🌱 About the Village Green project

Village Green is a three-year partnership programme led by Community First Yorkshire and funded by the National Lottery Climate Action Fund. Working with partners across North Yorkshire, we’re helping communities take practical, meaningful steps to respond to the climate crisis — starting with the things people care about most.

Our partnership brings together:

Together, we’re building on years of collaboration across the region to support communities to take climate action that feels relevant, achievable, and part of everyday life.

What we do

Village Green weaves climate conversations into the activities people already enjoy — arts, sport, youth programmes, outdoor events and community projects. By making climate action welcoming and accessible, we aim to inspire more than 8,000 people to build sustainable habits, reduce energy use and lower their carbon footprints.

Alongside community activities, we’re supporting the VCSE sector to strengthen its environmental sustainability by:
Creating practical resources and toolkits
Sharing best practice across the region
Amplifying the voice of the sector
Connecting organisations with strategic partners and policymakers
Reducing organisational emissions
Supporting groups to meet sustainability funding requirements

Our ambition

By the end of the programme, we aim to create lasting, community-led change across North Yorkshire. This includes:

Stronger collaboration between communities, the VCSE sector and strategic partners
More climate-conscious communities and organisations
Greater energy awareness and efficiency
Greener, more sustainable community buildings
Restored and thriving natural spaces
More sustainable travel choices
Young people driving climate advocacy and green skills
Intergenerational participation in climate-positive activities

Village Green is about more than events and workshops. It’s about building a network of empowered, connected communities that can lead the way on climate action — creating a greener, healthier and more resilient North Yorkshire for the future.

🤞🏻 How Village Green is funded

Thanks to National Lottery players, Village Green has received £1,225,930.52 from The National Lottery Community Fund as part of its £100 million Climate Action Fund.

This sits within the funder’s mission to support communities to become more environmentally sustainable as part of its “It starts with community” 2030 strategy.

The three-year programme is led by infrastructure support charity, Community First Yorkshire, in partnership with voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) organisations across the county:

💚 Meet our Village Green team

Charles Forman

Village Green Project Manager

Ria Hughes

Climate Action Officer

Patrick Hoyle

Climate Action Officer

Catherine Bamford

Monitoring and Evaluation Officer

About me

Hello! I’m Charles, the project manager for Village Green. I coordinate and support all project activities across the partnership to ensure that the project meets its goals of inspiring and supporting communities to take climate action. I manage all aspects of the project including budgets, programme and reporting, working closely with the team and partners as well as linking with colleagues delivering other Climate Action Fund projects in other areas. I have previously worked on a range of environmental projects including in river catchments and a woodland project called Durham Woodland Revival. Outside of work I like to be outside as much as possible – walking, cycling and gardening. I also enjoy singing, mainly with Yorkshire Bach Choir.

About me

Hello! I’m Ria and I’m a Climate Action Officer working on the Village Green project. I work with communities to design and deliver activities that make climate action feel accessible and practical across North Yorkshire. I also work with community buildings to support carbon reduction and to help people take small steps that lead to meaningful change. I am passionate about climate action and sustainability and in my previous role, I coordinated an urban greening project which sought to address unequal access to nature in urban environments and to reduce carbon emissions in Greater Manchester. I’m always up for a cup of tea and a chat about climate action in North Yorkshire so please get in touch!

Outside of work I co-run a Brownie unit in York which involves creation of engaging activities, planning fun trips and lots of chaos! In the rest of my free time, I am a big sports fan and I spend a lot of time playing netball, going to the gym and watching football.

About me

Hi, I’m Patrick, one of the two Climate Action Officers working on the Village Green project. I work in close collaboration with communities, people, and VSCEs to organise exciting community activities, develop a North Yorkshire network for community groups wanting to do more to tackle climate change, and deliver energy surveys for community buildings to support them to save money and reduce their carbon emissions. I have a keen interest in climate action, with previous roles working with and supporting institutional and regional climate action plans.

Outside of my work I am the Chair of Yorkshire Netball, one of the nine regional organisations responsible for delivering grassroots netball across the country. I also run an inclusive touch rugby club in York, which gives opportunities to play for a diversity of adults.

About me

Hi, I’m Catherine, Monitoring and Evaluation Officer for Village Green. I will be working closely with the Village Green team, project partners and communities to develop monitoring systems and collect data to measure the impact of the project. My last role involved running a befriending service where using a variety of easy monitoring tools was vital in demonstrating the benefits of the service.

The environment and sustainability have always been important to me having previously managed several environmental projects at a local nature reserve in York. Outside of work I enjoy spending time gardening, and I love sitting by my pond and watching the variety of wildlife that my garden attracts.

🌱 About the Village Green project

What we do

Our ambition

🤞🏻 How Village Green is funded

💚 Meet our Village Green team

Charles Forman

Ria Hughes

Patrick Hoyle

Catherine Bamford

Where to find us

Registered Charity

This project is managed by:

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