‘Renew Wales’ Was A Peer Mentoring Programme
that ran successfully from 2012 – 2022
Renew Wales was a practitioner-led programme which helps communities in Wales become more resilient in every way, with a focus on local actions that address the nature and climate crises.
This is a unique approach: working through a network of Local Coordinators and Mentors, hosted in local third sector organisations and community groups, such as Transition Bro Gwaun.
Renew Wales Coordinators worked with community groups to help them develop their ideas and create an Action Plan and then link them with Peer Mentors – experienced people who can offer their advice, inspiration and knowledge to enable others to take action on all aspects of sustainability, including food, transport, energy, waste, biodiversity, communication and more.
The programme ended in May 2022, having worked with many hundreds of groups across Wales over 9 years. The current Renew Wales team have developed a new funding proposal to continue this excellent mentoring network with some interesting new ideas to empower people at the grassroots. We look forward to getting confirmation of this by June 2022.
TBG-based Renew Wales Co-ordinator & Peer Mentors and what we offered
Jasmine Dale offers support on Action Plans, visioning, wildlife and ecosystems, food growing, and effective, creative communication of ideas and projects.
Corinne Cariad offers support on community enterprise, community cafes and food projects, surplus food, food education, neurodiversity, funding and income generation.
Deb Winter offers support on all aspects of running a volunteer project from planning & volunteer recruitment through to outcomes monitoring; also on getting your message across through dynamic public speaking and performance storytelling.
Becky Lloyd offers support on regenerative tourism, community engagement and visioning for creative arts and crafts activities and workshops which promote the circular economy, with a focus on textile upcycling, textile repair cafes and clothes swaps.
Our favourite Renew Wales projects we’ve worked on include:
- Developing a green marketing strategy and getting funds and experts for solar panels with the Paul Sartori Foundation.
- Walwyns Castle village food growing group: sourcing funding, plants and fruit trees for their community garden.
- Supporting Ecodewi to get funding for part time coordinator and mentoring for their growing Peninsula food hub.
- Advice on volunteer recruitment and community engagement for BRACE (climate action Mid Wales through food growing)
- Devising volunteer programme of climate and nature related activities for Crynant Community Council‘s beautiful 9 acres of land.
- Supporting The Centre for African Entrepreneurship to embed environmental sustainability into their organisation, from policies and staff training to their new premises and projects.
- Co-developing a business & financial plan with Tonyrefail Community Group and support with constituting, community engagement, networking and fundraising for their community growing and cafe enterprise.
- Climate change storytelling (in progress for TBG).
- Storytelling for Community Garden public event.
- Mentoring Manage Money Wales on volunteer recruitment.
TBG have received support from Renew Wales since 2017, initially to organise a Tidal Project conference and in 2019 to plan and run a series of ‘Creative Climate Communication’ activities and events and to produce a toolkit. We value being able to share knowledge and experience through our Renew co-ordinator and mentors.
Chris Samra – TBG Trustee
Download the resources developed by Transition Bro Gwaun and Renew Wales:
Check out the events and activities Transition Bro Gwaun ran with support from Renew Wales: