Our values

AfSL has a unique approach in the drive to encourage sustainable living, combining five elements:

1. Holistic
2. Positive
3. People-centred
4. Local
5. Lasting change

Holistic

AfSL covers all sustainability issues because we believe that the journey towards a sustainable lifestyle involves attitudinal change in almost everything we do, as well as behavioural change in specialised areas. As individuals, we don’t divide our lives into energy, food, waste or other compartments. In other words, AfSL starts where the individual is.

Nevertheless, AfSL acts as an effective conduit for single issue organisations to get their message across. When Action Groups (see below) on a particular issue are set up we can access expert advice and resources. We broker partnerships with other agencies and services to better support local communities to achieve their goals.

Positive

The news about climate change can appear scary and overwhelming. The problems seem so great that many people instinctively bury their heads in the sand and hope they will go away – or that someone else will take responsibility for sorting them out. This perception is often reinforced by the doom-laden nature of much reporting.

For that reason AfSL always emphasises the good news and provides examples of what individuals and groups can achieve. Small steps taken cumulatively can have an enormous impact. In fact, they can change the world.

People-centred

As individuals, we are influenced by what is going on around us: if friends, family and neighbours make changes, we are more likely to do so. AfSL starts where people are. When an individual approaches us with a desire to make a change in one area of their lives, we build on this interest as a springboard to encourage further changes.

We build the skills, resources, confidence and employability of local volunteers (many of whom will complete accredited training). Through our involvement people will become more adept at working together and become a voice for local action.

Local

AfSL works with local people to set up and facilitate Action Groups. We encourage and support volunteers in local communities (ward level or smaller) to work on the challenges that they feel most strongly about and to develop the skills and resources to resolve these issues. These are single issue campaigns to raise awareness, run local events, promote local projects (such as car sharing schemes, reducing waste and promoting recycling, tackling fuel poverty and distributing low energy light bulbs).

AfSL works with local schools (through our A Few Small Steps service as part of the Sustainable Schools Agenda) to encourage them to become more sustainable and to embed them more firmly in their communities. Our ‘whole school’ approach ensures that, over time, the culture in which pupils, teachers, managers and ancillary staff work will come to embrace and actively promote a sustainable future.

We also encourage local initiatives: supporting local shops to supply local and sustainable/ethical products and services (and providing people with local maps of what is available locally). Such enterprises create genuine wealth for the community and develop confidence and self-reliance. Many local activities that start off as voluntary initiatives have the potential to become social enterprises. We aim to support individuals and groups to make that transition.

Lasting change

AfSL is committed to creating stronger communities over time. Our approach allows support on the ground to be maintained, preventing enthusiasm and initiative from leaking away. We offer an innovative and coherent model of service delivery for creating real and lasting change on the ground. Over time changes become irreversible and stimulates yet more steps on the road to a sustainable future.