We’re on a mission to net zero by 2035. We know it’s a big challenge but, with everybody on board, we’re getting closer to our goal every day.
The net zero scheme encourages businesses across the globe to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases they emit. The initiative also inspires organisations to consider what they’re taking from the earth too.
Across the country, our compassionate teams empower the people we support to embrace eco-friendly activities that nurture our sustainability goals. How we recycle our waste, travel, eat, and shop are key areas that we’re focusing on and will help us reach net zero.
This World Environment Day, we’re shouting about how our committed colleagues and the people we support are helping us make considerable progress towards these goals.
There’s lots of good news and exciting activities to talk about. Together, we’re ensuring we’re doing what we can to reach our sustainability goals and nurture a happy, healthy future for our planet!
Creative, collaborative world
Recycling is an area where we’ve made huge improvements, thanks to the creativity and innovation of our colleagues and the people we support.
At Byards Keep, our specialist learning disability service in Lincolnshire, Support Worker Alison has introduced some inspiring sustainability projects. As well as growing fresh produce in the garden, she’s reinvented recycling and made it fun! She understands this is the best way to get the people we support involved.
Some of Byards Keep’s current sustainability projects include:
Growing their own
The people we support get stuck in to growing their herbs and vegetables, like chillies, cucumbers, and lettuces. They also grow an assortment of bright and beautiful flowers and shrubs – important for attracting bugs and bees that enhance biodiversity!
Recycling and reusing
Regularly visiting their local recycling centre, Byards Keep ensure their waste is recycled correctly. They’ve embraced our food recycling scheme, so things like fruit and veg peelings and eggshells are recycled. With Alison’s creative streak, the household also transform things destined for the bin. So far, they’ve made bird feeders out of milk cartons and transformed tins into garden lanterns!
Mindful eating
To further minimise food waste, Byards Keep have changed how they approach mealtimes. The people we support love to help with cooking. So, along with our support team, they now batch cook and freeze meals!
We made our environment information board more fun with bright colours and anecdotes about what we think recycling is. We also added ideas about how we could reuse things we’d otherwise recycle.
Alison Roberts, Support Worker
Alison understands the importance of recycling and uses her expert training to ensure she involves the people we support in a person-centred way. Using a communication board in the home, information about household projects is accessible to everyone who lives at Byards Keep.
Alison ensures the written information is also illustrated as pictures, so everyone can understand what’s on the board. Decorated with funky colours, the board’s fun and interactive, making the important information engaging and memorable!
Naturally, the people we support have sustainability focused activities they prefer. We respect those choices and incorporate preferred activities into their daily support. Protecting our planet is part of everyday life for them!
Alison Roberts, Support Worker
For our Sustainability Officer Adam van Winsum, collaborating with the people we support is essential for the future of our planet. Recycling is an easy way to get them in the swing of sustainable living. Speaking about our new food recycling scheme, Adam said:
“The food recycling scheme will help us reconsider how we approach food in our services – how we’re preparing and cooking it, and what ingredients we’re buying. Most importantly, it’s taking food waste out of general waste and landfill. Putting it into recycling channels reduces methane and greenhouse gas emissions – making the world a better place.”
New superhero on the block
To support our services in rolling out eco activities and engaging the people we support, we have a group of superhero characters! Led by Captain Planet, our sustainability squad inspire our colleagues and the people we support to embrace sustainability in a fun, exciting way!
Since Captain Planet landed in 2022, he’s transformed how our services contribute to our sustainability goals. Inspiring eco action, he’s empowered our services to make small – but mighty – changes.
Over the years, he’s recruited other eco superheroes and grown his sustainability squad. Together, this powerful team deliver important messages about keeping our planet healthy.
With the support of his squad, Captain Planet is leading us to Mission Zero. This year, he and Sustainability Officer Adam decided it was time to recruit an extra helping hand. So, they enlisted the help of our Quality Checkers – a team of incredible people we support – and recruited a new sustainability sidekick.
Together, they held educational forums with our Quality Checkers, empowering them with knowledge about our planet and our next steps on Mission Zero. They were also tasked with a top-secret assignment – creating a new superhero to join our sustainability squad!
Our judging panel sifted through the incredible entries before choosing a shortlist. They looked at which design met the brief and aligned with our Mission Zero goals the most. After much consideration, they chose ‘Super Shopper’, designed by Alex, our Quality Checker who lives at Ashby Road.
The judging panel surprised Alex at home, presenting her with a life-size cut out of our new sidekick!
Alex loves shopping, so she designed ‘Super Shopper’ to reflect her desire to shop smarter and reduce her impact on the planet.
For Adam, ‘Super Shopper’ is a wonderful way to raise awareness of our shopping habits, including how products are getting to us, and how we can buy in a way that minimises carbon emissions through transport of goods:
“Super Shopper will also encourage us to consider how we can adopt a circular approach to buying – buying and donating items to charity shops. We’ll have an element of giving back and supporting surrounding communities as well.”
Guardians of the planet
Throughout the year, our dedicated team of Quality Checkers visit other services to conduct audits. These appraisals are essential in helping us understand what we’re doing well and where we need to improve. Because they’re completed by people we support, we gain a valuable perspective from those who are experts by experience!
Our Quality Checkers are key for driving change within our services, so, as part of their inspections, we’ve introduced eco audits.
Adi from Legard, our specialist learning disabilities service in Yorkshire, recently completed our first environmental audit! For our debut audit, Adi chose to visit Landau Lodge. Here, he was supported to complete the assessment by a colleague in the service.
Together, they explored outside and inside the property. Our support colleague answered Adi’s questions and then connected him with our housemates at Landau Lodge. Adi gathered their perspectives and then met with Service Manager Neena.
They discussed and agreed three things everyone at Landau Lodge could do to improve their environmental impact. These simple changes were installing a water butt in the garden, joining the food recycling scheme, and planting lots of vibrant flowers and shrubs to attract butterflies and wildlife!
Before Adi completed his eco audit, our Quality and Communications teams delivered accessible, interactive training on the new assessment. They took an immersive approach, holding in-person meetings with fun activities, including an environmental ‘spot the difference’.
Reflecting on these sessions, Adam said:
“The activities gave the people we support an idea of why the ‘differences’ are important and what impact they have on our journey to Mission Zero. Everything we deliver is accessible and interactive – including our audits, which are easy read and illustrated with pictorial references.”
Our future mission
Lots of exciting things happen in our services every day. Our specialist teams create fulfilling and meaningful lives with the people we support. Every day, they achieve something incredible, so there’s always lots to celebrate!
Our work towards a brighter future and a healthier planet are a key part of that. Alongside our achievements over the past 12 months, the people we support and our hard-working colleagues have developed a clear picture on how we can drive forward our mission to net zero.
Speaking about our plans for the forthcoming year, Sustainability Officer Adam said:
“Our goals for Mission Zero this year are to continue driving engagement and awareness across all levels of Voyage Care. We also have the launch of Captain Zero’s Eco Quest – a framework of simple challenges for people to work on within our services. There’s also a big push to continue with our property-focused ‘Retro Fit’ programme. There’s lots to do, and lots to look forward to!”
Here you can read the latest news, blog posts and views from our staff, the people we support and their families at our services across the UK.
