Nine environmental projects supported in 2022

We try very hard to walk-the-walk at Project Rome by giving the first 10% of our profit to good causes each year. We support activities and people who will make a difference to: Health & Wellbeing, Social Mobility, and the topic of today's blog the Natural Environment.

Separating projects out is not as easy as it first may seem. There are plenty of projects we support that could be described as Social Mobility or Health that would sit equally neatly here - but this is my best effort. You can find out more, or apply for our support by visiting our Project Rome Foundation website.

Our investment

So far in 2022 we have given over ￡30,000 in cash and subsidised professional expertise to nine wonderful environmental projects and we are looking to support more before the year's end. Clearly, protecting biodiversity and reversing climate change is an enormous generation-defining challenge and really is a team sport, but we believe we should shoulder our share of the burden and call on others to do the same. Less personal profit more sharing wouldn't be a bad thing.

Carbon

Separate to our investment in environmental projects we do all we can to live lightly and minimise our carbon impact. We can't eliminate our carbon use completely so we choose to triple off-set what we cannot avoid. We do this through our support of The Woodland Trust and their plan to replant native British woodlands. We have kept this commitment since our foundation in 2014-5 and we will continue to be a net carbon positive organisation as long as we are in business.

Rewilding

Re-wilding excites us - and our support for these projects has taken the the top predators share of our funding and support for environmental projects this year.

We are delighted to be in on the ground floor at Denton Park Estate in the Yorkshire Dales where we are working with the new owners to develop and implement their plan to run an upland estate to: capture carbon, increase biodiversity and provide natural high quality food. It's just a joy to put time into the ever increasing suite of measures that are returning this beautiful farmland, wood and moor back to a more natural state for the benefit of all (humans, animals, insects and plants).

At the other end of the scale the East-West Wild programme in Scotland is the only UK project large enough to be sponsored by Rewild Europe. A visionary attempt to link the East and West coasts of Scotland with a wild corridor; our team provided subsidised strategic support. It's a majestic and complicated project which really could change things fundamentally for many British species if the mission can be achieved.

And somewhere in the middle of these two comes our work with The Yorkshire Wildlife Trust who we have supported in their efforts to refresh their strategy and approach. They are a great bunch who pack a punch - which they only serve up in the service of the environs of God's Own County.

Investing in green entrepreneurs

We are always on the look out for great new ideas and inspirational projects that could have a big impact on a local scale. We believe that nothing will change unless the right people are encouraged to make change happen. In many communities it is not easy to come across start up capital, most people can't just fund projects from their own pockets - so we are working with like minded others to fill that gap. We back green social entrepreneurs from the start of a journey - when cash is the key to making something actually happen.

In 2022 Project Rome as given:

• ￡1,000 to Rooted in Hull and their Grey to Blue reed bed challenge a project looking to change the quality of the streams and pools in a local community setting by planting natures water scrubber machines - reeds.
• ￡1,000 to The Orchard Project in Rossendale to alter habitats and increase local bio-diversity
• ￡1,000 to The Friends of Victoria Park in Manchester to buy equipment and fund awareness campaigns to help local volunteers win their constant battle against litter and keep this vital green space in good order for the residents.
• ￡1,000 to The Froglife Trust in Peterborough, why because we, like them, love the little green critters and want to know more about what really encourages Kermit to set up home in an urban setting.
• ￡3,500 to Wild well permaculture movement in High Weald to buy a local green space for the community and save this little piece of heaven from the developer's axe. This is just the start of this journey - the question now is what good can be done with this community based asset.

Campaigning for change

Air pollution and air quality is typical of the kind of cross-over issue I'm talking about - it is both a health and an environmental issue wound up in a toxic blanket of emissions. Smog and smoke and fumes don't mix well with the human respiratory system or indeed the environment - who would have guessed.

We are committed to supporting projects that are making positive strides toward tackling this issue and have started by supporting the wonderful Forest for Change (￡2,500) who are mixing campaigning for better air quality with doing something about it by actually planting trees in the less leafy parts of inner-city London (Haringey and North Islington).

We have also helped to fund a documentary (giving ￡2,500) toward the production of "The air we breath" but more about that in the Health and Wellbeing update. We are definitely interested in doing more to tackle this blight whether in Cities or Towns up and down the country - apply and we will do all we can to help you.

Why we are doing what we do

The truth is that nothing worthwhile happens without people who can be bothered. And, the Project Rome Foundation would not happen without the Programme Director Helena Farstad - our very own eco-worrier viking cross - and perhaps most of all, Prof. Simon Pringle whose idea it was to set up a company with a core purpose to give back more to the world than it took and then had the ability and drive to actually made it happen in Project Rome.

A big hand to both of you, I and my fellow directors Alison Puente and Mike Farrar are eternally grateful to you for opening our eyes to the true importance of the environmental agenda and we will continue to give more than we take.