Together for a Climate-ready Greenwich

Aim

Improving lives and helping the planet with free, cost-saving, sustainable, community-based activities for everyone in Greenwich to enjoy.

Our Aim

Climate change is causing heatwaves, floods, escalating food prices, and energy bills through the roof. Yes it is depressing, and it's disadvantaged communities who are feeling these impacts of climate change hardest. We need your help to change that!

Our solution

Nothing fancy. Just what's always worked.

Come together as a community
Give what you don't need, take what you do
Grow and make wherever you can
Use less, waste less

These aren't new ideas, our grandparents lived by them. We've just forgotten how powerful they are and so with your support, we're bringing them back, Greenwich-wide!

How it works

You donate and we create!

We will build a climate-aware network of community and faith centres across the borough where our team of trained volunteers will run practical, hands-on activities:

Food-growing projects
Water butt installations
Advice on energy saving
School uniform, work clothes, seed, and book swaps
"Make, do and mend" craft workshops
Sustainable swaps like reusable nappies
Offer environmental impact audits to centres and hubs
Whatever else the community needs

These actions will not only help our planet but also save people money and build valuable community connections.

We're not starting from zero

So far, we have:

10 community & faith centres across Greenwich on board, with more to follow...
Hundreds of volunteers
Decades of experience training and managing volunteer teams
An existing network of communities working to increase climate resilience
Match-funding from the London Resilience Partnership and the Aviva Foundation
Support from the Royal Borough of Greenwich
A determination to do better for people and planet.

What we need to make this happen

To recruit, train and coordinate a team of specialist volunteers
To bring as many community and faith centres on board as possible - we already have 10 signed up!
Activity materials such as seeds, gardening gloves, water butts, haberdashery supplies, storage and organisation kit
Emergency grab bags for every participating centre with torches, power banks and essentials so communities can stay safe if crisis hits, whether that's a flood or a mass power outage.

This is a simple idea with a big reach. Help us bring it to every corner of Greenwich by donating today.

Every donation will be match-funded by The Aviva Foundation up to the value of £250 until we reach £25,000!

Who we are

Volunteer Centre Greenwich is a registered charity that positively changes lives and communities through volunteering, mentoring and training. As the leading independent voice of volunteering in Greenwich for 26 years, we support over 2000 residents and 800 local organisations each year. We are well connected with community and faith groups throughout the borough and have a database of volunteers ready to get involved in community projects.

How you can help

There are three simple ways to get involved and support our project:

1. Make a donation

Every pledge gets us closer to our goal. Early support can help build momentum and inspire others to give too.

2. Spread the word

Share our project with friends, family and your wider network. The more people we reach, the more likely we are to succeed.

3. Volunteer with us

If you’d like to get involved, we’d love to hear from you. Please get in touch through the ‘Contact’ section using the subject "I want to volunteer my time or expertise" on our project page.