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NorthfieldEcocentre Annual

Report 2011

www.northfieldecocentre.org

0121 448 0119Registered Charity Number 224571

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Introduction

QuakersIn 2011 Quakers declaredthemselves to be “ready at

this time to become a low-carbon, sus-tainable community,” noting“We have long been aware that ourbehaviour impoverishes the earth. It isour responsibility both to conserve theearth’s resources and to share them moreequitably.”Minute 36, Britain Yearly Meeting 2011

Northfield Ecocentre hopes Quakers willdraw on its support as they work towardsa sustainable future.

“The produce of the earth is a giftfrom our gracious creator to the

inhabitants, and to impoverish theearth now to support outward

greatness appears to be an injury tothe succeeding age.” (John Woolman,

1772, from Quaker faith &practice 25.01)

2011 has been a busy year. TheEcocentre has continued to grow anddevelop the services we offer to thecommunity. We started new projectsincluding our School of Green Livingand Northfield’s Orchards. We heldlots of exciting events and havewelcomed new members to all of ourgroups.

Thanks to the hard work anddedication of all our staff, volunteersand management committee theEcocentre won two awards this yearcelebrating our achievements reducingcarbon emissions locally. We are proudthat the Environmental ManagementSystem we use to minimise our impact

on the environment has beenaccredited with ISO 14001, aninternationally recognised standard.

We successfully completed our workwith Birmingham City Council financedthrough the Working NeighbourhoodsFund. Independent evaluators statedwe achieved a “very effectiveperformance” reducing carbonemissions and changing behaviours.

You can find out more about all of ourwork throughout 2011 in this report.We hope you find it interesting.

Georgia Stokes, ManagerJudith Jenner, Clerk tothe ManagementCommittee

Northfield Ecocentre is a branchof Central England Area QuakerMeeting.

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Our WorkIn 2011 we saw a lot of changes at theEcocentre, some projects ended othersbegan. After two years of operation wehave begun to realise where ourexpertise lies and how we can matchthat to the needs of the community. Asa result we have made some alterationsto the direction of our work. Weencourage group visits to the centre andhave enjoyed sessions with ‘TheChallenge’ volunteer groups this year.Our educational work focuses onsessions with children and their

parents/carers to explore ways to livemore sustainable lifestyles.This table shows the contacts we havehad over the last three years, and ourwork is discussed in more detail on thefollowing pages. In 2011 we targetedour outreach work to more specificaudiences. We attended fewer outreachstalls than 2010 as we aim to have moremeaningful contacts now people arebecoming aware of the Ecocentre.

Sewing & Crafts. This groupstrengthened over 2011.We now have a fantasticgroup of regulars who makeall new comers feel very welcome. Thegroup has worked together on projectsfor other charities while also creatingtheir own pieces.Gardening Group. What this group hasachieved really needs to be seen to bebelieved. The garden has been veryproductive. Group members have takenhome tomatoes, carrots, peas, beans,herbs and lots more. The garden containsfruit trees, an amazing sensory garden

designed by St Laurence Juniors,and fantastic greenhouses madefrom plastic drinks bottles.

Friends of Victoria Common havebecome an effective, independent groupmeeting at the Ecocentre. They organiseda number of events including a springclean up weekend. More than 70 peopleattended a very successful autumn dayplanting bulbs, picking apples, makingjuice with an apple press, and litterpicking.

Contact Type 2009 2010 2011

At Ecocentre 1114 1823 1935

CommunityOutreach 924 1622 629

Totals 2041 3445 2564

Groups

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New to 2011We were delighted to launch our School of Green Living in2011 following the high demand experienced for workshopsin the previous year. School of Green Living courses areprofessional, practical sessions that offer the participants anopportunity to learn sustainable skills such as foraging, bikemaintenance, textile scrap booking, willow basket making,patchwork & quilting, and crochet for beginners. Coursescost between £20 and £40 for a half day or full dayrespectively.

