ecobirmingham: Impact Report 2023/24

Impact Report 2023/24

Creating a Sustainable City

Charity Registration Number 1177761

Creating a sustainable city via transport, food, energy, education and advice.

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ecobirmingham

Introduction At the end of ecobirmingham’s sixth year, we experienced the hottest year on record, the energy and cost of living crises, as the nature and climate emergency continue. Our council, responsible for over 1 million residents, also was declared bankrupt. The uncertainty this creates for local services and the communities we serve is only now beginning to be felt.

team launched the 69 wards walking and cycling routes, which were picked up and promoted nationally by Visit Britain.

Our staff, associates, and volunteers continued to receive recognition for their outstanding work across the city and nationally.

Through leadership and education, we continue to support the development of greener, fairer, and healthier communities in Birmingham, and we are now in our fourth year of having a framework with which to measure our impact around sustainability.

We increased our coverage to different parts of the city and began to gather more evidence of need with ‘community conversations’ hosted by local community development organisations. This approach helped us develop and secure a future threeyear programme of work to begin in April 2024.

We delivered our existing food projects, community gardening, outdoor holiday clubs, piloted our sustainability advice service to individuals and organisations, and secured funding as part of a consortium to deliver community-based energy saving advice. Our active travel

We would like to thank our founders, The Central England Quakers, for their continued support, as well as all our other funders, donors and our dedicated team of trustees, staff, volunteers, friends and champions.

Dr Simon Slater (outgoing CEO)

Kam Bola (Interim Director)

...and the ecobirmingham team Impact Report 2023/24

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ecobirmingham

By 2030 Birmingham residents will have the tools we deserve to live healthier and happier lives.

Our Goal By 2030 Birmingham residents will have the tools we deserve to live healthier and happier lives. We will be cycling and walking more, giving us greater opportunity to enjoy our city’s shared nature, culture and community, as well as eating diverse and nutritional diets that keep us feeling well. We will spend the time and money that we can in ways that encourage fair, local and environmentally friendly products, jobs and volunteering. We will live in homes that protect us from extreme weather, powered in new and renewable ways, and we will harness the power of our local democracy to set a clear path for our city and our world.

Aim To help 25% of Birmingham residents to start or continue a more ‘sustainable living’ journey guided by their values, priorities, and resources by 2030.

Our mission Supporting greener, fairer and healthier communities in Birmingham.

Impact Report 2022/23

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Highlights 3,517

attendees

There were 3,517 attendances at our 274 events and courses to improve people’s ability to live sustainably.

We are reaching diverse beneficiaries. 42% were of Asian heritage, 4% African-Caribbean heritage, 28% White British/Irish heritage, 11% mixed heritage and 13% preferring not to say.

421,592 views

Our digital resources were downloaded 1,942 times and our content was viewed 421,592 times over the year.

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10% of participants had a disability.

ecobirmingham

s 2023/24 74

107 hours

We worked with 74 organisations.

As a team, we contributed 107 hours to 28 different events promoting sustainable living to 767 people.

3,073

beneficiaries

848

volunteer hours

Overall, we directly helped 3,073 beneficiaries (including 550 children) from across 39 wards in Birmingham. 13 wards are in the top 10% most deprived in the UK.

24 volunteers donated 848 hours of their time.

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Our impact for Birmingham We use the One Planet Living® framework to measure the impact of our work across the city.

These are simple principles which make it easier to live happily and more sustainably.

We ask all of our participants the same impact questions across all our activities. The figures below are based on a 37% sample size of participants.

Health and happiness

Land and nature

74% of participants felt their health and wellbeing was improved due to taking part in our events and activities.

1,352 participants felt more engaged with nature.

Participants intended to increase their physical activity by 44 minutes on average per week (from 3.6 to 4.33 hours).

81% of children were inspired to explore their local green spaces more.

830 participants improved their knowledge, skills and confidence in nature.

90% of children learnt something about nature.

100% of parents felt their child had learnt something and improved their empathy towards the natural world.

96% of children felt spending time in nature made them feel happier.

100% of parents said it improved their children’s mental and physical wellbeing.

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Zero waste 1,659 participants increased their confidence, knowledge and/or skills to reduce waste.

ecobirmingham

Culture and community 1,168 participants were inspired to take positive environmental action.

