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Charles Palmer, graduate Local Project Manager was drawn as the winner of the evaluation prize draw. He is going to use the money to relaunch his ‘Community Starts at Home’ Project.
Keep your eye on the blog for more information and for details of the launch! Well done, Charles!
You can read about Charles’ project here.
1-2 day per week
Minimum of 3 months
Want to gain some experience in a successful organisation whilst making a difference?
Want to help us move the Sustainability debate on from talk to action?
We’re looking for a creative and skilled person to help us develop strong visual communication materials for the organisation to further promote the great work our organisation. We are looking for a commitment of at least one day each week (from the office) for a minimum of 3 months (can discuss other arrangements on application). This is a fantastic opportunity to develop your graphic design/illustration, gain experience working towards specific goals, and be creative for a good cause.
It is anticipated that the post will run from the October for 3 months until December, with the possibility of extension. It is the role of the Graphics Design Volunteer to create visually appealing graphics for use online, in print and advertising to strengthen the AfSL brand and to promote the charity and the great projects set up and run by our volunteers. Assisting other volunteers to make their own resources; mentoring them through the design and print process. Please see the Job Description for a more comprehensive role description.
The role is part of the Green Seeds project which is funded through a Big Lottery grant, to support volunteers and communities within Greater to live more sustainably.
A full job description and person specification can be downloaded here.
Alternatively you may telephone 0161 237 3357 for a printed copy.
Looking for something fun for the kids over the summer holidays then look no further!
Fallowfield Secret Garden are hosting a Kids’ Art Attach event on Friday 2nd August from 10am-2pm.
For more information, contact City South on 0800 840 1444
Do you live in Fallowfield? Are you interested in gardening? If so, then this lovely community garden needs you!
We recently received a call from a gentleman called David who set up the community garden, but is no longer residing in . Subsequently, the most recent care taker has passed away, so the garden is no longer being tended.
This is a fantastic opportunity for you to have access to a piece community growing space. If you would like some support with the gardening work, we can always send a shout out to the E-Team to come along to help.
If you are interested in becoming the new pioneer of this garden, please get in touch with David by email and he will contact you with more information.
ECO South : YouTube Short Films and Shaping the Future of an Environmental Network for
Thursday 18th July from 7-9pm at Resource Centre, Oldham Street, .
ECO South is an evening to help you network, share your ideas and be inspired. This month, we’re going to ask you to bring your best eco YouTube videos for us all to watch and talk about together. Bring your YouTube favourites on the day or for best chance of showings, send links in advance to [email protected].
Aside from that, well, we’ve been hosting ECO South for a while so in addition to the usual networking and talk, we also want to ask you what you want from an ECO network in and maybe even get you involved in shaping it.
So save the date – Thursday 18th July from 7pm Resource Centre. Oh and to whet your appetite, here’s one of our favourite eco youtube films – the Carbon Weevils: http://www.youtube.com/watch?
Waste is a resource in the wrong place. This fundamental modus operandi, coupled with the current Local, National and International socio-economic trajectory have provided the inspiration for my project entitled ‘Amalgamake’. With the help of Action for Sustainable Living and the Fallowfield Secret Garden (an established community project in South -) I aim to build food growing facilities using crowd-sourced reclaimed materials.
Having studied Architecture and being interested in closed-loop food systems I have designed and begun building a passive-solar, cold-frame aquaponics system. It’s basically a large insulated cold frame that utilizes the thermal mass properties of water and stone to retain heat; prolonging the growing season and providing the necessary temperatures to sustain the fish housed within.
Aquaponics – the combination of hydroponics and aquaculture – is one of the most efficient techniques we currently have for growing organic produce. 90% less water is wasted using this method as opposed to conventional food farming, it works by plants feeding upon fish waste (an organic fertiliser once broken down by naturally occurring bacteria) which purifies the water before returning it to the fish tank. Although the internet is awash with instructional videos on the subject it is still regarded as fairly specialist knowledge and the equipment needed – particularly to shelter a back garden system from the UK’s climate – is very expensive.