In response to comments from parentswe decided to change our regularfamily hour sessions into one-offevents as part of our new EcoKids.These sessions run during schoolholidays and provide more time forparents and children to do activitieswhile thinking about sustainabilityissues. The first session ran inDecember. Many more dates areplanned for 2012.

Working TowardsSustainability – Friends of

the EcocentreFor 2011 we launched a newscheme for people tosupport the Ecocentre with asmall regular donation. Wehave had lots of positivefeedback, and sign ups. Thank you toeveryone who is supporting our work toreduce carbon emissions with a regularmonthly donation. Every penny is used tomake our community more sustainable,reducing our carbon emissions andprotecting the environment.

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We are very excited about ourNorthfield’s Orchards project which willrun from June 2011 to Spring 2013.In June we were granted funding fromThe Big Tree Plant to create 30community orchards across Northfieldand to plant 1,400 trees. Trees bringmany benefits to a community. Theyprovide a habitat for wildlife, reconnectpeople to their food sources, reduce food

miles and absorb carbon dioxide. Treeshelp our community look great too!By the end of 2011, we had planted 234trees at a range of locations including TheBlack Horse Pub, StBartholomew’sCommunity Association,Turves Green BoysSchool, St LaurenceJunior School andCofton Park.

We held lots of exciting eventswith the local community in2011. The events covered a widerange of topics, were fun and engagingwhile also offering practical advice onsustainable living. They included:

● Spruce Up Your Christmas● Big Food Weekend● Nappuccino mornings● Bike Maintenance workshops● Film screenings● Summer gardening club● Summer Holiday Family Fun Day

The Big Food Weekend saw people cometogether to celebrate local, organic food.With everything from cookerydemonstrations, a shared lunch, artisanproducts, children’s activities and thelaunch of Oxfam’s food campaign Grow,this event really did provide something foreveryone.

Our Summer Holiday Family FunDay which included eco-craft

activities, a nature quiz, outdoor gamesand a short film was enjoyed by 27 childrenand their grownups!

At our Spruce Up Your Christmas eventshoppers were able to come in for somehot, spicy apple juice and a mince pie whilemaking their own decorations includingpasta angels. Our craft stall was busy allday as people bought recycleddecorations, homemade Christmaswreaths and preserves.

Events

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Energy AdviceWe have developed our energy advicework to include services for housingassociations, better advice forhouseholders on a wider range of topicsand more interactive workshops. As it’simportant to lead by example we have

achieved internationally accreditedstandards of environmental managementas we work towards becoming a zerocarbon organisation.

Housing Association Energy AdviceService

In response to the pressure on familybudgets of rising fuel bills the Ecocentrelaunched an initiative working withhousing associations, giving advice totenants. The service includes home visits,energy surgeries in local communitycentres and a helpline. These are designedto help housing associations support theirtenants in managing their fuel usage.

Optima Housing Association, one of thefirst to use the services, said: “It’s reallyimportant our tenants can understandand manage their fuel usage so we sawthis new service as a key way ofsupporting our tenants.”

ISO 14001 AccreditationTo lead by example, and make sure theEcocentre is operating in the mostsustainable way possible, we set up anEnvironmental Management System(EMS) to monitor our environmentalimpact. To make sure we do this to thehighest standard, we have achieved theinternational standard of ISO 14001, toensure the thoroughness and quality ofour EMS.Realising the importance of EnvironmentalManagement Systems we trained our staffto work with community organisations andbusinesses to develop and implementthese systems to ISO 14001 accreditationstandards.

Working Neighbourhoods FundThis project was completed in March 2011in accordance with the terms of funding.An independent evaluation of the projectwas conducted by W J Research whichfound that 93% of people rated the serviceas ‘good’ or ‘very good’ and 66% ofrespondents had made physical changesto their home following the advice. 920households were assisted by the project.

