Last year was an exciting and eventful year for the CAG network, with 8 new groups joining to grow our network to 69 groups. These included; Marston Community Gardening, Windrush Bike Project and Oxford Poetry Library.
Network members also launched a lot of new projects; Refill Oxford, hit the ground running with a mission to reduce plastic waste by setting up water refill points across the city, Share Oxford opened a Library of Things at Makespace, Flo’s new children’s centre and community cafe opened its doors, SESI expanded their operations and moved to a bigger warehouse, and Transition by Design launched Open House, a public talking shop on housing and homelessness. The CAG project staff team kicked off our first round of collaborate groups, and a new ‘Fresh Thinking’ workshop series, and our work helping set up repair cafes across the county with local groups won ‘Best Waste Reduction Initiative’ at the National Recycling Awards.
2018-2019 was our most impactful year on record with groups across the network holding over 4,000 events, with 80,000 attendees, and contributing 51,000 volunteer hours (equivalent to 31 full time staff). Collectively we have prevented 82 tonnes of waste going to local waste disposal (that’s the same as 82 small cars) and avoided 191 tonnes of carbon emissions (the average household emits 2.7 tonnes). We have also saved consumers £259,000, our local authority £9,000 and raised £1,300,000 as a network. What all these figures mean is that as a network we are positively impacting people and the environment more than ever. We are planting trees, stopping items from going to landfill, reducing plastic waste and improving people’s wellbeing and local environment by creating community gardens, growing food, and helping people get on their bikes. Most importantly we are building community and showing that not only is the shift to a more sustainable way of life possible, but it is happening now, and its fun!
We are very grateful for the funding and support given to us by Oxfordshire County Council, to help make this work possible.
See full 2018-2019 Impact Infographic here.