Local and sustainable food 1,383 participants improved their knowledge of reducing food waste.

707 participants planned to reduce their meat and dairy consumption.

707 participants planned to eat seasonally.

1,936 participants were inspired to change their own lifestyle.

2,028 participants intended to share this knowledge with friends and family.

95% of children intended to share their learning with others.

615 participants planned to start growing their own food.

Materials and products

Zero carbon energy

1,875 participants improved their knowledge of reducing single use plastics, reducing and reusing materials.

1,475 participants improved their knowledge of managing and reducing energy use.

Equity and local economy 80% of participants found our activities helpful in finding work or a voluntary opportunity.

Travel and transport 74% of participants were more likely to walk, scoot or cycle.

88% of Active Travel participants improved their ability to cycle.

On average, participants intended to reduce their car journeys (of less than 1 mile) by 35% from an average of 2.21 to 1.43 journeys per week.

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Wards worked in during 2023/24 Soho & Jewellery Quarter Wild Holiday Bunch

We delivered our grassroots activities in 39 wards across the city.

13 wards (33%) were in the top 10% most deprived in the UK. 13 further wards were in the top 20% most deprived in the UK.

Handsworth Woo

Other wards worked in.

Handsw

Soho &

North Edgbaston

North Edgbaston Outdoor cooking

Edg

Quinton Harborne

Weoley & Selly Oak

Bournville & Cotteridge

Allens Cross

Rubery & Rednal Deedlands Community Garden

Frankley Great Park

Longbridge & West Heath Rubery & Rednal

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Northfield

King’s Norto

Sutton Four Oaks

Sutton Trinity

Sutton Wylde Green

Bromford & Hodge Hill Bromford Led-ride Erdington Stockland Green

od

Castle Vale Pype Hayes

worth Lozells Nechells

Ward End

JQ

Bromford & Hodge Hill Shard End

Alum Rock

Bordesley & Highgate

Ladywood

Small Heath

gbaston

on N.

Garretts Green

Bordesley Green

Balsall Heath W.

Moseley

Sparkbrook & Balsall Heath E.

Yardley East

Tyseley & Hay Mills

Sheldon

Sparkhill Acocks Green Hall Green North

Stirchley Brandwood & King’s Heath

Druids Heath & Monyhull

Billesley

Bordesley & Highgate Sustainable Sundays Led-ride

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Headline benefits In total, we calculate our activities have delivered the following headline benefits:

2,146

1,196

Over the year 2,146 Tonnes of Co2e saved (2022/23: 3,062 tonnes).

1,196 extra years of healthy life expectancy (2022/23: 512 years).

tonnes

years

£26+ million

Over £26m of social value benefit produced by our activities (2022/23: £14m).

The main change from last year is that we have seen a bigger targeting of measures that improve health as well as the environment, such as walking, cycling, engaging with nature and healthy eating. This has resulted in large health and societal benefits.

Our energy saving programmes continue to produce carbon dioxide equivalent (Co2e) savings.

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ecobirmingham

Our work Through the following projects on food, education, transport, energy and sustainability we gave people the tools to take positive environmental action and help others do the same.

Sustainability Training and Advice In partnership with a women’s group in Sparkhill, we delivered a series of sustainability workshops. This led to women thinking about their personal priorities, what is important to them and what they can do to reduce their impact on the planet. The group collectively decided to focus on reducing waste and recycling and organised a preloved Asian outfit sale for the community. The event was successful and over 150 women attended.

We delivered 8 sustainability sessions to 9 organisations benefitting 140 people. This included sustainability training days for businesses and the Summit Learning Trust conference supporting 9 academy schools.

It made me reflect on my habits and want to improve my daily routine - lots of really good ideas were shared.

Teacher at a sustainability workshop, Summit Learning Trust Conference

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We recruited two new freelancers, providing jobs and supporting local communities.

We engaged 16 organisations through our Power to Grow and Power to Eat projects, helping each to build a shared growing space for their local communities, eat healthier food and gain life skills they can pass onto friends and family.

43 participants took part in our food and growing projects.

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Power to Grow Through this project we were able to continue our mentorship with community growing spaces across the city helping with planning, recruiting volunteers, designing a sensory garden and creating a permaculture workshop to enhance skills and improve local biodiversity.

