Illustration of a person embracing a globe

Reach's response to the climate crisis

Reach Volunteering believes that the climate and nature crises are an existential threat to civil society. 

Our commitment

Reach Volunteering believes that the climate and nature crises are an existential threat to civil society. The scale of change needed to address this is huge but the solutions also include big opportunities to make society fairer, more connected and more co-operative. We need to harness the creative energy of as many people as possible in order to transition to a society that is equitable, fair and sustainable. 

In 2021, Reach’s board put climate justice at the heart of our strategic framework, in our vision and underpinning beliefs. 

Our CEO signed up to ACEVO’s environmental and leadership principles, committing us to acknowledge the scale of the crises, be ambitious for climate justice and act where we can for progress. 

Our progress

Since that time we have: 

  • moved our web hosting to Platform.sh, who help us stay on greener hosting services and manage the resource our online platform uses
  • spoken out about the need for civil society to engage with the climate crisis. For example in the blog 'Leading a charity in a climate emergency: where do you start?' and in the podcast 'Bringing the environment into your mission'.
  • run a campaign #ChangeTheStory, which centres the values we need to create a more caring, sustainable culture.
  • supported hundreds of climate action groups and charities to recruit volunteers and trustees.
  • run a campaign #VolunteerForClimate aimed at encouraging more people to volunteer for climate and environmental groups and highlighting the power of collective action.
  • we continue to encourage people to #VolunteerForClimate and have a dedicated web page promoting climate-related opportunities. 

Collaboration is essential because of the scale of the crises and because solutions are interconnected. We are learning partners for NPC’s Everyone’s Environment, and our CEO was previously a member of ACEVO’s Climate crisis working group.

Next steps

We are living in a world of rapid and uncertain change. We have an adaptive strategy: we have set a clear strategic framework, and we review priorities regularly, on the basis of our changing insights. 

Volunteering for climate

Skills-based volunteers can offer vital expertise and capacity to organisations working to tackle the climate crisis. Read stories of how Reach volunteers have made an impact.

photo of a classroom of students sitting at blue desks, writing. There is a teacher at the front of the class, next to projected presentation on a white board. There are bookshelves around the room and colourful signs and art on the walls.

Making a big impact in climate education

Ben Cuddon, Co-founder of Climate Ed explains why his charity would be nothing without its community volunteers.
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Capturing a unique moment in film

Volunteer Peter Freeth on being part of a once-in-a-lifetime event and the real value of volunteering.
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picture of a young person with long dark hair and glasses, sitting in front of a blue sofa and lily plant. The wall in the background is grey.

Using words to Shade the UK

Shreya Kapur of Shade the UK tells us how content writers recruited through Reach are helping to raise awareness about overheating and its harmful impact on humans.
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