Sustainability is key

As many of you will be aware Sustainability is one of the four key themes in our new Strategic Plan – along with Our People, Working Together and Local Leadership. Sustainability can mean different things to different people/organisations, and to many in this current climate, it is often understandably financial. Naturally, Cumbria CVS aspires to be financially sustainable and has been working towards this goal over the past few years – but recently our sustainability focus has taken us down a more environmental route.

In response to a requirement of the current Building Better Opportunities: Getting Cumbria to Work project we  undertook an environmental assessment, which enabled us to review our approach to sustainability in a number of areas including: energy efficiency in the use of our buildings (heating, lighting, energy); being more mindful in the use and disposal of resources (including water, paper, consumables and furniture) and in our approach to travel. Naturally, any changes will require time, effort and commitment, but we are excited about this and look forward to sharing our successes (and challenges) with you.

We would also like to encourage more organisations across the sector to review their approach to sustainability. If you are interested in this, please do contact us for further information.

Here’s to a greater use of scarce resources and to increasing the longevity of the sector!

Laura Cadman
Chief Executive Officer
Cumbria CVS