EcoteamsNorthfield Ecocentre staff were trained indelivering Ecoteams sessions by GlobalAction Plan. These workshop sessions willbe delivered throughout 2012 looking atwaste & recycling, energy use, transportand water use. We will be working withOptima Housing Association to deliverthese workshops to their residents.Optima even made a film about us!

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Our VolunteersVolunteers continue to be involved atevery level of Ecocentre activity.Everyone from our volunteerManagement Committee to our internsto our researchers are committed,enthusiastic and a pleasure to work with.We couldn’t do the work we do withoutthem.Our internship programme has becomeincreasingly popular. We have had a

series of very successful placementsthroughout the year. While theseplacements are generally for threemonths and aim to teach the interns vitalskills to help them gain employment wehave had some volunteers ask to stay onfor a further 3 months. We were of coursedelighted that they wanted to stay!

Volunteer ProfileRebecca Ince

I joined initially in May 2010, and startedoff helping with the energy advice service- promoting the domestic energy audit atoutreach events, recruiting participantsand sending out follow up letters, so myrole mostly focussed upon direct contactwith the public. Since then, my role hasgrown to include a lot more backgroundresearch support including a report onvolunteer motivation, barriers and

motives to domestic retrofit and anevaluation of the Ecocentre communitygroups. Working for the Ecocentre hasbeen hugely beneficial to me. I’vewatched the organisation grow andprogress and have made some lovelyfriends here, always feeling that mycontribution is valued. I’ve also gainedvital experience in the environmentalsector that has been instrumental in myprogression as a researcher.

Improved Facilities and ResourcesWe have developed our fact sheet library to include information on over one hundredtopics from composting to climate change, including most aspects of sustainablebuildings & technologies. A selection of fact sheets is now available in five local libraries.Although we can no longer collect tetra-paks for recycling, we do now have recyclingfacilities for bras and shoes.

Volunteers celebrate theirachievements at our

Volunteer Awards morning

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Energy UseThe Ecocentre aims to have an overall positive impact on the environment (theadvice we give and work we do outweighs the resources we use).

ElectricityThe Ecocentre uses mains electricity. In 2011 we changed to a 100% renewabletariff from Ecotricity. The mains supply is supplemented by an air source heat pump& solar water panel. 2011 was a milder year than 2010 but the Ecocentre was usedmore.

Waste

Carbon Emissions from Energy Use:● Zero emissions from electricity since

switching to 100% renewable tariff inMay

● Solar hot water panel produced 918KWH energy, equivalent to 486 KG CO2

saving.● Our garden has become much more

productive reducing food miles locally.All food is organically grown.

We began recording our waste amountsin May 2011 as part of the work neededfor ISO 14001 accreditation.

We are working towards having zeroblack bag waste by encouraging staff,volunteers and visitors to considerpackaging on everything they purchase.Since May 2011 we have generated21.44 KG of black sack waste.

Material AmountRecycled (Kg)

Kg CO₂Saved

Plastic 8.98 20.87

Paper & Card 47.63 95.26

Aluminium 2.67 41.92Glass 1.08 0.48

Green Waste 36.07 11.9

Recycling

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Environmental Impact

The Ecocentre works with residents, businesses & community organisations inNorthfield to become a low carbon community, and to become a zero carbonorganisation. Everything we do works towards these aims.. The achievement of ISO14001 accreditation will help us minimise our negative impacts.

Materials &Resources

We reduce our use of new materials, reuse and recycle. Wherever possiblewe acquire goods we need second hand from freegle, charity shops andthrough donated items.

Water

Limited use for refreshments and toilets. Staff are reminded of watersaving behaviours, and both toilets have reduced flow systems. We havetwo water butts to collect rain water for use in the garden. In 2011 wereduced our water use by 70 litres per week to 507 compared to 577 litresper week in 2010.

WasteWater

Disposed of through public sewers but the Ecocentre uses only eco-friendly cleaning materials so it is likely our waste water is less polluting.We have no COSHH registered materials on site.

