OVO FOUNDATION PROVIDES £300,000 TO CHARITY PARTNERS SUPPORTING LOCAL PEOPLE IN GLASGOW, BRISTOL, AND LONDON

Bristol, London and Glasgow, 4th July 2023: OVO Foundation, charity arm of energy supplier OVO, today announces that it will be working with twelve charities to deliver local projects in London, Glasgow and Bristol that will bring children and young people closer to nature, and equip them with the skills, knowledge and opportunities to take action on the climate crisis.

This follows new data from OVO showing that those aged 16-24 in the UK are much more likely to believe that their individual actions can contribute to meaningful change in combating climate change and improving the natural environment. 

Over two-thirds of young people believed that they could have meaningful change (67%) and improve the natural environment (70%), and over 7 in 10 said that they want more opportunities to actively engage in environmental action. 

This compares to less than half of the population who believed that they can affect meaningful change towards climate change (48%) and the natural environment (49%). 

With the new grants programme, Community Impact, OVO Foundation is partnering with twelve charities local to its OVO Offices in Bristol, London, and Glasgow to support with up to £25,000, one-year grants. This sees the Foundation expanding its work in climate action and education to support community projects that create real change and progress towards its vision. 

Together the projects aim to support nearly 8,000 young people, people, teachers and volunteers. In addition, the partnerships will benefit from year-round OVO volunteering, with OVO on people giving their time and skills to support the projects and the charities’ overall missions.

Most projects feature outdoor learning opportunities for children and young people, with five community gardens and three city farms being amongst our twelve partners.

In Glasgow the charity partners are:

• Urban Roots: Funding is supporting a programme of outdoor activities aimed at increasing nature connections and access to local greenspace for children and young people in deprived urban areas. Activities range from community gardening and food growing to woodland conservation and biodiversity improvement. 
• The Children’s Wood: Working with a climate & nature education expert, The Children’s Wood will deliver outdoor learning sessions that engage children and young people in climate and nature education, all in an urban woodland setting. 
• SiMY Community Development: Developing young people’s understanding and appreciation of the environment through a range of activities based in the local community green space, a school garden, and other green spaces around Glasgow.
• Woodlands Community Development: Inspiring children and young people to take action on climate change and feel better connected to the natural world through a programme of arts and environmental activities based in the community garden. 

In Bristol the charity partners are:

• Heart of BS13: Supporting The Green Influencers, a youth-led, social action initiative designed to widen participation in climate and environmental action and focuses on addressing the problem of waste in the BS13 community – from the prevention of fly-tipping, reducing food waste from schools, and raising awareness of the problems caused by fast fashion.  
• Lawrence Weston Community Farm: The Farm Hands project offers 6-month weekend placements for local 8-11 year olds affected by poverty or social issues to improve their social skills and self esteem, physical health and wellbeing, and help them to learn about nature, wildlife and animal care.
• Redcatch Community Garden: Outdoor education sessions will educate children about wildlife habitat creation, sustainable growing, irrigation and climate change. Through a supportive environment, children with SEND will have the chance to connect with nature and feel empowered to make a positive difference to the environment.
• Square Food Foundation: The Primary Schools Cookery Project is a programme of food and cookery activities to help bring cooking into the classroom and make good food a way of life for the whole school community. Engaging with less advantaged children and their families, Square Food Foundation aims to instil basic principles of healthy and sustainable eating, the benefits of cooking from scratch and inspire a life-long love of food and cooking that is good for the planet.

In London the charity partners are:

• Cultivate London: Supporting a seed to plate programme that teaches children about food, following the journey from sowing seeds to harvesting and eating. Increasing access to food-growing spaces will benefit students, school staff, and the wider communities whilst also improving the local habitat.
• Hammersmith Community Gardens: Our funding will support Phoenix Farm in White City, where local primary schools and local residents can get involved with seasonal gardening sessions, learning about humanity’s role in the environment, food production, and other aspects of nature. 
• Spitalfields City Farm: The Young Farmers programme will engage young people in the world of farming, giving them the opportunity to connect with nature, build confidence and new skills, make friends and take a break from the outside world, in an inclusive and welcoming environment. 
• ecoACTIVE: Funding an experiential learning programme for young people that will deliver environment-focused workshops, followed by adventurous activities on the River Lea and Walthamstow Marshes that foster a connection to nature through experiential learning. 