We also delivered 10hrs of mentorship and support to five new organisations including, Grassroots Druids Heath.

We supported them to produce documents/policies which enabled them to apply for funding and continue to improve the local green space.

We worked with Share Community at the Women’s Enterprise Hub in Sparkbrook to get their dedicated community growing space up and running, enabling members to connect with nature, learn new skills and improve their health and wellbeing.

ecobirmingham

Power to Eat By delivering 5 of these programmes we helped communities come together over food and raised awareness amongst beneficiaries of how to cook using fresh, locally sourced ingredients that support independent retailers in the community. We were able to share energy saving tips about the benefits of slow cooking and provided a space for beneficiaries to discuss reducing food waste, promote healthy, sustainable living and bring together people from diverse backgrounds.

Beneficiaries included service users from two local food pantries in Quinton and Yardley Wood. Two women’s only groups, Women EMPOWERING Women in Saltley, Share Community Group in Sparkhill, and the over 55’s group at Moseley Hive.

It opened my eyes to healthy eating and the traffic light food colour system. Very good course.

Power to Eat participant

I now feel confident that I can cook nutritious meals for my family.

Power to Eat participant

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Creative Learning We inspired the next generation of young David Attenboroughs. The team have been busy inspiring young minds and delivering mini adventures in nature through our outdoor holiday clubs, Stories for Nature sessions and interactive workshops in the community.

With the support of National Literacy Trust, we helped preschoolers to develop their nature-related language with hands-on experiences and supporting a sense of empathy towards the natural world. We delivered a programme of 24 sessions at the Springfield Project’s Mini Springers’ nursery in Sparkhill and 12 autumn/winter sessions with a nursery in Bordesley, part of the SOS Education project.

Our Wild Holiday Bunch project, provided nature connections at 4 different sites across the city and, on behalf of Street Games, we delivered 10 outdoor cooking workshops for children, giving them the opportunity to explore outdoors and make connections over the campfire as they discovered nature together. We also supported volunteers with “train the trainer” outdoor cooking workshops to enable them to continue these sessions.

Melissa, a parent who previously attended Stories for Nature sessions with her daughter, is now a volunteer who leads sessions in our ecocentre garden. She has said that attending all the sessions and spending time in the ecocentre garden has inspired her to start her own compost and acquire her own allotment.

Children have developed a good understanding towards nature and how to engage in group activities together. Children were able to elaborate their ideas with member of staff while planting the seeds for the apples in the garden, they also were excited while visiting the park to look at nature and habitation of owls.

Sunshine Day Nursery

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We hosted 69 active travel sessions (walking, cycling and scooting) benefitting 277 people with a total of 2,275 miles ridden – that’s the equivalent of cycling Birmingham’s circular number 11 bus route 84 times!

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ecobirmingham

69wards by Bike or Foot

Active Travel Brum

We successfully launched our 69wards by bike or foot map showcasing walking and cycling friendly routes across Birmingham. It has had a great response from communities and organisations city-wide, as well as Visit Britain who are promoting the routes via their website and marketing campaigns to encourage exploring cities by bike. We have been distributing printed maps across the city, actively promoting the routes through community route planning sessions and guided rides/walks.

These visited museums, heritage sites and green spaces, enabling people to choose sustainable transport for days out and leisure as well as discover nature locally.

We delivered a range of sessions from guided nature/heritage walks and rides highlighting traffic free routes to scooter training on behalf of the West Midlands e-scooter provider, Beryl. We provided cycling tuition, route planning, free bike checks, family led-rides and maintenance sessions in several wards promoting a range of sustainable travel options, improving people’s skills and boosting their confidence. This resulted in changes in people’s attitudes towards the way they travel for shorter journeys.

I gained more awareness of off-road routes.

Participant at a route-finding session

View maps

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A highlight was working with Aston University to encourage staff to cycle to work and facilitating students from the TEDx Society to put on a successful cycling event for students. Using the city’s cycle hire scheme for the first-time, participants discovered the possibilities of traveling by bike for everyday journeys and those with their own bikes attended maintenance sessions learning new skills to keep them moving smoothly throughout the year.

I want to express my deepest gratitude and appreciation for the outstanding bike ride experience that we had last week. It was an extraordinary event that left us with unforgettable memories and a profound sense of joy. The cycle route was well designed, we felt safe while riding, and the ride encouraged and inspired us to practice more such bike rides.

