The Living Rainforest - Keeping Warm This Winter

Who we are

The Trust for Sustainable Living (TSL), is an education charity founded in 1993 and based in West Berkshire where it runs The Living Rainforest, a unique attraction where our visitors can experience the sights, sounds and smells of a lush tropical rainforest. Visitors can discover hundreds of rainforest plants and animals in three tropical glasshouses and learn why rainforests are vital for a healthy planet. 

We would usually welcome around 100,000 visitors a year including 25,000 school children on school visits that directly support the National Curriculum. In 2021 we were awarded top prize at the School Travel Awards for Best Geography Learning Experience in the UK.

Why we are fundraising 

The cost of energy is hurting and we know we are not alone in this. Costs are increasing for everyone including the schools who visit us and the families who come to us to enjoy the sights and sounds of the rainforest. 

The last two and a half years have been a challenge for visitor attractions such as the Living Rainforest. We have survived the pandemic with help from government and our supporters but this year has brought new challenges. We are expecting the next 6 months to continue to be challenging both for us and our visitors.

The cost of heating oil is at least 50% higher than pre-pandemic levels, and electricity prices have more than doubled. At the same time visitor numbers have not yet fully recovered to pre-pandemic numbers. Many schools are also struggling and having to make cuts to budgets for educational visits.

Our glasshouse exhibition spaces need to be kept warm for our tropical plants and animals and unfortunately our oil boiler reached the end of its life and needed replacing at a cost of over £60,000. Our 5 year ambition is to move to a sustainable energy system and our new fuel-efficient boilers will be the first step in achieving this but for now we will continue to need oil for our heating needs. 

How you can support us and our community

This crowdfunder campaign is a unique way for our friends to support the Living Rainforest running costs and at the same time help local residents who may be struggling with heating bills and schools struggling to afford educational visits for pupils. By choosing our unique rewards you can help us with each of these goals

Winter passes: We would like to be able to provide a warm space this winter for local residents in need. A winter pass will allow a local resident who may be unable to heat their home access to the warmth of the Living Rainforest over the winter.

Financial support for school visits: We want to provide subsidised visits for those schools that would not otherwise be able to afford educational visits for their pupils. You can help cover the costs of a tour group of up to 17 school children. This will allow visits from schools whose budgets would otherwise not allow visits to go ahead this school year.

Provide a warm home for Cinnamon the sloth: Contribute to our heating costs for a month and in return receive an animal adoption pack and a family ticket to the living rainforest. 

Rainforest Christmas e-cards: Send a unique Christmas card to friends and family supporting our campaign

Our fundraising goal

We are looking to raise £10k to help bridge the funding gap that we have as a result of increased costs and reduced income. Raising £20k would allow us to fully recover from the current situation and start to rebuild and expand our educational activities.

Our longer term aims

Getting the Living Rainforest finances back on track will allow us to focus on the broader educational activities of the Trust for Sustainable Living. TSL currently engages with thousands of schoolchildren both in the UK and overseas through our sustainability education programmes. We connect children globally with sustainability scientists and thought leaders via competitions and summits for schools, working with students and teachers in more than 80 countries. In 2021 we engaged with over 2,000 children and teachers through our competitions and debates. Our latest summit was on Climate Justice; the links between inequality and the climate crisis, what climate justice means and how partnerships can help to achieve it, and what actions young people and educators can take to help to achieve a more climate-just future. Over 1,000 students and teachers participated in our online summit events.