Empowering People and Communities

Ministry of Eco Education

In 2021, we established the Ministry of Eco Education (MEE). Ministry of Eco Education is an education system with sustainability at its core. Its mission is to support teachers with integrating sustainability across their curriculum by the ongoing development and embedding of free to use environmental educational resources.

MEE saves teachers time and energy by helping them integrate the very best sustainability learning across their existing curriculum. The Ministry of Eco Education guides learning journeys using big questions framed across seven key environmental themes: Energy, Transport, Food, Nature, Waste and Water and Society.

Starting with a pilot in 15 primary schools, we are now working with 11,185 schools and colleges, 4,588,540 young people and 308,270 teachers!

300,000teachers supported with access to resources to support the green curriculum

11,000education establishments, from early years to college, are working with MEE

10,000 and more teachers training provided for

80 videoscreated for YouTube totalling more than 18 hours of content, sharing best practice and helping communicate academic research about sustainability with teachers

Delivered in-person and online events, bringing together thousands of people with passion and enthusiasm to create a green education system

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The Young Green Briton Challenge

The Young Green Briton Challenge (YGBC), funded by the Green Britain Foundation was developed and delivered in partnership with Social Innovation for All, Volunteers for Future (now known as GenEarth), I Have a Voice and the Ministry of Eco Education to nurture, support and celebrate youth-led, school-based climate action in a secondary educational setting.

The project’s mission is to bring climate education, innovation and entrepreneurship into schools, empowering young people to create a greener world. The Challenge combines sustainability education with innovation, business and citizenship – building essential transferable skills for students aged 11-14. Students learnt about climate change within their communities before working in teams to develop ideas for local climate action ventures, benefiting students, their wider community and the planet.

Eighteen diverse state and special schools across England joined the Challenge in 2024.

3175students aged 11-14 created over six hundred ideas for local climate solutions

90%of students felt they learnt important skills for their future and 73% enjoyed participating in the YGBC design workshops

YGBCAchieved Level 3 Skills Builder accreditation with students reported particularly strong gains in problem solving, listening to other people’s perspectives and teamwork

81%of students feel hopeful that they can make a positive contribution to addressing climate change

600climate action ideas were created, of which 50 were put into action

70student-led climate action ideas received seed funding, collectively reaching 16,000 people

£4000 INVESTMENTFor eight teams selected by our YGBC ambassadors

35sector expert volunteers from 10+ external organisations mentored students in project design, development and implementation

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Forest Green Rovers Community

The Green Britain Foundation uses the power of sport to empower and improve lives through our wholly owned subsidiary FGR Community. FGR Community exists to educate, motivate and inspire through football. Its programmes make a positive impact across Gloucestershire and beyond. 

Our work focuses on five key areas:

Environment and sustainability - Increasing awareness of sustainable practice by means of education and action through the lens of sport

Sport and Recreation – Engaging people of differing ages and abilities in sport and physical recreation to increase people’s participation in sport

Health and Wellbeing – Promoting healthy behaviours, encouraging people to take responsibility for their own physical health and mental wellbeing Inclusion and Community Cohesion – Providing the opportunity for people and communities facing common barriers to come together under the umbrella of football

Education and employability – Educating, motivating, and inspiring people to learn of opportunities through the power of sport to help them fulfil their potential and consider their impact on their wider community and the environment.

FGR Community

Spotlight on environment & sustainability

As the official charity of the greenest football club in the world, environmental responsibility is at the heart of everything FGR Community does. During 2023-24, the Trust delivered nature-related social action projects in schools, including planting trees and redeveloping their community gardens, engaging young people in making a positive impact on the environment.

We engaged schools in the national Green Football Weekend to include the delivery of a live ‘’How to be Green’ session, supported by the Ministry of Eco Education, enabling teachers to stream a mass assembly on the importance of the environmental linked to football which reached over 500 pupils in schools across Gloucestershire. We also delivered a number of bespoke sessions on the importance of protecting the planet in schools, ranging from assemblies to class-time activities.

Environmental Stewardship

The Green Britain Foundation is committed to making space for nature. Our work here focuses on restoration, conversation and sustainable practices to enhance eco system resilience and human wellbeing.

Rewilding in East Sussex

Land

Our rewilding in East Sussex project brings together a collection of smaller woodlands that have been managed in different ways over time, but which have very high conservation value. At the moment, it consists of around 250 acres of woods with some scrubland, situated about 30 miles from the coast in East Sussex.

The site contains some very valuable ancient semi-natural woodland dating back 400 years or more. However, in some areas the indigenous British trees were felled to make way for a non-native conifer plantation. These elements will be removed, and we’ll encourage native woodland to reclaim the space through regeneration and planting where necessary.

There’s evidence that chestnut was grown for coppicing here, and we’re considering whether to revive the practice or allow these spaces to continue rewilding. Some areas are open ground, which we’ll use to create a scrub and grassland edge to the woods, attracting insects, birds, reptiles and mammals which will increase wildlife diversity across the project.

Bowyers Wood

Policy, Campaigns and Advocacy

We support movements and campaigns, we share knowledge and advocate for effective policies. Some of the ways we do this is by gathering substantiated evidence for reports, which we then publish, as well as by conducting undercover investigations to ensure social and environmental injustices are brought to the public’s attention. We believe that climate justice is only achievable with social justice.

The Code for Sustainable Homes

The full report can be read here.

The Cost of Cutting the Green Crap

The impact on the nation’s energy bills – published July 2024. The full report can be read here.

Green Britain Foundation’s Investigative Approach

We believe that effective solutions stem from accurately identifying problems. Our team of investigators and journalists is dedicated to uncovering and exposing environmentally harmful practices. We determine investigation areas based on potential environmental impact, scale of the issues, public awareness and opportunities for meaningful change. By shining a light on these activities, we aim to encourage behaviour change, support industry transitions, and protect our environment.

Investigation- Exposing Salmon Industry Waste Practices

In October 2024, the Green Britain Foundation unveiled a groundbreaking investigation into the salmon industry's waste management practices in Scotland's Western Isles. Our months-long undercover operation and data analysis revealed that tonnes of toxic salmon waste were being improperly buried, posing significant environmental risks.

Investigation Impact

The investigation's footage, which reached millions through national and international media coverage, exposed the profound environmental harm caused by current industry practices. As a direct result:

  1. The Scottish Environment Protection Agency launched a criminal investigation.

  2. The local council initiated its own criminal probe.

  3. GBF submitted evidence to a Scottish Government inquiry into the salmon industry, along with recommendations for industry reform.

Green Britain Foundation’s Investigative Approach

We believe that effective solutions stem from accurately identifying problems. Our team of investigators and journalists is dedicated to uncovering and exposing environmentally harmful practices. We determine investigation areas based on:

  • Potential environmental impact

  • Scale of the issue

  • Lack of public awareness

  • Opportunity for meaningful change

By shining a light on these activities, we aim to drive positive change, support industry transitions, and protect our environment.

Green Britain Foundation