Environmental groups in Cheltenham

Vision 21

Vision 21 is a small, highly active charity with the drive to make Gloucestershire more sustainable. It was established in 1994 as a direct result of the 1992 Rio Earth Summit. Their work aims to draw communities together, making them more resilient and better able to cope in the result of a crisis.

Their mission is to make Gloucestershire's communities more sustainable and resilient. In order to maximise their impact, they focus their projects towards meet the following UN Sustainable Development Goals:

• Good Health and Well-being
• Affordable and Clean Energy
• Sustainable Cities and Communities
• Responsible Consumption
• Climate Action

Vision 21 is proud to be a founder member of the CheltenhamZero partnership, which was launched in June 2021. The CheltenhamZero Partnership is an amalgamation of public services, the business sector and community groups, all of which have pledged to work towards the shared goal of making Cheltenham Net Zero Carbon by 2030.

Reclaim: Furniture and electricals re-use

The re-use of household goods helps reduce the volume of materials going to landfill/incineration. By extending the life of the product, we are able to get more use of the energy used to build the items in the first place. Efficient re-use reduces the need for more raw materials and energy to make new products, helping preserve finite resources.

The Reclaim showroom (Unit 25b Lansdown Industrial Estate Gloucester Road GL51 8PL) provides up to 20 voluntary placements, 15 of which are reserved for vulnerable adults. With day-to-day support and guidance, volunteers are able to learn skills, gain experience and develop confidence in a safe working environment.

Visit the Reclaim web page on Vision 21's website for more information.

Community RePaint

Reclaim is also the Cheltenham's agent for Community RePaint and it accepts donations of full tins of paint at the Reclaim showroom. Community RePaint is a UK wide paint reuse network that aims to collect this leftover paint and redistribute it to benefit individuals, families, communities and charities at an affordable cost. The network comprises 65 schemes and in 2019 redistributed over 365,988 litres of paint. 

Can Do

Reclaim's Can Do project concerns metal recycling, chiefly aluminium, copper and steel. Used drinks cans, unwanted cables, wires flexes, old plugs and keys can be taken to Reclaim for recycling. Cable boxes are available for local organisations to act as collection points.

Annecy Gardens (Sandford Park) vegetable garden

Annecy Gardens in Sandford Park, Cheltenham is a demonstration vegetable garden maintained by volunteers. Our group meets (weather permitting) on site each Monday evening between 6pm and 7.30pm during the growing season (except Bank Holidays).

Members of the public are welcome to help themselves to any vegetables produced on site, just as long as they leave some for others. Please remember to wash all produce thoroughly before consumption.

Cheltenham regeneration and repair café

Cheltenham regeneration and repair café is located at St Andrew's Church, Montpellier St., Cheltenham, GL501SP, the repair of household goods takes place on the 1st Saturday of each month, apart from January, between 10am and 1pm. Our skilled repairers can't guarantee to repair all items, but they will certainly have a look at them and offer advice.

Planet Cheltenham

Planet Cheltenham's intention is to set up a hub space in a small workshop in in the St Pauls area of town to showcase climate solutions, such as sharing and circular economy projects, creating a home for information on all things to do with sustainability.

In addition to mitigation and reducing our carbon, the hub will be about adaptation and resilience, building on community spirit and the need for householders, families and individuals to both understand the threat we are facing and the methods of which we need to adopt in order to reduce it.

Lansdown community composting club

Lansdown community composting club is the first such site in Gloucestershire and it promotes the management of garden waste in an efficient, sustainable and eco-friendly way.

It is located within the grounds of Well Close House, Lansdown Parade. Membership of the club is £15 per year, per household. Call 01242 224321 for more information.

How it works: Members bring their waste to the composting site (access is via coded entry). Organic compost is produced from the waste. Members are entitled to a share of the compost produced, when available. 

CK Futures

We can't change the world in Charlton Kings, but like everyone on the planet, we need to make our contribution to achieving the IPCC's target to limit global temperature rise to well under 2⁰C.

We share Cheltenham Borough Council's commitment to a carbon-neutral Cheltenham by 2030, as a contribution toward helping the UK meet its 2050 carbon neutrality target.

Visit the CK Futures page on Charlton Kings Parish Council's website for more information.

Sustainable Charlton Kings

Inspired by CK Futures, Sustainable Charlton Kings is a group for people who want to make a positive environmental impact. There are 1001 things we can cumulatively do to lower our carbon footprint, protect local nature and to the reduce waste of valuable resources. By sharing knowledge, swapping ideas about what we're doing for our natural environment through our gardens and local projects a lot of people doing a little adds up to quite a bit of action. Join the discussion on the Sustainable Charlton Kings Facebook group.

Clean Air Cheltenham

Clean Air Cheltenham aims to celebrate the benefits of clean air, by inspiring people from all walks towards achieving better air quality in Cheltenham. As such we work with people and organisations interested in pursuing a similar aim, such as cycling and environmental groups, tree-planting organisations, residents' associations, health professionals, businesses and schools. You can contact them on the Clean Air Cheltenham Facebook page.

We act as a catalyst to encourage collaborative action between everyone concerned with the quality of air in the town, particularly with regard to radical challenges to the dominance of cars and traffic in Cheltenham.

We recognise the critical role air quality plays in physical, emotional, mental and spiritual health. The quality of the air we breathe is of central importance to the well-being of all of us, and especially people who suffer from respiratory disease, parents, children, and the elderly.