Waste &Recycling

Recycle and reuse as much as possible. A bank of recycling bins toseparate materials then taken to Lifford Lane Household Recycling Centreinclude: foil, energy saving light bulbs, batteries, plastic, card/paper, andglass. In addition the centre has recycling bins for bras and shoes, acompost bin and wormery.

Transport

Few car journeys are made in connection with the Ecocentre. Staff &volunteers are encouraged to use public transport or bikes. Occasionallydisplays need to be transported but this is infrequent.All visitors are encouraged to use sustainable transport. The Ecocentre hasa bike rack but no car park, is located near many bus routes and displayspublic transport information. Bike maintenance courses are run at thecentre and local sustainable transport campaigns are supported.

Biodiversity

The Ecocentre actively promotes biodiversity. In the garden recycledmaterials were used to make raised beds, greenhouses and cloches.Permaculture principles are used to grow herbs, fruit & vegetables. Thewildlife area now has a pond. The garden is used to demonstratesustainable ways to grow produce.

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Finance2011 saw an increase in ourwork programme whichresulted in increased financialactivities. Some of our incomewas restricted for work in 2012.Our finance policy requires usto keep in reserve 6 monthsrunning costs. We alreadyknow our work load in 2012 willincrease again so we areactively seeking funding tosecure this. Our accounts areaudited independently.

Balance Sheet 31st December 2011Current Assets 2011 (£) 2010 (£)Debtors 5038 2705Short term deposits 41530 27802Cash in bank & hand 11048 15218Total current assets 57616 45726Current liabilities (due within 1 year)Creditors due 1161Net Currents Assets 57616 44565Creditors due after 1 year 0 0Total assets as at 31/12/11 57616 44565Funds:General Fund 52020 27223Project Funds 5496 17343

Statement of Financial Activities2011 (£) 2010 (£)

Incoming ResourcesGrants from Trusts 27500 23500Central England Quakers 32500 23655Project Funding 57226 90592Donations from Members & visitors 8043 1919Bank Interest & other 65 83

Total Income 125334 139686Resources ExpendedEmployment costs 70190 62896For project partners 12157 37101Operating costs 29936 31284

Total Expenditure 112283 131281Income less Expenditure 13051 8404Balance Brought Forward at 1/1/11 44565 36161Balance Carried Forward at 31/12/11 57616 44565

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Thank you to all our Supporters and FundersWithout your support the Ecocentre would not be able tocontinue working to make our community greener andmore energy efficient, reducing carbon emissions, and fightdangerous climate change. You are all really important to usand are helping to make a difference to our environment.

Our wonderful funders include (not an exclusive list): George Cadbury Trust, SouthBirmingham Friends Institute, The Croft Trust, BVSC, SC & ME & Oliver MorlandsTrusts, T. W. Greeves Trust, Edward Cadbury Charitable Trust, Adrian Cadbury, RobinCadbury, Roger Cadbury, Rowlands Trust, Redditch Local Quaker Meeting, The BigTree Plant, Transition Fund – Cabinet Office, Southall Trust, Sewell Trust, The GreenInsurance Company, The Midlands Cooperative Community Fund, Central EnglandQuakers, Phil Dahl, Luke Olly, and Birmingham City Council Working NeighbourhoodFund.

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General Opening TimesTuesday to Friday 10am - 5pmFor group visits call to arrange

StaffGeorgia Stokes Luke Olly Stuart Bowles

Anne Dasgupta Jane Baker Luke Pearson

Management CommitteeJudith Jenner (Clerk) Stephen Holt (Ass. Clerk)

Tom Greeves (Asst. Treasurer) Peter Ullathorne (Treasurer)Harriet Martin Duncan Miller Maud Grainger

Peter Carter Vic Grainger

Northfield Ecocentre53 Church Road

NorthfieldB31 2LB

0121 448 0119www.northfieldecocentre.org

enquiries@northfieldecocentre.org

northfieldeco NorthfieldEcocentre

Northfield Ecocentre is part of theCentral England Quakers.Registered Charity Number 224571

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