Aim

Building a resilient Islington through community action, strong leadership & partnerships, and building connections through local networks.

Voluntary Action Islington has been supporting and strengthening local voluntary and community organisations and championing volunteering for over 55 years. 

Going forward, we would like to focus more of our attention on helping to reduce the impact of extreme weather on our residents and enable voluntary and community sector organisations and local people to do what they can to help themselves and others. This project will strengthen our collective approach to climate resilience.

We want to bring together local voluntary, community, faith and social enterprise (VCFSE) organisations and residents to share expertise and raise awareness of the ways they can make a positive difference by: 

• Increasing the understanding of how climate change is causing extreme weather such as heatwaves, and how it impacts our environment in Islington and local people (e.g. it affects our food supply, energy bills and health).
• Increasing the understanding of how local VCFSE organisations and residents are coming together already and how we can build on this to make changes that will have a lasting effect.  We would also like to prevent and intervene early to support people who are more likely to experience health issues arising from extreme weather.
• Bringing together local residents and VCFSE organisations to create more local community leaders and champions who understand the unique challenges and vulnerabilities of our local communities, enabling them to provide a rapid response to local emergencies and extreme weather.
• Creating local neighbourhood networks to help the community mobilise and respond to emergencies by working in partnership with Islington Council and health colleagues.

Our aim is for us to work together to:  

• Create opportunities amongst the wider VCFSE sector to increase their knowledge, skills and solutions for climate preparedness, response and recovery.
• Improve Islington’s resilience to extreme weather by breaking down barriers to engagement and participation within their local communities.
• Support residents to engage in local climate initiatives through community-led networks, events and activities. 

As part of this project, we would like to deliver the following initiatives: 

• Building on what we have already heard from residents and partners, facilitate locally-led Islington networks bringing together wider groups of local VCFSE organisations, residents, and partners.
• Deliver climate resilience workshops and a conference focusing on health, waste and nature. The workshops will include opportunities for shared learning and information on how to access funding, and will provide support to organisations to develop plans to mitigate the impacts of extreme weather.
• Focus on engaging and enabling Islington’s grassroots, and small VCFSE organisations that are working with residents who are disproportionately impacted by extreme weather.
• Partner with specialist local climate and environmental organisations and support them to connect with the wider VCFSE through the new networks focusing on delivering climate aware campaigns and activities.
• Provide access to training, resources, practical support offered by local specialist organisations and our colleagues at London Metropolitan University.  
• Develop climate crisis planning, integrating VCFSE organisations into the broader Islington Council-led emergency planning and response.
• Enable VCFSE organisations to deliver organisational and/or community events where the VCFSE and residents can discuss common issues and act collectively.
• Our Islington Volunteer Centre will promote resident volunteering by working with local partners, through new networks, and by doing additional outreach. We will also recruit, train and coordinate a specialist team and host volunteering fair/s with a climate or environmental focus, bringing together local organisations and residents.

There are many ways that you can help: 

1. Make a donation: every pledge gets us closer to our goal. Every donation will be match funded by The Aviva Foundation up to the value of £250.  

2. Spread the word: share our project with your wider network.  The more people we reach, the more likely we are to succeed.  

3. Volunteer with us: if you would like to get involved, we would love to hear from you.  Please get in touch via our website: https://vai.org.uk/find-volunteering-opportunities/

Who we are: to find out more about our work, please visit Voluntary Action Islington's website: https://vai.org.uk/ 

Funding method

Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made by 12th November 2026 at 4:47pm