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INTRODUCTION
CHAIR’S INTRODUCTION
The Chinese curse of living in interesting times has certainly been visited on LSx this year; however mostly because I have been so unwell! But we are not alone, on a daily basis, Londoners are confronted with new challenges; more of us are visiting food banks and our health is compromised by appalling pollution – 9,500 deaths annually according to recent reports.
I am delighted to be able to present the LSx review for 2014/15, which is one of my first jobs as I arrive in the LSx Chair!
LSx have long considered how inequality limits London’s quality of life, and air pollution, as far back as our environmental justice work in 2003 we explored how the poorer communities are living on the more polluted streets, we now turn our attention to shop keepers on our busy high streets – we were alarmed that this was a problem, even in Clapham Junction. This 2014/15 review highlights some of our key achievements in ensuring that all of those benefitting from our projects enjoy a better quality of life, either by providing energy awareness support to Foodbank clients, community energy development through our Green Mosques project or our faith based water saving messages, or the many enthusiastic entrepreneurs that we have supported to upcycle and flip that waste paradigm.
Despite continuing economic pressures, LSx has extended its influence on policy and practice; a key aspect of our work has been the substantial impact that we have made on the air quality of our City. Through our readiness to adapt we have achieved impressive results and have been able to secure private sector funding as well as public sector contracts and third sector grants. Indeed, we are enthusiastic that our work funded by Thames Water enabled us to partner with different faith groups and explore how they use water and identify clear messages that can encourage using less water as they cook and clean in their homes. Last year was the final year for important projects such as Well London where we have supported and empowered communities to make important changes to their lives as well as enable them to influence policy at a local level. Meanwhile projects such as Green Mosques and Energise Brent have allowed LSx to influence long term change through training community champions who spread the message of sustainability within their communities.
The support of our founding partners, our project partners, our funders and our supporters have underpinned our success. I am extremely proud of our team and everyone who has helped LSx in this stunningly difficult year. Special thanks go to our outgoing Chair – Martin Pilgrim who stepped up to support us in our hour of need.
I would like to thank our board, staff, volunteers, partners, and funders for their continued commitment, enthusiasm and support of LSx. I look forward to building on our successes of the past year for 2015-16.
Samantha Heath, Chief Executive
Garry Procter, Chair
OUR VISION
London Sustainability Exchange (LSx) aims to accelerate the transition to a sustainable London by connecting and motivating people.
WHAT WE DO LSx is a ‘think and do’ charity that works with business, government and the voluntary sector to improve Londoners’ know-how, influence lifestyles and contribute to policy and practice. We do this by:
Reducing London’s environmental footprint Improving the lives of London’s disadvantaged communities Improving the health of Londoners Improving the knowledge and skills of communities to achieve these goals. We know that information alone doesn’t necessarily lead to change. As a consequence, we offer the benefits of living a sustainable lifestyle, working with myriad communities and organisations. In all our programmes we identify the impact of our work through a clear monitoring and evaluation framework. As a result of working with LSx our funders and partners will have: Strong and resilient communities Recognition within our 9,900 strong learner network Action research with identifiable impact Evidence based recommendations for policy makers and communities alike.
OUR AREAS OF EXPERTISE: Our energy and resilience programmes engage with communities to empower healthy and sustainable lifestyles, enabling this to be a social norm. These projects often involve identifying the key individuals in a community, who in turn influence their friends and neighbours Our Green Entrepreneur programme flips the waste paradigm: working with community groups to recast waste as a valuable resource and bring the reuse market closer to a ‘tipping point.’ Our aim is that communities have a ‘social norm’ of re-use Our Air Quality programme brings awareness of the power of community action for change across London. We support communities and schools to establish the hard facts about air quality in their area, use this information to inform their travel behaviours, and in turn through peer to peer influence support their social networks to develop more sustainable travel behaviours. This programme has identified the need to specifically target health and planning policy in London.
KNOW-HOW 185
1,202
1,783
9,922
individuals/ organisations received an action plan
people mentored
people trained
Londoners benefited from our learner network events and advice
Knowledge empowerment is vital in enabling individuals and organisations to understand complex issues and take ownership of them within their communities. Our projects not only enable communities to understand issues such as air quality, health, infrastructure, water use, climate change and employment, but through shared learning, arm them with the tools and confidence to tackle them head on. LSx’s support put me on a completely different level, from how I present myself professionally to negotiating and communicating to get the best deal Green Entrepreneurs participant
Training Communities
Learner Networks
Energise Brent workshops continued to help communities reduce their impact on climate change through easy everyday lifestyle changes and pledging to change behaviours into the future.
Our 9,900 people strong Learner Network has been supported through events, bulletins and project activities.
Participants in our Green Entrepreneurs project have been trained and mentored in how to upcycle fabrics, furniture and electronics as well as business and enterprise skills to enable them to establish their own resource enterprises.
Our Cleaner Air 4 Communities, Well London, Energising and Breathe events have attracted over 250 people, who benefited from fantastic learning opportunities as well as the opportunity to make new connections.
Warmer Homes has trained community volunteers to perform low-tech retrofitting in the homes of individuals who may already be vulnerable because of existing health conditions.
Citizen Science and Air Quality Cleaner Air 4 Communities has made huge inroads, supporting communities to work with their local borough officers and health professionals and develop their own action plan to reduce the impact of pollution in their area such as leading a ‘close the door’ campaign in working with retailers, and changing traffic light sequencing, for example.
Conferences and events
Publications and Toolkits Cleaner Air 4 Schools We successfully completed our Cleaner Air for Schools programme in Islington working with three schools, engaging over 1,100 pupils in citizen science and air quality.
