Apply for support in environmental sustainability
We’re very pleased to share that our support and training programme Become Green Together is re-opening for applications from the 1st April to the 31st May.
Become Green Together has helped provide tools and focus for us to take our climate action ambitions to the next level. genee and Smart Carbon have been incredibly helpful and we feel so much more confident as to how we can move forward positively with our plan for net zero.
This will be the first of two final rounds inviting organisations from the voluntary, community, and social enterprise sector in the North East and Cumbria to join the programme. The second will be held from July to September 2023. These additional rounds were made possible by the generous support of the National Lottery Community Fund in extending the Going Green Together project to March 2024, allowing us to reach and support more VCSE organisations.
balletLORENT joined Become Green Together in October 2022, and the training and guidance we have received so far has been invaluable. We are well on our way to a much more detailed breakdown of our carbon footprint than was previously available to us, and are in the process of revamping and improving our environmental policy and action plans. The knowledge we have gained will vastly change the way we look at our impact, and I can’t recommend the programme enough.
Become Green Together was created to help organisations of all sizes and areas of activity, including those who have not previously taken part in environmental work, to make their organisation environmentally sustainable and gain knowledge which they can pass on to their partners and communities. As a pilot scheme, those who take part are also helping us shape the future of environmental support for our sector.
Participants get a year’s worth of access to expert support and tools through genee and the Investors in the Environment framework, and SmartCarbon’s carbon reporting tools. They also gain the benefit of a network of peers, and can request additional support in areas where they need it. The whole process is flexible, and participants are guided step-by-step at a pace which works for them.
As a small social enterprise, our capacity to undertake the highly urgent work required to understand our Carbon Emissions and subsequently address the Climate Emergency is limited. Through participation in Become Green Together and the expert guidance and support of programme delivery partners Smart Carbon and Genee, I have been able to prioritise my tasks and make this previously daunting task feel achievable.
Alongside this, the chance to speak to peers running a broad range of businesses, roughly at the same stage as ours and with their own unique challenges, has contributed to a sense of positivity and overall optimism about the nature of the work.
By helping organisations to become more environmentally sustainable, the programme provides a host of knock-on benefits, such as finding ways to cut energy costs, making your organisation more attractive to climate-conscious employees and stakeholders, and gaining accreditation, allowing you to show funders and those wishing to use your service that you’re taking the climate crisis seriously.
The programme is subsidised based on the size of your organisation, with small organisations eligible for up to 75% off the training costs. We also have a limited number of full bursaries available, particularly for organisations in County Durham and the Tees Valley, to cover the remainder of the training costs for those with financial barriers. You can enquire about bursaries by emailing the project coordinator at Nathaniel.Spain@vonne.org.uk.
You can read more and apply to Become Green Together by filling out a short form through our website.
Become Green Together is part of the wider Going Green Together programme, funded by the National Lottery Community Fund and County Durham Community Foundation, and created in partnership with VONNE, Cumbria CVS, Cumbria Action for Sustainability, genee and SmartCarbon.
