Our Impact Report is out! Here’s what a year of cooking clubs, bike rides, forest school and energy advice added up to across Birmingham.
The difference we have made
Warmer homes. First bike rides. Walks in the woods. Home-grown vegetables. A repurposed jacket. Conversations with neighbours. These small moments made a huge impact over the year, and together they add up to something much bigger.
2025/26 was the final year of our four-year strategy, so it felt like the right time to take stock. First, a heartfelt thank you to every funder, donor, partner, volunteer, trustee and member of staff who made it possible.
Our impact in numbers
- 29,855 people helped directly, and 71,652 more reached indirectly
- 41 Birmingham wards, 13 of them among the 10% most deprived in the UK
- 7,250 attendances across 539 sessions
- 807 volunteer hours from 25 brilliant volunteers
- 7,152 tonnes of CO2e saved
- £7.9m+ in social value, a return of £6.53 for every £1 spent
Saving Energy
For many people we work with, rising energy bills are the difference between heating a home and going without. This year our energy advisors ran 278 sessions across 40 wards, in mosques, churches, food banks and community centres. 98% of people left with at least one action to cut their energy use.
At Adam Mosque, volunteers trained as energy champions, so the support carries on long after our team has gone home.
Back to nature
Wild Holiday Bunch booked up again, and we added two new ways in: Nocturnal Wild Bunch, an evening forest school for families, and Young Bunch, a screen-free holiday club for 12 to 15 year olds. 83% of children learnt something about nature.
“This has been the only suitable activity my teenage son has been able to access all summer.” Parent, Young Bunch
Volunteer Mariam was nervous about leading activities at first. Now she regularly supports groups of children, and says “the small gestures from kids really mean the most.”
Getting Birmingham moving
Andy retired recently and gave up his car because, in his words, cycling is simply healthier, faster and more fun. He volunteers every week, leading rides for us. Now that’s impact!
77% of people on our cycle lessons and led rides improved their ability to cycle. And 72% of Active Travel participants plan to cut car journeys of under a mile, from 2.36 a week to 1.24 on average. That’s almost half as many short trips on our roads.
Growing food and eating well
Our cooking workshops got a boost this year from some hugely popular air fryer sessions.
“I feel I’m enjoying it because I know new people and I know new recipes for healthy food. Now I hear more about the environment. We use less electricity with air fryer because it’s less time.” Tota, Air Fryer Course participant
75% of participants now throw away less food and 32% have started growing their own.
How you can help make an even bigger impact
Donate if you can – this helps to ensure we can continue to deliver more sessions, to more people across Birmingham. You can also volunteer, become a Friend, or partner with us as a business through 1% for the Planet. Or simply come along to a workshop or community event: see what’s on this season.
Let’s keep making Birmingham greener, fairer and healthier, together.
Together we can make Birmingham a greener, fairer and healthier place to live. There are many ways to support our work. By volunteering, becoming a friend, supporting us with a donation, leaving a legacy gift in your will, booking us for a training session, attending an event or joining us as a member of staff.
Donations from people like you are essential to ensure we can continue our important work for Birmingham and its residents.