Team member at TEDx Aston University

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We worked with the Open Door Community Foundation in Bromford to deliver cycling activities to children from the local school and a led-walk for the community to raise awareness of a new greenway. We trained volunteers to continue providing cycling activities.

Doctor Bike at The Hub on the Green has proved marvellous!! I am picking up my granddaughter from school today and she is so excited to ride her bike back home. My son is enjoying riding his bike too. I am now planning to start riding my bike after 6 years of not using it, this will really help with my overall wellbeing. Thank you so much :) Doctor Bike participant

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Energy Through our work with the Birmingham Council of Faiths Footsteps Programme, we delivered energy audits to 10 Muslim and Christian places of worship and community centres. Thermal energy scans proved popular to show where heat was leaking from. Selly Oak Quakers meeting house hosted us and many other organisations, to show how their destratification fan worked. Discussions with beneficiaries covered improving lighting and heating to reduce costs, supporting the delivery of foodbanks, education, and warm places during the cost-of-living crisis.

As part of a city-wide consortium, BrumEnergy, we delivered energy saving advice sessions to 4 community groups in Moseley, Saltley, Sparkhill and Quinton. We had a stall during the Cost-of-Living week at Stirchley Baths where we were able to support residents with energy saving advice and make referrals for further support.

We delivered 29 sessions to 10 organisations and places of worship across the city to 126 people, helping each to provide vital services to their local communities.

Each assessment has been different, and Footsteps has certainly learnt much about the role that the assessment plays in faith buildings and communities low carbon journeys. Some assessments have led to immediate energy saving actions.

Project Partner

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Looking forward Our future plans include: Î To launch our 3-year, Building Sustainable Communities programme with Allens Cross and the Springfield Project where we will continue to deliver food, energy and active travel activities. Î Re-focus our work on fewer wards and look to build the capacity of key community organisations to reach their communities. Î Launch our Sustainability Advice services for individuals and organisations, via our website and community workshops. Î Grow our Energy service with our role as part of the BrumEnergy consortium.

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Get involved Together we can make Birmingham a greener, fairer and healthier place to live.

There are many ways to support our work. By volunteering, becoming a friend, supporting us with a donation, leaving a legacy gift in your will, booking us for a training session, or joining us as a member of staff, you will be helping us to deliver important projects across the city and become part of a passionate and committed team.

Donations from people like you are essential to ensure we can continue our important work for Birmingham and its residents:

£5 a month

could help us run a cycle route-finding session to get more people in the city out of their cars and cycling as part of our Active Travel project .

£10 a month

could enable us to run outdoor education sessions which encourage children to value and connect to the natural environment.

Donate now

Find out more about our work, how you can take part, sign up to our newsletter and donate via our website.

If you would like to talk about working together, please get in touch, we’d love to hear from you.

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ecobirmingham

£25 a month

could help us deliver a sustainability or energy advice session with a community group to help them reduce fuel poverty in the city.

Thank you Thank you to all of our volunteers and staff, as well as the individuals, organisations and partners who have donated, contributed to, and shared our work.

We would also like to thank the funders who have supported us in 2023/24, in particular:

y The Garfield Weston Foundation y Central England Quakers y John Swire 1989 Charitable Trust y Esmée Fairbairn Foundation y The Society of the Holy Child Jesus y William A Cadbury Charitable Trust y Roger and Douglas Turner Trust y Players of the People’s Postcode Lottery y The National Lottery Community Fund

y Breathe Better Air Community Fund y National Grid – Community Matters Fund y Southall Trust y Birmingham City Council – Food Legends Fund y Department of Sustainability and Net Zero and Midlands Net Zero Hub y Instarmac Group y Certas Energy

y Cycling UK y Charles Brotherton Trust y D’Oyly Carte Charitable Trust y Grimmitt Trust y Michael Marsh Charitable Trust y Birmingham and Black Country Community Fund y Aurora Trust y Lush Foundation y Edward and Dorothy Cadbury Trust y IM Properties Community Fund y John Lewis Partnership Foundation

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Contact us: 0121 448 0119 info@ecobirmingham.com www.ecobirmingham.com Follow us on social media: @ecobirmingham Charity Registration Number 1177761