The Fallowfield Secret Garden’s volunteers and I will be undertaking training to be able to offer this information to local people. Through establishing a network of construction, demolition, recycling and skip hire companies we aim to then be able to remove the price barriers that currently prohibit those most affected by food poverty by building these structures with waste timber, glass, brick, stone and insulation. If you would like to contribute to the project in any way please contact me at [email protected] .
Here at AfSl, we love an opportunity to get out to spread the word about sustainable living. We teamed up with Carillion to do just that during their annual Sustainability Week at their Chorlton offices.
With a mixture of fun hands-on activities and inspiring information about what other people are doing around , we encouraged the workforce to spend their lunch break imagining a sustainable Carillion and making pledges to contribute towards it. Even the most reluctant participants couldn’t help but get stuck in to making bee-friendly seed bombs to take home; it seems all it takes is a bit of mud to get everyone excited about sustainability!
A multinational facilities management and construction services company, Carillion is a sustainability-focused business. They are working towards carbon neutrality, not just for themselves, but for their customers as well, and they aim to be the best in class at reducing waste, managing use of water and raw materials, and protecting biodiversity wherever they operate. Their Sustainability Week is a way to maintain this ethos amongst Carillion employees. Alongside AfSL’s lunchtime event, there were lots of things going on throughout the week, like a drop-off point for unwanted items to be donated to a local charity shop instead of going to landfill, and a planting project with children from a nearby school.
It’s really exciting to see a large business taking sustainability seriously, and AfSL is proud to be involved.
We are coming up to our next round of recruitment for our volunteer Local Project Manager training and you could be in with the chance to receive free project management training – including Involving Volunteers, Press-worthy Projects, Social Media and Funding and Constituted Groups.
The training will take place at the Ida Kinsey Centre in Ardwick, on Friday 5th July 5:45 pm to 9:00 pm and Saturday 6th July 9:45 am to 5:00 pm.
For more information and for details on how to apply, please call the office on 0161237357 and ask to speak with one of our Community Coordinators (Erika, Jo or Kate)
Alternatively, you can download the application form below.
2013_01_15_Green Seeds Local Project Manager Application Form
Fancy taking the challenge to take part in the City of Salford run and fund raise for Action for Sustainable Living?
To take part, please register using the purple button above and by sending your payment of £10 cheque for the discounted registration fee to Action for Sustainable Living, Fourways House, 57 Hilton Street, , M1 2EJ.
Deadline for registering your involvement and for payment to be received by us is Thursday 22nd August.
In the meantime, please contact the office on 01612373357 for a chat to find out more or to discuss alternative methods pay your fee.
Once you have registered, you will receive an email welcome pack containing further information and tips for fundraising.
Greater Fire and Rescue Service (GMFRS) has a history of taking innovative steps to operate in a more sustainable way, investing hundreds of thousands of pounds and reducing their carbon usage by 16% since 2009. With a target of 25% reduction, they realised they needed to engage the thousands of people employed within the fire stations.
Working on the natural competitiveness of the firefighters, a plan was drawn up to establish the Green Hose Awards, a green competition between fire stations with prizes awarded to the most environmentally aware. GMFRS contacted AfSL to train the 100+ firefighters from 35 stations who initially signed up to get the competition started. AfSL delivered a day of training in June 2012 under the Green Champions scheme. Working to ensure GMFRS’s sustainability objectives were central to the training, AfSL helped the firefighters develop their own ideas for contributing to the fire service’s carbon reduction targets. Many of these ideas have since been put into practice, ranging from harvesting rainwater and utilising cycle trailers, to working to rehabilitate young offenders with a food growing scheme, and, in conjunction with the Prince’s Trust, beekeeping to teach new skills to unemployed people. Smaller everyday shifts have also occurred such as lights being habitually switched off, and a very successful cycle-to-work scheme.
With the help of AfSL, the firefighters of Greater are now very much engaging with the challenge of creating a more sustainable fire service.
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