SBEN newsletter - December 2023!

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Staffordshire Business & Environmental Network

sben Newsletter

   December 2023 edition

 


NEWS FROM OUR RECENT AGM

New Board

After years of dedicated service to sben both Judith Smith of Sustainabilitysmith Ltd and Mark  Thompson of Johnson Tiles decided to step down as Chair & Vice Chair respectively.

Adam Whitehouse CEO of TMT First was elected Chair and Chris Wheeler of Auditel  Vice Chair.

A massive thanks to Judith & Mark for their dedication to sben and a very warm welcome to Adam as Chair & Chris as Vice Chair.

SOC AWARD

Winner of our SOC award 2023

We are pleased to announce that the winner of our Outstanding Contribution to sben award goes to Judith Smith of Sustainabilitysmith Ltd.

Judith first joined sben whilst working for Finnings and has supported the organisers group and Management Team.

Judith went on to set up her own Environmental Management and Sustainability Consultancy Sustainabilitysmith Ltd and was elected as sben Chair in June 2014.

Under Judith's leadership membership has gone from strength to strength with 244 members in 2014 to 523 members today introduced umpteen businesses and new members to the network personally.  

Congratulations Judith!

The sben award 2023 was a bespoke commission from Gary Law at Burton ReRun

Produced from community donated recycled plastic, shredded, washed, blended by weight and heated before being pressed into flat sheets, after a few hours of cooling under constant pressure to minimise warping, sheets can be planed smoother and cut to shape. Every piece is unique with its own character.

Find out more about Burton ReRun on their website: www.BurtonReRun.co.uk

Group Photo with Duncan

The AGM also featured a talk and walk with Duncan Coleman - Wildlife Ranger at Trentham Gardens. 

A big thank you to Duncan the presentation was amazing! 

Feedback from members included "we loved it!"


sben Events


RES

LAST CHANCE TO BOOK!

Workplace Energy Advice webinar with new sben members Residential Energy Services

12th December 2023 from 11:50am until 1:00pm on MS Teams

Residential Energy Services recently featured on BBC Midlands Today highlighting the desperate need for us to collectively address fuel poverty.. The forecast is for a long cold winter. As an industry we need to facilitate retrofit at scale.

  • What does Workplace Energy Advice consist of?
  • The Benefits to employees: from help with cost of living and fuel poverty to wellbeing, awareness, and carbon reduction.
  • The Benefits to employers: Improve corporate social responsibility (CSR), employee engagement and wellbeing.

Visit our website for more information and to book your place


Carbon Literacy

 Carbon Literacy Training

"Highly engaging. Lots of thought-provoking discussions. I would highly recommend this" Elliott Lancaster MBE, Utter Rubbish Ltd, Founder & Director

We are pleased to announce two new fully funded Carbon Literacy Training courses.  The following courses are now available and you can register your interest on the sben website

Staffordshire County Council – Green Solutions – Carbon Literacy Training 24th & 25th January 2024 - Staffordshire Business & Environment Network (sben.co.uk)

Staffordshire County Council – Green Solutions – Carbon Literacy Training 7th & 8th February 2024 - Staffordshire Business & Environment Network (sben.co.uk)

Please note: our online CLT courses are for two four-hour morning sessions on consecutive days.

Available to all Staffordshire businesses (excludes Stoke-on-Trent area) 

The Green Solutions Carbon Literacy Training is funded by Stafford Borough Council & South Staffs Council using UK Shared Prosperity Fund, and Staffordshire County Council.

        


Mental Health and the environment 

17th Jan 2024 - Hosted by Michelin

About our speakers:

Sheila McMahon of Mind Management for You

Sheila is BACP Registered Qualified Counsellor and Comedienne who has appeared on various TV and radio shows, performed at the Lichfield Garrick, Stafford Gatehouse, Redditch Palace Theatre, Glastonbury, Edinburgh Fringe festival and around parts of the World.

Sheila will be speaking about “climate anxiety and guilt” around the uncertainty of knowing what the right thing is to do.

Mike Astbury of Mondrem Group

Mike believes in creating organisations which care for people as whole human beings. He is great at listening, connecting, and offering hope where it can sometimes be difficult to see. His personal experiences both providing and using public services mean Mike sees the value of the work they do, creating Mondrem CIC in 2016 with the mission of supporting them to be brilliant, everywhere, all of the time. Since then, he has developed Mondrem Group, an ecosystem of companies sharing the ambition to help people thrive. His management approach is unique, focussing on wellbeing and kindness to deliver great results. 

