We aren’t sustainability experts, so this kind of event was a great format for us as we needed help, guidance, and support.
Chris Hand, CEO YMCA, Fairthorne Group
Sustainability Training and Materiality Assessment: YMCA
YMCA is the oldest and largest youth charity in the world.
The YMCA Fairthorne Group in Hampshire and Isle of Wight began working with Terrafiniti in 2019 because they wanted to review their sustainability practices. We also had a growing number of staff who were passionate and enthusiastic about the agenda.
Dominic ran a workshop with more than 20 people from all levels of the organisation, including the senior leadership team and colleagues from other YMCAs, to explore the fundamentals of sustainability, identify the issues of importance for the organisation and develop a Materiality Assessment.
Learning useful tools to measure our carbon footprint
It was a great, engaging and interesting workshop where we learnt useful tools that could be used to measure our organisation’s carbon footprint. We are in the business of people, and we aren’t sustainability experts, so this kind of event was a great format for us as we need help, guidance and support when it comes to this agenda.
While Coronavirus has delayed our work and meant we are not as far forward as we would want to be, the legacy of that workshop with Terrafiniti has led to positive change. For example, it has influenced how we approach the renovation of some of our buildings and we are now undertaking that work with green solutions at the forefront of our mind and planning.
‘‘ The workshop with Terrafiniti has led to positive change”
Chris Hand, CEO YMCA, Fairthorne Group
Improving sustainable business practices
Another key benefit was that the workshop opened the agenda to so many different teams at so many different levels of our charity and really enthused them about the changes we can make and the positive impact we can have – not just for our organisation, but for the young people we work with.
I really recommend this workshop format to organisations and charities such as ours who so often have the very best intentions when it comes to sustainability and improving practices but who need practical help and support with knowing where to start and how to effectively implement change.
Chris Hand, CEO YMCA, Fairthorne Group