This project was a fantastic way for students to work ‘beyond the syllabus’, broadening and deepening their knowledge of pollution and healthy living Dr. Louise Morris, Head of Science, Richard Hale School
POLICY & PRACTICE 1,691
8,351
6,194
tonnes waste diverted from landfill
meters cubed of water saved
tonnes CO2 saved
We make an impact on the most pressing social, environmental and economic issues facing London today. We achieve this by using our experience and knowledge across business, government and voluntary organisations to help influence policies and practice. Planning for the Future
Health and Well-being
LSx organised and hosted two consultation events engaging stakeholders and influential individuals in the Mayor’s London Infrastructure Plan 2050. One event was focused on Young Londoners and the second on the Circular Economy. Guest facilitators hosted thoughtprovoking discussions engaging a total of 83 attendees from a number of diverse organisations.
We continued to deliver the Well London project in which LSx worked towards increasing skills and capacity, sharing learning, reducing duplication and encouraging integration of projects and services to support health and wellbeing professionals and community champions and volunteers. This year we organised and facilitated 17 events and workshops attended by 276 Well London volunteers, co-ordinators, and apprentices.
A partnership with LSx and communities fits very well with the high priority we give to our work on air quality Cllr. Cook London Borough Wandsworth
The groups and panels that we sit on We continue to support consultation responses particularly in relation to issues relating to sustainable and healthy lifestyles such as energy, waste, water, air quality and food. We continue to play an active role in pan-London organisations that support innovation around health, wellbeing and climate change, particularly around air quality. The London Textiles Forum
London’s Air Quality We continued to raise awareness of the significance of London’s air quality with our Cleaner Air 4 Communities project and working with Directors of Public Health, councillors and MPs. We trained 30 community champions to measure their local air quality through citizen science methods and mapped their findings against government figures. Our successful Cleaner Air 4 Schools project will be continuing in the forthcoming year increasing awareness of air pollution among pupils, parents, teachers and governors.
LSx has greatly influenced how we think about pollution Siobhain McDonagh, MP, Mitcham and Morden
The Sustainable Development Commission (until Jan 2015) The DECC Customer Engagement Roll Out Group for Smart Meters – the forerunner to the Central Delivery Body group that has now been set up The Thames Water Customer Challenge Group The UK Power Networks Customer Challenge The London Climate Change Partnership The London Water Group The London Clean Tech Cluster
Working with LSx has enhanced our customer insight, improving our understanding of everyday household water use and awareness across a diverse range of faith and cultural backgrounds Richard Aylard, Thames Water
LIFESTYLES 55%
45%
1,342,991
of beneficiaries were BAME
of beneficiaries were women
people reached by our work
LSx is continuing to develop innovative projects which deliver high impact results with London’s communities. We focus on London’s key issues including air quality, health, fuel poverty, waste and empowering disadvantaged communities. Improving the health of Londoners
Measuring impacts
Well London completed its final project phase in 2014/2015. We met the challenge of coordinating over 200 volunteers in 10 health champion teams and led on the healthy eating strand of the programme. Over its entirety the project reached 2.5 million people.
We always strive to reduce the environmental impacts of our own activities and those of our partners. Our positive and negative impacts are closely monitored to ensure we are achieving the greatest overall results.
Well Brentford & Syon is a new project for LSx working with four community groups in Hounslow to develop new skills, knowledge and confidence which help to support a healthy lifestyle. Activities which we are promoting include vegetable growing, bee keeping, cooking, cycle maintenance, healthy eating, meditation and yoga. Reducing Fuel Poverty involved working with 26 energy champions from 10 different food banks across London, fitting energy saving retrofit materials with an estimated combined carbon saving of 9631 kg of CO2 per year (£3,308 equivalent).
I'm delighted that people are seizing the opportunities of the green economy and becoming amazing entrepreneurs. Thanks to LSx for bringing this project to Waltham Forest Cllr Grace Williams (William Morris Ward & Junior cabinet member) Waltham Forest
Last year we worked with more than100 organisations and over 600 volunteers, enabling over 150,000 people to save over £1.5m in deprived communities to tackle fuel poverty. We've continued supporting communities through a range of mechanisms: Worked with 41 community groups reaching 50 champions who encouraged friends and neighbours about the advantages of the Smart Homes scheme – our project reached 126,000 people Developed a Green Mosques Community Energy project worth over 535 volunteers with take easy everyday steps to reduce their individual carbon emissions by 42 tonnes Worked with 34 Green Entrepreneurs and establish resource enterprises to reduce waste whilst making profit – diverting 10 tonnes form Landfill Reduce fuel poverty reaching over 900 homes installing low-tech energy saving technologies in residents’ homes as part of Warmer Homes and Energise Brent Develop effective values based water saving campaigns to help 104 people seven different faiths save water in the home through Faith and Water research
The Green Entrepreneurs project didn’t just generate ideas; it put me on a different track, ten out of ten! London Borough of Hounslow project participant
INCOME AND EXPENDITURE 2014-15
INCOME £379,040 Public Sector
£152,244
Corporate
£100,534
Trusts and Foundations
£121,004
Other
£5,259
EXPENDITURE £333,814
The full independent financial review of London Sustainability Exchange for the year ended 31 March 2015 is available on request.
Fundraising and Development
£10,912
Environmental Footprint
£166,013
Health
£24,810
Knowledge and Skills
£84,953
Improving lives
£38,170
Governance
£8,957
LSx THANKS THE FOLLOWING ORGANISATIONS FOR THEIR SUPPORT IN 2014-15 FOUNDING MEMBERS:
FUNDERS:
London Sustainability Exchange 84 Long Lane London SE1 4AU
T: 020 7234 9400 E: info@lsx.org.uk W: http://www.lsx.org.uk
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