Don't miss what promises to be an engaging, fun and interesting event, you can book your place via our website.


ISO Expertise LOGO

Integration of Environmental Management Systems with existing Quality Management Systems (ISO14001/ISO9001)

29th February 2024 on MS Teams

sben member Margaret Munro and Sharon Louca of ISO expertise will be running a webinar on the integration of Environmental Management Systems (EMS) with existing Quality Management Systems (QMS) (ISO14001/ISO9001) and how tools such as the sben Carbon Tracker can help benefit many areas of business monitoring.

Visit our website to book your place.

For more information on our Carbon Tracker please visit our website.


Partner and sben member events


How can you really make sustainability change happen in your organisation? Online workshop with sben members wayvie.

11th December from 12:30pm - 1:15pm

If sustainability isn’t already at the top of your agenda in your organisation, it’s likely to become a burning fire for you soon. In this LIVE, join Pete Starr from wayvie and James Staniforth from Sustainable Business Services who will be discussing how you can really make change happen when it comes to having a positive planet impact at work.

You kind find out more about this event and how to book on our website.


sben member Margaret Munro of ISO Expertise is running a series of workshops 

EMS Training – Document control/Communication and training on 14th December 2023


The Hive Christmas Event – Merry Clykmas with sben members Clyk

20th December 12:00noon until 13:30pm

Join Clyk for their Christmas event where Christmas jumpers are mandatory!  All proceeds go to helping homeless families at the Gingerbread Centre 


sben members Staffordshire Training Services are running a further two heat pump courses

Venue: Staffordshire Training Services, Unit 6 Leons Way, Tollgate Drive, Tollgate Industrial Estate, Stafford, Staffordshire, ST16 3HS

FREE Heat Pump funded training - 3 day course from 17/01/24 - 19/01/24 - Staffordshire Business & Environment Network (sben.co.uk)

FREE Heat Pump funded training - 3 day course from 14/02/24 - 16/02/24 - Staffordshire Business & Environment Network (sben.co.uk)


Become a champion for net zero with Keele University & Smart Energy Bootcamps!

Develop your organisation’s climate action plan at the Global Sustainability Institution of the Year (2021).

Experience Keele University’s Ofsted-rated “Outstanding” 16 Week Net Zero Skills Bootcamp, and prepare you
and your organisation for the net zero transition.

For more information and how to apply visit our website.

 


Funding


Green Solutions funding in association with Pilot BEAS

Funded by UK Gov-01

 

SMB Green Solutions LOGO_SMB_Funding

Is your business looking for support on how to reduce your costs and become greener?

Green Solutions is a programme that offers support to businesses in Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent to enable you to take action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. 

You can access support from any or all of these options:

Energy Assessments. This free assessment will look at your energy consumption and provide you with recommendations to save money and reduce your carbon emissions.

Low Carbon Grant. Opportunity to apply for grants of between £1,000 and £100,000 (cover up to 50% of eligible costs) is available per business to implement recommendations from your Energy Assessment.

Carbon Literacy Training.

This free 8-hour training course will provide you the knowledge and skills to take action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. You can choose whether to attend an in-person or online course, and the training is accredited by the Carbon Literacy Project, you can book a place on the course on the Staffordshire Business Environment Network website.

Green Solutions delivered by Staffordshire County Council is funded by Stafford Borough Council, South Staffs District Council, East Staffordshire District Council using UK Shared Prosperity Fund, and in affiliation with the Pilot Business Energy Advice Service (BEAS) funded by the Department for Energy Security and Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.

Express an interest

Please visit the SCC website to complete the online expression of interest form.

LevelUp_lockup_RGB_blue_on_white_EN (002)Stafford BC logoSS council primary PNG ES council logo

 


Stoke-on-Trent City Council launches a new grant programme powered by the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.

The programme, Stoke-on-Trent Powering Up Inward Investment, is an exciting initiative aimed to propel the city’s economic growth by attracting new businesses and new jobs into the area. Grant funding between £10,000 and £50,000 for businesses in Advanced Materials, Digital, Life Sciences and Energy/Low Carbon and Manufacturing sectors can apply with priority given to businesses who are making a first investment in Stoke-on-Trent. 

Visit our website for more information and details of how to apply.


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