St Albans has the second highest ecological footprint of all the UK’s cities. You can get involved to help change the course of our future.
We are a volunteer-run charity. All our projects and events are run by local people who give up their time for free because they are passionate about the environment and want to make a difference. Simply put, the more people we have, the more we can do. We need self-motivated, skilled people like you who can get things done.
Here are some ways you can get involved, from little steps to larger time commitments…
But then as they say the more you give, the more you get:
Stay in the know: join our mailing list!
Sustainable St Albans shares a monthly newsletter highlighting events, opportunities and inspiration to help you wherever you are on your sustainability journey. Sign up here. You can also sign up on our blog page to receive Sustainable St Albans blogs.
You can also become a member of Sustainable St Albans which allows you to vote at our AGM.
Start living more sustainably
You can help by being more environmentally friendly in at your home, your community, your business and your school. Not sure where to start? Join the St Albans Climate Action network on count-us-in.org and take your first steps.
Talk to others about climate issues
You can really help in your daily life by talking about the importance of taking action for climate and nature. If you want to talk more, but are not sure how, you can use our Climate Conversation pack. If that sounds too much, you could choose an event to come to and bring a friend along.
If you want to go further, you can become a Climate Champion and talk at events about climate change and local action. We have a group of volunteers from the local area who are booked to help residents learn about the climate, why action is important, and what Sustainable St Albans does.
If you arrange events for your organisation, team, business, club or youth group, we can provide a free speaker in the form of a Climate Champ.
If you’re interested in becoming a champion, we can provide training to improve your confidence to speak in public, and to support you on the facts about climate issues. If you’re interested in finding out more, get in touch.
Volunteer with us
There are lots of opportunities for volunteering, in large and small ways. For example:
- putting up posters for an event
- doing a shift on a market stall or event
- writing a blog post, guide or case study for this website
- reviewing or recommending films and documentaries
- researching funders and drafting funding applications
- talk at events about climate change and local action
- helping us run an event or project
Check with your employer – you might be able to take paid volunteer days.
Our current volunteering needs:
- Our Schools Group is looking for more members. If you are passionate about climate change and education, you can help us help local schools. We are particularly keen on someone who might like to edit our 5 times a year newsletter to schools (full training given), people who would go into schools to give assemblies and an educator who can help restart the Sustainable Schools Training Day. For more information, contact us via the Schools page.
- Our Thermal Imaging Camera team are looking for volunteers to host the camera: individual team members might have the camera for 2-4 weeks at a time loaning it out up to daily. Based on the current team, it would be great to have volunteers from South and West St Albans / Sopwell, however volunteers from any part of the district would be great too!
- Our Repair Fairs need extra Fixers who are great are getting broken things (electricals, clothes, bikes) going again.
- Our communications could do with Marketing and IT support to help run this website and our social media channels
- Our Events Team and the Our Planet Our Future team (in Harpenden) both need more people who can help plan, arrange, promote and run these events.
- If you’re someone who loves being involved in events on your street, our Meet Your Neighbours team would be keen to find volunteers to take shifts on market stalls in St Albans and Harpenden who would talk to people about these projects including street parties and the local Playing Out scheme.
- Our Harpenden Sustainability Market project team is looking for volunteers who can help at the market (eg with setting up and taking down gazebos), help with the market administration or help on the Sustainable St Albans market stall
If you are happy to be contacted, email us here with a description of what you can do, and an idea of your availability.
Help run an event or project
Our events and projects are all volunteer-run. We always need extra group members to enable us to do even more. The groups muck-in together and divide up the things that need doing between them. They are friendly and approachable and most meet in the evenings.
Groups which particularly need new members currently are the schools group, the thermal imaging camera group, the events group, and the Repair Fairs, but all our groups would be delighted to hear from enthusiastic new people. See our upcoming and past events to get a flavour of what we have going on!
Our current projects:
- Sustainability Festival
- St Albans Climate Action Network
- St Albans Count Us In
- Hold A Climate Conversation
- Open Food Gardens
- Our Planet our Future: talks and events series
- Playing Out
- Harpenden Sustainability Markets
- St Albans Fixers and Repair Fair
- Borrow a Thermal Imaging Camera
- Sustainable Schools: activities and resources
Start a new project
We love new ideas, but we don’t always have the capacity to start more projects ourselves. If you have a great idea that will make the District more sustainable, and you are happy to roll up your sleeves to get it started, then we’d love to hear from you!
All our current projects began as ideas, and blossomed with the energy and enthusiasm of a handful of local people. Often, the first step is an open meeting, calling for other interested people. If you can arrange a meeting like this, we can help you promote it to our mailing list and see who comes along.
If you have a project idea, email our trustees. You can come to a trustee meeting and present your proposal, telling us what’s involved and what it would cost.
Open your street to play and community building
If you are interested in closing your street for children’s play and for community building, find out more about the Playing Out scheme in St Albans and come to one of our information sessions.
Share your professional skills
If you work in a role linked to the environment and sustainability, or in the charity sector, we could learn from your skills and knowledge.
Perhaps you could speak on your subject area at one of our events. What’s your thing … Transport? Energy? Food? Architecture? Waste? Water? Plastics? Biodiversity? Campaigning?
Could you help us prepare a response to a council consultation? There are regular consultations, and we need access to networks of experts to submit responses. We are a member of the Council’s Climate Crisis Advisory Group, and regularly need to give input on council documents.
Become a trustee
We are actively recruiting for new people to join the existing trustee group. You need to bring time and enthusiasm, and some knowledge of sustainability and the district, and a commitment to the work and ethos of Sustainable St Albans. Previous board or trustee experience is not necessary, and we welcome applications from people of all ages and backgrounds.
If you think you may be interested please have a look at the Trustee Role description here. If you would like to find out more or apply, please email the trustees. We’ll start with an informal discussion, an interview, and a chance to observe a couple of trustee meetings before you need to make a commitment.