Hannah Howard, Head of OVO Foundation, said:

“At OVO Foundation our work is all about bringing children and young people closer to nature and helping them take action on the climate crisis. We’ve partnered with six national charities to fund their climate action and education projects, and now with the launch of Community Impact we’re bringing this mission closer to home and supporting local causes where we live and work. It’s been so inspiring to learn more about these twelve charities who are already delivering real value for their communities, and we’re delighted to be working with them over the next year to continue building on this impact.”

Neil Pratt, Operations Manager at SiMY Community Development, said: 

“We’re hugely excited to partner with OVO Foundation to help young people in Townhead create a garden in their local area that the whole community can benefit from, allowing people to engage with the natural environment around where they live, understand the connections between the food on our plates and how it’s produced, and giving them the opportunity to experience the mental and physical health benefits of interacting with the environment in this way. The financial support, and people resources, that OVO Foundation is providing represents a significant step forward in creating a project that will be sustainable in a long term way.” 

Alice Morrison, Fundraising and Communications Manager at Square Food Foundation, said:

“We are delighted to be receiving this funding from OVO Foundation which will enable us to deliver our Primary Schools Cookery Project. Working with local schools, our cookery project supports children to develop important life skills, build healthy habits and learn about sustainable food that is good for them and the planet. Climate action through food education is at the forefront of our mission and we are passionate about inspiring the next generation.”

Philip Nichols, Chief Executive at Spitalfields City Farm, said:

“We are really excited by this new partnership with the OVO Foundation. Funding will allow us the opportunity to provide a way for young people to experience a way of life that is less accessible to them living in an urban environment. Not having access to farms, countryside and wild open spaces, limits the ideas of what is possible from a life or future career. Thanks again to OVO Foundation for supporting us.”

ENDS

About OVO Foundation 

We’re OVO Foundation, OVO’s climate-focussed charity. We exist to create a greener, brighter future for the next generation. We believe every child and young person should have access to nature – and be able to learn about protecting the planet they love. 

It’s children and young people that the climate crisis will affect most. That’s why we’re supporting climate action and education projects for kids across the UK. It’s how we feel we can make the biggest impact. 

To make real change happen, we partner with brilliant charities and fund their climate action and education projects, which are supporting children and young people across the UK. From nature conservation to helping kids make their schools more energy efficient, we focus on making a difference to less advantaged children and their communities.

Here’s some of the work we’re doing:

• Planting tiny forests, which double up as outdoor classrooms and absorb up to 7.2 tonnes of carbon each year
• Helping students make their schools more energy-efficient, saving 6000 tons of carbon and £1.9m in energy bills
• Bringing 2500 young people’s nature projects to life in schools
• Giving 900 young climate activists a platform to educate others
• Teaching over 26,000 young people how tech can help the environment 
• Campaigning for better climate education and action nationally

Everything we do at the OVO Foundation is funded by generous donations from our customers. 100% of that money goes directly to our project, and OVO matches every penny donated. So, together, we can do double the good. 

For more information visit ovofoundation.org.uk, or contact [email protected]

About polling:

Strand Partners’ specialist research team conducted an online survey of 1,020 nationally representative members of the public, online between Sunday, 2nd July and Monday, 3rd July 2023. Respondents were selected for representativeness using quotas by age and gender (interlocked) and NUTS 1 regions UK. All data was then weighted against the latest ONS census. 

All data gathered is of a publishable quality and is produced within Market Research Society guidelines.

For full data tables and more detail of the methodology, please e-mail: [email protected].