Four Bristol charities putting the environment at the heart of their work

The work of four prominent Bristol charities in fostering positive environmental change have been highlighted through a national initiative.

FareShare South West, Wildscreen, Bristol and Bath Parks Foundation and Avon Wildlife Trust were all selected to be part of the Big Give Green Match Fund, which will see their donations doubled up to April 29.

While each has a very different purpose, they all have sustainability and the environment at the heart of their work.

FareShare South West tackles food insecurity and hunger across the city while simultaneously tackling the issue of food waste.

The charity says that every year, more than 250,000 tonnes of food that has is processed, packaged, and ready-to-eat is wasted by producers, manufacturers and retailers in the UK supply chain for reasons ranging from inaccurate demand forecasting, packaging errors, damage in transit or retailer rejections.

Fareshare South West works to tackle food poverty and prevent food going into landfill – photo by Ellie Pipe

FareShare South West works to ensure good quality, in-date surplus food never reaches landfill and instead goes to people struggling to make ends meet.

The money raised will help the charity unlock more surplus food from local food businesses and grow its infrastructure to upscale redistribution by more than 20 per cent to frontline partners, which include homeless shelters, women’s refuge centres, community centres, schools and other charities working with the most vulnerable.

Julian Mines, CEO of FareShare South West, says: “We know the overproduction of food is a key contributor to the decline in our environment and climate change. To think so much is wasted whilst thousands across our region go hungry is what drives me and my team.

“We’re delighted to have been accepted to the Big Give Green Match Fund as we’re determined to be part of the solution to the environmental challenges we face, whilst continuing to be a safety net for those facing hunger in the South West. We rely on donations to run our operation, and so during this period of expansion, we hope our supporters will take this opportunity to see the impact of their donation doubled.”

Donate to the FareShare South West campaign here.

Wildscreen strives to amplify voices and support the filmmakers of the future by providing a platform for natural world storytelling that raises awareness of the chief issues facing ecosystems, endangered species and communities across the globe.

One of the charity’s key missions is to increase industry accessibility by addressing barriers and nurturing the filmmakers and conservationists of the future.

Sue Martineau, interim CEO of Wildscreen, says: “The next generation of natural world storytellers have missed out on many opportunities this year as an impact of Covid-19, with talent from underrepresented groups in the industry being particularly affected. It is vital that we have more diverse representation to impact the global environmental narrative and increase the reach of these important messages.

“We are fundraising to support our highly accessible training and mentorship scheme that will provide opportunities, experience and equipment to emerging talent and empower them to tell original stories about nature. By using our incredible contacts within the international wildlife filmmaking community we are aiming to create programmes that will have a global reach.”

Donate to the Wildscreen campaign here

Bristol and Bath Parks Foundation works to keep the cities’ parks special – photo by Ellie Pipe

Bristol and Bath’s park groups and volunteers are “the key ingredient” in what it takes to make a good park great and the foundation works to support them.

These groups provide opportunities for the local community to come together, increase biodiversity & be active. The foundation wants to raise funds to support the projects that are proving difficult to get off the ground due to lack of funds, including sewing wildflower meadows, community gardening, exercise groups and more. The money will also be used to recruit more volunteers to make these spaces resilient into the future.

Donate to the Bristol and Bath Parks Foundation campaign here

Avon Wildlife Trust has a clear mission statement – to bring wildlife back.

41 per cent of species – including butterflies and hedgehogs – are currently in decline across the UK.

68 per cent of the world’s wild mammals, fish, birds, reptiles and amphibians have been lost since 1970, threatening the natural systems on which people and wildlife depend.

More than 15 per cent of UK species are already at risk of extinction.

Avon Wildlife Trust is working to bring wildlife back – photo by Bevis Watts

Avon Wildlife Trust will use funds to make more space for nature to become abundant once again, giving struggling wildlife a chance to recover as well as restoring beautiful wild places, places that store carbon and help to tackle the climate crisis.

Nicole Squire, head of fundraising, membership and communications at Avon Wildlife Trust, says: “The Wildlife Trusts are calling for at least 30 per cent of our land and sea to be connected and protected for nature’s recovery by 2030.

“Making more space for nature to become abundant once again will give our struggling wildlife the chance to recover and also restore beautiful wild places – places that store carbon and help to tackle the climate crisis. We’re grateful to have this opportunity to launch our fundraising efforts locally at Avon Wildlife Trust. With your support we can all enjoy a wilder Avon.”

Donate to the Avon Wildlife Trust campaign here

Main photo courtesy of FareShare South West

Read more: Mammoth effort to meet spiralling demand as food poverty in Bristol soars