Active Humber support sustainability this Great Big Green Week

It's Great Big Green Week and we are taking action for our communities, for nature and for the climate. 

At Active Humber, we’re proud to be leaders and trusted partners in advocating for environmental sustainability and addressing climate change. We’re working at all levels, from national to local communities, to encourage others to adopt sustainable practices and move towards carbon neutrality. 

We know that supporting local organisations in making greener changes can have a big impact and we want to share some of the ways we are working to help progress towards a greener future.

Green Futures 

Green Futures is a community garden based in a 3.5-acre site on the edge of Grimsby, a former major fishing port on the east coast of Lincolnshire. Over the last 100 years it’s evolved from being a former meadow into a privately owned nursery and market garden. 

It’s a green sanctuary on the edge of Grimsby that provides volunteering opportunities of all ages and abilities for people from across the town and the wider area, with some postcodes in the area falling in the 99 percentile for depravation. Volunteers at Green Futures find sanctuary and companionship as well as a sense of purpose in the green-wellbeing space undertaking tasks such as seeding sowing, planting, growing, making and mending, repairs and maintenance. Their project helps those with social isolation and mental health problems, who benefit from access to the green space that the project offers. Some of their volunteers have been coming here for many years as they value the space and opportunities for confidence building and making friends that the site provides.

Learn more about Green Futures and their latest projects here.

Active Travel

Active travel refers to ways of travelling that involve a level of activity to get from place to place. It includes walking, jogging, cycling (including e-bikes), wheeling, scooting, or skating, and making trips by wheelchair or mobility scooter. 

Personal benefits:

• Physical health benefits of higher activity levels.
• Improves mental wellbeing.
• Greater opportunity to socialise.
• Reduces travel costs.
• Improves respiratory health through greater exposure to fresh air.
• Positive way to explore new places and move around urban areas faster. 

Wider benefits:

• Improves health of individuals leading to reduced pressure on health services.
• Lowers carbon emissions, which can help improve air quality.
• Reduces traffic and travel times.
• Supports thriving communities and inclusion. 
• Reduces economic inequalities.  

Find out about more benefits of Active Travel on Buddle. 

Kit Out Hull

Active Humber, in partnership with StreetGames UK and Hull City Council launched a city-wide sports kit recycling scheme in Hull. 

This initiative:

• Provided free sports kits to those in need.
• Reduced textile waste by collecting old kits.

Sports kits were collected, sorted, and handed out through local organisations already involved in community activities. This project:

• Helped reduce the high cost of sports kits.

• Tackled the issue of 350,000 tonnes of clothing going to UK landfills each year.

In the long run, the goal is to build sustainable partnerships between sports providers and collection points to keep the program running. 

Key areas for change at Active Humber

To help ensure a sustainable future for sports and physical activity, we’re focusing on five key areas for change, based on Sport England 's Sustainability Strategy. 

Our areas for change: 

• Sustainable Operations - Making our daily operations more eco-friendly at Active Humber 
• Our Support - Supporting local organisations in making greener changes can have a big impact 
• Investment - Investing in local organisations to encourage environmental benefits can make a big impact
• Influencing the natural and built environment - By partnering with local organisations, we’re helping to make a positive impact on the natural and built environments across the Humber region. 
• Advocacy - At Active Humber, we’re proud to be leaders and trusted partners in advocating for environmental sustainability and addressing climate change. We’re working at all levels, from national to local communities, to encourage others to adopt sustainable practices and move towards carbon neutrality. 

Visit our Environment & Sustainability page over on our website to see how we are taking charge in our commitment to make sport and physical activity more sustainable.