Cumbria CVS Green Blog No 23 – January 2026
January 6, 2026
Welcome back to Cumbria CVS Green!
In our twenty-third blog post, Rachel Miller, Volunteering Support Officer for our This Is Us project, explores Green Volunteering; Including different roles you can do that support the environment, reduce waste, how you can make volunteering greener in other ways, and more! Plus lots of handy links to kick-start your thinking in 2026.
If you have any suggestions about what you’d like to see in our regular updates, let us know! Contact us by emailing info@cumbriacvs.org.uk
You can find our what we’re doing to minimise our environmental impact and find details of organisations supporting positive environmental action in Cumbria on our Climate Commitment page here
Catch up on our other blog posts here
Green Volunteering
What are your New Year’s Resolutions? To get fit, to make a difference, to see more of Cumbria, to meet people, to learn something new? Green volunteering could tick all of those boxes for you! Here’s how.
When you volunteer to help the environment, you are not just making a difference to the planet. Green volunteering can be an opportunity to spend time in beautiful hidden corners of this lush and vibrant county of ours – getting the privilege of an insider and going off the tourist track. Many environmental conservation tasks are highly sociable – a team of like-minded people working towards a shared goal. Laughs and shared anecdotes form a large part of the memories from the day.
Spending time in nature is well known to be good for us, a mindful activity which boosts our mental wellbeing. When outside we enjoy feeling the sun on our face (even if only briefly!), breathing the fresh air, hearing the birds sing, and watching butterflies feed. And heart rate, physical stamina and strength all benefit from the physical activity of digging a pond, planting trees, lifting stones to build a dry stone wall, or sawing to coppice a woodland.
There is so much you can learn. Can you identify an oak tree in winter? Detect an osprey from its call? Navigate across a hillside? Build a dry-stone wall which will withstand the test of time? Light a fire in outdoors conditions? Sharpen an axe? Lay a hedge? Spot a crab hiding in a rockpool?
Green volunteering can also take other forms. There are innovative projects around our county to reduce waste, including food waste, packaging, or art materials. Encouraging active travel through bike recycling schemes makes a difference to pollution levels and people’s fitness. And sharing your passion for the environment with youth or community groups, or at local events, spreads the message and grows the number of us who care enough to take action.
Of course, just because your volunteer role isn’t specifically environmental, doesn’t mean that you can’t make a positive impact on the planet through your role. You can use public transport to get there, or set up a lift sharing scheme. You could encourage use of the recycling system in your place of volunteering, or remind others there to switch off electrical devices when not required. You can use the human connections you make to start conversations about sustainability, or share surplus produce from your garden. You could offer to review the organisation’s environmental policy, or implement changes to online document storage systems. By being a role model in your actions, you are causing a chain reaction which will lead to widespread, lasting change.
We are so lucky in Cumbria that there are plenty of opportunities to get involved. Below are links to many of the Green Volunteering opportunities listed on our Volunteering in Cumbria Portal. Do check them out. If you would like any further help in finding a volunteering opportunity, please contact us at Cumbria CVS. And do let us know about your Green Volunteering experiences – we love to hear from our wonderful Cumbrian community of volunteers.
Practical Conservation
Natural England – Volunteer Group – Gait Barrow National Nature Reserve, Silverdale
Royal Society for the Protection of Birds – conservation work – Barrow and Kendal
RSPB Campfield Marsh Nature Reserve – Thursday work parties – Bowness on Solway
Friends of the Lake District – Conservation Work Party Volunteers – Various locations
Solway Coast National Landscape- Group Volunteering- West Cumbria
Restoring Hardknott Forest – Conservation and Wildlife Volunteer- Duddon Valley
Wild Garsdale Pike – Conservation Skills and Volunteering for Young People – Eden
Waste Reduction
Ragtag Arts- Scrapstore Assistant- Kendal
Another Weigh – Shop Assistant Volunteer – Kendal
Oval Paint Pot and Upcycling Centre- Environmental Upcycling Project Volunteer- Workington
Ulverston Food Project – Local Shop Collection Volunteer – Ulverston
Ulverston Food Project – Community Cooking Volunteer – Ulverston
Wildlife
Cumbria Wildlife Trust – Rockpool Roadies Wanted – Barrow in Furness
Local Sustainability
Youth and Community Engagement
Cumbria Wildlife Trust – Wildlife Watch helpers -Barrow
Young Climate Warriors – Climate Ambassadors – Carlisle
RSPB Campfield Marsh Reserve – Meet and Greet Team – Bowness on Solway
Wild Garsdale Pike – Site Visit Assistant – Garsdale
Sustainable Travel
Friends of the X112 – Leaflet Droppers (Ulverston)
Rebike Community Cycle Hub – Multiple Volunteer Opportunities – Carlisle Area
Travel Actively – Bike Maintenance Volunteer – Barrow
Leadership and Fundraising
Eden Rivers Trust – Trustee – Penrith
Cumbria Waste Management Environment Trust – Volunteer Trustee roles – Carlisle
The Friends of Appleby Road Community Garden – Funding bid writer – Cumbria wide
ROLDA UK – Fundraisers – Working from home
Mental Wellbeing
Growing Well- Support Volunteers- Tebay
Mind in Furness – Gardening Volunteers – Barrow
Kendal Repair Cafe
Thursday 8th January, Kendal. Simply Repair holds community repair events where you can get clothes, small electrical items, furniture, baskets, books, toys, jewellery and other household items repaired.
