With many organisations focusing on understanding and reducing a wide range of their environmental impacts, it is often challenging to develop and co-ordinate policy, strategy and action.  The Fit for the Future network is continuing to support members in this key area through the Sustainability Strategy Series, providing members with the opportunity to share ambitions, challenges, approaches, resources, progress and lessons learnt.

Fit for the Future members Paul Clarke (Premises Manager) and Jess Fowle (Co-Chair of Trustees) from St Augustine’s Centre, Halifax will share their experiences of embedding environmentally responsible practices into the work of their unique community centre.

St Augustine’s is Calderdale’s only specialist centre for refugees and people seeking asylum.  It’s a small charity with a big mission – to give people all the practical support they need to rebuild their lives with dignity, and to offer a range of activities that help them feel happier and more connected.

St Augustine’s is a community of 20 staff, 150 volunteers, and over a thousand Centre Members who come from nearly 90 countries.  Paul and Jess will talk about how to make a rented (and listed!) property as sustainable as possible; transforming existing good practice into a set of practical policies; involving Centre Members every step of the way and creating fun activities to help their community embed sustainability (and cost-savings) into their home lives.

The St Augustine’s team are still in the early stages of their sustainability journey and they are hoping to draw upon the experiences of other members of FFTF to help them with some knotty problems they still face!

There will be an opportunity to ask questions and to join in a group discussion, allowing you to share learning, progress, challenges and questions with other members across the network who are on the same journey. 

All members are welcome to attend, regardless of previous experience or knowledge on this topic.  The session will be of benefit to all network members, whatever your size and scope of operations/activity.  From organisations just starting off to those already delivering a sustainability strategy, there will be lots to share and collaborate on, from identifying collective challenges to learning from other approaches.