Sustainability charity awarded funding to share expertise from its successful community hub
London-based sustainability charity, Greener and Cleaner, has been granted funding to create a scalable blueprint of its community hub so it can be replicated elsewhere in the UK.
Located in south-east London, The Hub is a peer-run community space offering support to empower local people to live more sustainably, whilst tackling social isolation, the rising cost-of-living and mental health crisis. Since opening in 2022, it has successfully supported more than 20,000 local residents.
The grant of £300,000 has been awarded over the next three years by the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation. This funding will allow Greener and Cleaner to create a scalable blueprint of its Community Hub model. This blueprint package can be shared with organisations and councils around the UK to support the creation of other peer-to-peer Community Hubs and strengthen the efforts of other community sustainability projects, with the potential to help thousands more people.
Peer run community space
Greener and Cleaner’s Community Hub offers activities and workshops that focus on peer-to-peer skill-sharing, such as sewing lessons, repair workshops, gardening sessions, upcycling tips, and advice on warming your home and reducing energy bills. It is a non-judgemental space for people to find out more about greener living, build strong community links, swap advice and take part in social events.
The activities, workshops and training offered at the Hub have been shown to actively reduce local pressures, including loneliness and isolation, cost of living, employability and mental health – while improving local waste reduction, green spaces and emissions.
Creating a scalable blueprint
“We have learnt a huge amount about how to build community sustainability and resilience at our Community Hub”
Parisa Wright, Founder, Greener and Cleaner
Greener and Cleaner, Founder and Chief Vision Officer, Parisa Wright, says:
“We are dealing with cost of living, loneliness and mental health crises, alongside a climate and biodiversity crisis. These crises are interconnected and so are their solutions. On top of these pressures, most of our community centers and youth centers have gone, our NHS is struggling and our energy and water bills have just increased again, significantly.
We are all impacted by the financial and health impacts of climate and high carbon lifestyles, with the poorest and most health vulnerable in our communities the worst affected.
The Community Hub model Greener and Cleaner has been piloting for the past three years facilitates meaningful and inclusive community sustainability understanding and engagement, while building sorely needed community space, services and resilience.
We have learnt a huge amount about how to build community sustainability and resilience at our Community Hub. And through swapping learnings with other groups and charities running wonderful community sustainability projects across the UK. I am very excited about the opportunity to formalise our learnings through a Blueprint Package that can be shared for communities to use franchise-style or to cherry pick from as they see best.”
“It’s a breath of fresh air! If you look in any shopping centre, it’s all about profit and sales. So having a place like The Hub in our community it’s a blessing. We need more Greener and Cleaner Hubs around the UK!”
Testing success
Greener and Cleaner has collaborated with government departments and scientists from leading UK universities to test its Community Hub model, researching its services, their reach and impact.
A recent study from the Centre for Climate Change and Social Transformations revealed its success, finding that two-thirds of Hub users had reduced how much they bought (choosing to repair or buy second-hand instead) and almost half had reduced energy use at home.
Greener and Cleaner will continue to work closely with local groups and communities to understand their challenges and ambitions, and to make sure people of all backgrounds can connect with the significant cost of living, health and social justice benefits of engaging with sustainability in their homes and communities.
First England-wide Community Sustainability Support Network
This funding news coincides with a plan to launch an England-wide Community Sustainability Support Network later this year. The CSSN is a groundbreaking initiative that will strengthen grassroots sustainability projects of all kinds across England, uniting community groups and organisations and enabling them to share their resources, knowledge, and solutions that drive both sustainability and social equity, bridging past silos of geography, delivery model, focus area, funders and more. It takes inspiration from successful government-funded networks in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Ireland.
