form our partnership.
During our team’s visit to The Garden Army, they were met by the organisations’ founder Tom Morphew and co-founder Stuart Nash. After an inspiring tour of their property, everyone explored how our organisations can combine our strengths and build a lasting partnership that creates work and education opportunities for both of our networks.
The meeting was a huge success with immediate plans arranging for The Change Foundation’s Young Ambassadors to visit to farm later this year to build a chicken shed for 200 rescue chickens. The Garden Army will also visit our Wallington cricket centre to provide eco-consultation on where we can plant a vegetable patch and install more green spaces on site. Wider plans for the vegetable patch hope to see it become a functioning part of our Refugee Cricket Project. Communal meals are a core part of the project, so encouraging the young people to grow their own food and cook with fresh ingredients is a exciting concept.
September 21st 2023 is World Emissions Day. We will be announcing our emission calculations from 2023, and hope to share how our relationship with Green Army has made positive change over the past four months. Thank you to Tom, Stuart and everyone that has been on this journey with us so far, we can’t wait to share how our relationship develops in the coming months!