We bring together people with skills to repair and those who want to learn to repair.
Penrith Repair Cafe
Saturday 10th January, Penrith. The fantastically talented volunteers at Penrith Repair Cafe are great at fixing a wide variety of items, from broken electronics to holey clothes and ornaments.
They’ll share their expertise and top tips with you while they fix your items to give you confidence to tackle your next repair yourself.
Ulverston Repair Cafe
Tuesday 13th January, Ulverston. Have items gathering dust that need repairing?
From electrical items to clothes, repair cafes use volunteers to run informal and friendly events where you can save items from landfill.
Conversation café and slow cycle
Saturday 17th January, Carlisle. A slow cycle ride through the streets of Carlisle (route tbc) hosted by Sustainable Carlisle with a chat at a local food and drink establishment.
The conversation is informal, but it is around a set theme / agenda to gather your thoughts and focus your attention.
Cockermouth Repair Café
Saturday 17th January, Cockermouth. Bring along your small items to repair every third Saturday of the month and have a cuppa and a natter at Lorton Street Methodist Church Hall.
Free repairs, but donations always welcome!
- clothing and textile objects
- wooden items
- electrical items (may not be possible at every event)
- toys
Waste not, want not!
Green Screen: Ocean with David Attenborough
Saturday 24th January, Carlisle. Join a screening of Ocean with David Attenborough, a captivating documentary showcasing the wonder, vitality and fragility of the ocean – and, most importantly, what we can do to protect it.
Watch with members of Sustainable Carlisle at Gosling Sike, followed by a Q&A with a member of Cumbria Wildlife Trust’s marine team.
Bus connection from Carlisle with lifts available back into town after the screening. Donations on the door.
Climate and Carbon Literacy Training (split over 2 half-days)
Tuesday 27th January/Tuesday 3rd February, online. If you want to get your facts straight about the latest climate science, develop an understanding of carbon footprints and build your knowledge of what we can all do to limit carbon emissions, join Futureproof Cumbria’s Climate and Carbon Literacy training course!
The course is held over Zoom across two afternoons. Your ticket price covers both parts and you must attend both to be eligible for Carbon Literacy certification.
Brampton and Fellside Repair Cafe
Saturday 31st January, Brampton. Have items gathering dust that need repairing?
From electrical items to clothes, repair cafes use volunteers to run informal and friendly events where you can save items from landfill.
The Home Heat Pump Advantage: Smarter, Warmer, Greener
Saturday 31st January, Arnside. Join us to discover how heat pumps can make your home warmer, greener, and more efficient at this FREE event.
Cartmel Peninsula Repair Cafe
Friday 6th February, Grange-Over-Sands. Our wonderful volunteer repairers will also offer textile repairs, zips, darning etc, electronics repairs, repairs of mechanical, wood and metal items, plus electrical repairs.
There will also be refreshments!
Financial pressures are hampering charities’ climate progress, research finds
Most voluntary organisations are failing to meet their environmental targets amid “profound financial pressures”, according to new research.
Eastside People’s latest survey of charities and social enterprises’ environmental, social and governance (ESG) progress, released in December, found that many were falling below their own climate targets.
On social impact, which includes staff and beneficiary relations, organisations reported making greater headway.
A greener and more prosperous future with new Environmental Improvement Plan
People across England will benefit from cleaner air and water under a strengthened Government plan to restore the natural environment, backed by hundreds of millions of pounds to revive iconic landscapes.
The revised Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP), published last month, sets out an ambitious five-year roadmap to tackle the nature and climate crisis, improve public health, and support sustainable growth. Nature will be boosted under the plan, with a quarter of a million hectares of wildlife-rich habitats created or restored by 2030 – an area larger than Greater London.
Read more about the Environmental Improvement Plan here
How to develop your sustainability policy
Charity Digital explore some top tips to help your charity develop a robust, evolving, and practical sustainability policy.
Keep warm and save energy this winter
Thanks to funding from Westmorland & Furness Council local charity Futureproof Cumbria (previously Cumbria Action for Sustainability – CAfS) is offering free thermal imaging visits and home energy advice to residents in Eden this winter.
Thermal imaging, using an infrared camera, can show where heat may be escaping from your home and you can get tailored guidance on how to cut energy bills, tackle draughts or damp, and find support or funding for improvements.
Visits are free, take about an hour, conducted by trained Home Energy Advisers and are available now until March 2026.
Find out more free thermal imaging visits and book here or Call 01768 216 500.
You can also download a thermal imaging visits flyer here
Earth Raise
Earth Raise applications are now open!
Big Give’s environmental match funding campaign gives charities the chance to have donations DOUBLED for seven days starting World Earth Day (22–29 April 2026). Applications close Friday, 16th January.
Learn more about Earth Raise and apply here
National Emergency Briefing
On 27th November, Cumbria was represented at the UK’s first National Emergency Briefing on Climate and Nature. Chaired by Futureproof Cumbria Patron Mike Berners-Lee, it brought together experts who warned that climate and ecological crises are accelerating – affecting flooding, food, health and national security. Reflecting on the event, Associate Trustee Charlie Addison-Adams said it was ‘terrifying and inspiring’. While the challenges are immense, there is still hope; but urgent action is needed now.
