About

Sustainable Communities -Building Brighter Futures 

Sustainable Communities Limited is a pioneering new business which offers support, advice, training and consultancy to the voluntary and community sector, small and medium sized businesses and social enterprises (SMEs) and statutory authorities across England and Wales. 

The business was established in 2009 as a small UK consultancy and training company specialising in supporting the development of NGOs and in EU funded Twinning reform projects internationally. 

In January 2021 we became a social enterprise. This followed a long term plan to develop the company as a group of specialist UK based associates delivering improvements in governance, project management and organisational and partnership development to NGOs, businesses and UK statutory authorities with an added focus on helping others to take small and large steps to reduce their carbon emissions. 

As well as project management, the specialisms of our growing group of associates include designing low energy building and retrofitting existing ones, promoting a botanically diverse natural environment, human resources management to get the bets from your staff and volunteers, devising IT and digital technological solutions, organisational governance development and change management specialising in charities and community enterprises. We have extensive project management and governance expertise and are working to delivering ISO 14064. 

We are committed to: 

• developing the core skills and capacity of organisations 
• reducing the carbon footprint of all of the clients we work with
• supporting and empowering more local communities

to help develop Building Brighter Futures for us all.

Sustainable Communities comprises a core group of professional associates who offer a combination of free resources and initial advice with paid for services, including  consultancy and training. Our expertise means that we can help you with the most simple or the most complex and challenging of issues, circumstances and plans. 

Our approach

• We will all need to make both big changes and small steps if we are to reduce our carbon emissions enough to save our beautiful planet as well as address other man made emergencies such as the C-19 Coronavirus
• We can develop our organisations, communities, our professional skills and capacity whilst using the latest technology to reduce our carbon footprint . 
• Organisational change is and will be increasingly necessary and can be designed to complement reductions in our carbon emissions 
• Digital Technological and locally produced natural products, quality designed to last, can both make a big difference 
• No one person or organisation has the solution but we can learn from each other  and be informed by the latest research and by applying best practice. 
• Engaging and consulting others at all levels of the organisation – applying a whole system approach so that individuals and organisations work together  understand,  ‘own’ and devise their own changes 
• Clarifying expectations from the start and meeting agreed deadlines throughout
• Complex situations often require simple solutions, simple situations often require simple solutions  
• Understanding and using the Joharis window model of learning and development,where issues are either: 
•             Known to you – Known to others. … 
•             Unknown to yourself – Known to others. … 
•             Known to yourself – Unknown to others. … 
•             Unknown to yourself – Unknown to others.

Our Values

• Work with and managing differences to provide the best solutions 
• Engaging, respecting and understanding others 
• Working  for inclusivity and equality
• Being firm but flexible 

The SC Team

We are an established core group of Consultants and trainers plus a wider group of specialist associates and partners with whom we work on different projects. Our linked specialists include architects, construction companies, ecologists, environmental engineers and academics, charity and company governance, policy and HR practitioners, all of whom have expertise in implementing carbon emission reduction measures. We also work with a range of partner consultancies regionally, nationally and internationally.

Norman is an experienced project manager and has undertaken some acclaimed international prison and probation criminal justice reform work in Turkey and Eastern Europe, as well as bespoke support and development for charities and social enterprises across most parts of England. His background is in adult and child education, probation orientated social work, youth work and work as a family and systems therapist. He was an Assistant Chief Probation Officer in London prior to becoming a freelance consultant in 2005.

For the past 15 years he has worked as a consultant and trainer specialising in international project management,  charity governance, business planning, change management, community engagement and building and policy development. From 2009 -19 he was a national assessor for the VISIBLE quality standard for charities who manage their own buildings. 

