Our News

This giving season, we took part in the Big Give’s Christmas Challenge – the UK’s largest match funding campaign, which launched on Giving Tuesday and ran for one week.

From the 3rd – 10th December 2024, charities like ours had the opportunity to have donations doubled in size and impact, making a huge difference as we collectively tackle the world’s biggest challenges, including climate change.

We were fortunate enough to have secured match funding from two generous donors; Our founding sponsor Beechfield Brands matched our first £2,500 of donations, as part of their ongoing 1% for the Planet donations, and Sharegift, our Big Give Champion, then matched the following £2,500 of donations. As we exceeded our fundraising target for the first time this year, we are delighted to have unlocked all £5,000 of match funding available through the generosity of public donations!

Our Campaign – The Carbon Literacy Snowball Effect!

After doubling in size in our 10th anniversary year from 25,000 to 50,000 learners, we set our sights on doubling again by 2024 – which we rolled past this year, hitting 100,000 learners for the first time! Now that our Snowball Effect of exponential climate impact is speeding up, we have no intentions of slowing down.

We wanted to use this campaign as an opportunity to celebrate those organisations who have contributed towards our exponential growth over the past few years, and give our supporters a chance to celebrate being part of our Carbon Literacy Snowball Effect. In particular, we focused on rallying support for our Partner Scheme, which offers a host of benefits to participating organisations.

Results

Thanks to the incredible support of the Carbon Literacy community, we are thrilled to share that we raised £11,166.94 including Gift Aid, from 46 individuals and organisations in addition to our match funding partners!

This was our second time taking part in the Christmas Challenge and we have increased our net total by a whopping £1612 on last year’s campaign, which is an increase of approximately 17%!

A particularly big thank you to the new members of our Partner Scheme:

Drive Green, who have joined as a Friend of the Carbon Literacy Project. As Richard Norris, Founder & Director of Drive Green says:

“We have always been big supporters of the Carbon Literacy Project as we firmly believe that education and awareness are the key to climate action, and people and businesses adjusting to be greener. The Carbon Literacy Project’s work is brilliant and incredibly valuable in this regard and we encourage you and your organisation to get involved, be it through donating to help support them, or by joining one of their staff education programs.”

Zenith, who have joined as a Bronze Partner, and have decided to ring-fence their funding to go specifically towards providing free certification for school children. As Mark Wilson, sustainability manager at Zenith says:

“Zenith is delighted to support Carbon Literacy Project’s Partner scheme as the training has been integral to helping us successfully embed sustainability throughout our business, with over 300 of our colleagues and suppliers having attended the training as of December 2024. We’ve seen first-hand the impact this training has had on colleagues, and hope that providing students with the knowledge and motivation to reduce emissions in their own lives will help protect our planet for future generations.”

See this video of Zenith’s Carbon Literacy journey so far.

Hexpol, who have joined as a Bronze Partner:

“In becoming a Bronze Partner, HEXPOL TPE is supporting the acceleration of vital climate education and action delivered through Carbon Literacy training. We had our first Carbon Literacy course accredited in 2022 and are enjoying delivering the training with our teams and empowering them to take action. Every person and every role has the potential to make a difference.”

Finally, Heart of England Community Renewables, who are a not-for-profit community energy organisation that operates one of the UK’s largest community solar farms near Stratford-upon-Avon. They reinvest surplus income into community and carbon reduction projects, and this year have chosen The Carbon Literacy Project as one of their beneficiaries, and have chosen to join as a Bronze Partner by doing so.

Welcome to all our new Partners – and a big welcome back to two further long-standing supporters of the Project, who chose to renew their Partner Scheme donations this December during the match funding window to get their donations doubled too:

SEE Sustainability, who has renewed as a Friend of the Carbon Literacy Project. As founder and director Dr. Matthew Sawyer of says:

“In a time of increasing global uncertainty, improving environmental knowledge and education is something that can make a real difference. Especially when learning is combined with taking real, tangible, positive, hopeful action. For me, The Carbon Literacy Project does just that. It doesn’t just provide knowledge but provides active hope through the pledges made by the participants.
I would rather support a forward-thinking organisation like the Carbon Literacy Project through being a Friend of the Project at this time as it brings more joy to more people across a whole year.”

And last, but by no means least, Hilltop Sustainability, who has also renewed as a Friend of the Carbon Literacy Project. As Neil Russell-Bates, owner of Hilltop says:

“With global emissions continuing to rise and timescales for making the necessary reductions getting tighter than ever, the need for as many people as possible to be properly educated about our carbon impact on climate change and what we can do about it becomes ever more important. That’s why Hilltop is happy to be able to support The Carbon Literacy Project!”

The Impact

All funds raised via our Snowball Effect fundraiser will enable us to continue to gain momentum, growing our snowball of positive climate impact into the future.

This will help to expand the reach and impact of Carbon Literacy as far and wide as possible, making it accessible to everyone, everywhere. Because of the generosity of our donors, we are one step closer to achieving our ambitious aims as a charity over the coming year, which can be summarised as follows:

• In 2025 we want to develop Carbon Literacy in new sectors, so that everyone has the opportunity to take action towards a zero-carbon future.
• We hope to double in size, reaching 200,000 Carbon Literate Learners within 18 months, as our Snowball builds momentum and grows larger!
• We need Carbon Literacy everywhere at once – from the local, to the global. To tackle climate change, we want to see Carbon Literate businesses, schools, universities, hospitals, communities and local authorities, all working together in a unified effort in Carbon Literate Localities!

Thank You

We would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who generously donated to our fundraiser, shared our campaign or followed along on social media. Campaigns such as the Christmas Challenge allow us to raise vital funds and increase awareness, which continues to accelerate the growth of Carbon Literacy. During this giving season, we were blown away by the generosity and spirit of the Carbon Literacy community, as we continue to roll forwards and gain momentum towards a zero-carbon future.

Save the Date!

Missed out on our CL Snowball Effect this December? Not to worry! We have a second campaign coming up this year, to coincide with Earth Day 2025. This will also aim to provide £5000 in match funding, to double public donations. With only four months to go, we encourage you to save the date for our next Match Fund on April 22nd, so you have the best opportunity to support our campaign.

Have a question? Get in touch at giving@carbonliteracy.com.

Interested in finding out more about other ways to support or partner with us? Book a call with Emily, our Fundraising and Partnerships Coordinator. We would be happy to discuss longer-term partnership opportunities, such as sponsorship or joining our Partner Scheme at Friend or Bronze levels!