It's Official - Building Self-Belief are Investors in the Environment!
The environment has always been one of our key areas of Building Self-Belief's charitable work - from the development of gardens, to the use of open air spaces to improve mental health, to our visit to Glasgow for COP26 to encourage young people to take an interest in policy.
Therefore, Building Self-Belief is absolutely delighted to have been awarded the Investors in the Environment Bronze Award. There is a great deal of 'talk' about green initiatives, but to achieve this award, you have to implement the policies, not just write them. We now have our Travel Policy, our Waste Management Policy and our Environmental Policy. We have also incorporated our approach to green initiatives into our induction process for trustees, staff and volunteers.
Our Green Champion
Our Apprentice Shauna Nixon is our official 'Green Champion. Shauna completed a great deal of the training and tasks, she also collated the necessary information. Shauna will be continuing in this role, and we are looking forward to continuing with our green initiatives.
Highlights from the Accreditation Report
"Building Self Belief is committed to integrating young people within their community and frequently this is via environmental projects, such as their Tow Law Eco-Youth Ambassadors’ project in County Durham, and their restoration of Benfieldside Community Garden to use as a community space. Building Self Belief have a great buy-in from colleagues across the organisation, from Management to Volunteers, to develop their environmental management system. They have made good headway with promoting sustainable travel within their organisation, and going forward, this can be developed into a formal sustainable travel plan.
Highlights
• Excellent use of projects to support community, wellbeing and environmental efforts.
• Environmental Policy identifies the environmental champion and commits to reducing environmental impacts and legal compliance, with Net Zero commitment outlined.
• Strong communication channels, through their website, social media and use of notice boards.
• Colleagues from across the organisations involved in the process, with trustees being regularly updated in meetings, and staff and volunteers receiving information through induction process."
Thank you
Can we thank both the County Durham Community Foundation and Durham Community Action because they signpost us to key initiatives and they also provide links funding, and/or the funding itself that support us in our work in this area. Can we also than Jo Holmes of Gennee Consultancy who has supported us throughout the process in achieving the Bronze Award. We are looking forward to the future plans and making even more positive changes in how we approach and implement green strategies.

Consett Heritage Project / February 3rd, 2025
Helene Wilson - Consett Heritage Podcast
Helene tells us all about how much she enjoys living in Consett and how much being part of the Consett community means to her. She considers the influences of the past, and how Consett has moved forward and is no longer just about the steelworks. Please take a listen.

Consett Heritage Project / February 3rd, 2025
Designing a Steel Statue for Consett
On Tuesday 28th January, we hosted a fundraiser and design session to generate some ideas about what the community want the Ray Lonsdale statue to look like. We were very lucky to have renowned artist Ray Lonsdale with us, who gave a talk about his artistic journey and past designs, and answered all of our questions about his statues and how we should go about creating our own for Consett.

Consett Heritage Project / February 5th, 2024
Voices of Consett - Sadie (The Bra Lady)
Before earning the title of "Sadie the Bra Lady," Sadie Ayton worked in the steelworks following her school years. She initially found employment at Richmond's the Solicitors before transitioning into the role of a 'Ticky Woman,' collecting credit payments by visiting houses.