He is a passionate  environmentalist , amateur documentary film maker and musician and a lifelong organic gardener and committed to further implement ISO 14064 within all organisations

• Stephenie has worked in the voluntary and community sector for 32 years, working nationally for charities, local authorities and housing associations and has 30 years front line experience as a volunteer, manager and Chief Officer for buildings based community organisations and community development. 
• Stephenie was the senior assessor for an accredited quality standard for community based buildings to ensure they meet legal requirements and best practice. 
• She has developed her work and approach to help organisations reduce their carbon footprint. She qualified as a trainer and buildings auditor for Every Action counts for energy conservation and is a trainer for the 2-day training programme – Community Assets Matter – that again includes governance and all legal requirements to run a community building. 
• Stephenie has 14 years’ experience as a trainer for the Directory of Social Change and has run courses on Employment Law, Moving into Management, Support and Supervision levels 1 and 2 and the 3 day Managing for Managers course. 

Sarah’s background is firmly rooted in the public and charitable sector. Sarah was previously a case officer for the Charity Commission undertaking case work in the field of charity law, governance and risk management. Sarah also managed the Charity Commission’s contact centre and provided training and technical support. Sarah was previously an Associate Consultant for Community Matters and Advising Communities providing cover on their advice line service for over 15years. Sarah’s areas of expertise include Charity Law, governance, choosing and adopting an appropriate legal structure, organisational development, Incorporation & Community Asset Transfer.

Kuljit is an experienced project manager and trainer in social work and criminal justice. She is CEO of RISE Staff Mutual C.I.C., which specialises in work with offenders and victims of crime and on empowering young people to achieve their full potential. see risemutual.org

Mani is an experienced IT practitioner and software developer who has developed websites, IT systems and databases for a number of organisations.

He has successfully completed  many digital projects: working with small companies and charities supporting children i.e. Tabla Works and Amuru. As well as creating a bespoke case management systems e.g. for Veterans and their families, bespoke e-commerce platform for Mobile Testing Solution (IELTS college), development of MY SOS FAMILY APP and api, merging several websites together – MK Dental. 

Rob Eagle is a documentary film-maker and the film and media workshop coordinator for Sustainable Communities. Rob has 15 years experience in film-making and teaching, including leading all-age film-making workshops at film festivals and universities. From 2008 to 2017, he worked as a film maker and communication officer for University College London. He previously trained as a summer school teacher for programmes in Denver, Colorado (2001 and 2002) and Hong Kong (2003). He is currently a PhD candidate in Bristol, focusing on using augmented reality to representing the experiences of nonbinary Bristolians.

Our Partner

RISE MUTUAL CIC

RISE is a specialist agency in designing and delivering behavioural change programmes specialist in providing group and individual and new approaches for children , young people and adults . RISE works closely as a close key partner in Sustainable Communities to address domestic violence and abuse and working with families.  It has developed several interventions working with young people and reducing incidents of serious violence driven by the belief that young people can make better decisions, given the right support. Its experienced team of professionals (trained in trauma informed techniques, Non-violent Resistance methods at an Advanced level work and Cognitive Behavioural methods) work with families in criminal justice and social care sectors, to guide parents and young people through process of change, and helping them to obtain new skills to rebuild the whole family unit again.

RISE has delivered Child to parent violence interventions in the London borough of Barnet for the last 4 years. Recently, awarded the Youth Endowment Fund to deliver Child to parent violence work in London borough of Croydon, Bromley and Bexley as well as being awarded the Young Londoners Fund for this work in London Borough of Waltham Forest. RISE is also working to achieve the Youth Quality Mark.

The CPV programme uses an innovative new approach called Non-Violent Resistance (NVR). This means we work with the parents, aiming to reduce the risk of harm, by teaching them techniques to de-escalate situations, as well as re-integrate the young person back into the family and the community.

We engage parents and children in their home through a programme of up to 20 sessions:

• Sessions with parents utilise and teach NVR techniques, including reconciliation methods
• Sessions with young people use AVERT (Adolescent Violence & Emotional Resilience Toolkit), they are skills- based, trauma-informed and teach CBT techniques to break negative cycles

www.risemutual.org