Environmental Policy

Policy Summary

Kids Inspire acknowledges the connection between the climate and other environmental crises and the threat of current and future homelessness, disease, food and water shortages and poverty for millions of people around the world, as well as the major damage being caused to our natural eco-systems.

It therefore recognises its responsibility to reduce its carbon and environmental footprints and formally commits itself to being an environmentally responsible charity.

Objectives

Kids Inspire commits to measure its current carbon footprint and to introduce measures to continually improve this.

To take this forward it commits to the following actions:

1. The CEO and senior management team will hold executive responsibility for taking forward and implementing this commitment.

Kids Inspire will create a base measurement of the charity’s carbon footprint, including (where possible):

  • Electricity

  • Water

  • Transport fuel

  • Gas

  • Total waste production

  • % of waste recycled

  • % vegetarian meals provided

  • Total paper consumption

  • % Recycled paper

  • % Renewable energy used

  • Any other relevant environmental criteria.

This environmental data will be summarised in the annual accounts and progress will be reported annually.

2. Kids Inspire’s annual impact statement will include a summary of this annual environmental audit of the charity.

3. Progress on improvement of Kids Inspire’s environmental performance will be a standard item at senior management meetings.

4. Induction procedures for new staff will include information on the charity’s environmental practices.

5. Where practicable Kids Inspire will ask current and future suppliers for their environmental policies and for evidence of implementation of such policies and indicate that such performance will be used as criteria for supplier selection.

6. Kids Inspire will seek to have relevant environmental clauses included in any future contracts agreed with outside bodies, for example, suppliers and other partners.

7. Kids Inspire will include environmental responsibility training in any future staff training programmes, especially for those involved in providing advice to vulnerable clients.

8. Kids Inspire will observe existing environmental legislation as a minimum standard and seek to out-perform current legislative requirements where practical.

9. Kids Inspire will develop and maintain a sustainable transport commitment for their staff, seeking to reduce unnecessary travel and making the transport that is necessary as sustainable as possible and will monitor progress annually.

Monitoring and review

The Operations Team Management and Trustee Board of Kids Inspire review this policy annually.

Last reviewed October 2024