CAG Oxfordshire is one of six social enterprise hubs for the eScalate business support programme, which we at OSEP deliver in collaboration with OxLEP.
CAG consists of over 70 groups across Oxfordshire who are at the forefront of community led climate change action tackling issues including waste, transport, food, energy, biodiversity and social justice.
Started in 2001, the network is the largest of its kind in the UK, running over 2,000 events per year, attended by around 80,000 local residents and contributing over 20,000 volunteer hours to the county. CAG is based at Makespace, a community-led workspace, which launched in September 2018.
We caught up with Henry, Lead Coordinator of CAG Oxfordshire to find out more about their network, how they’ve adapted during the pandemic, and how eScalate as helped the organisation over the last 18th months. >>
Tell me about how CAG Oxfordshire has adapted during the pandemic.
Like most organisations we’ve had to change a lot about how we work in this pandemic, and some of what we do too. We already had a bit of a distributed team anyway, so zoom calls were nothing new to us, but the sheer number of them has been new!
Our core work is supporting community groups and social enterprises which are taking action on climate change. So many of the groups in the CAG Network have been amazing during the pandemic, adapting what they do to meet the challenges we’ve faced and continuing their vital work in the community. It’s been super inspiring to see how fast people were able to respond, and with such creativity and care.
I think through the pandemic so far many people have become more aware of the ways in which community action, mutual aid, and all the other ways we care for each other every day are vital for our survival and flourishing. Acts of care and solidarity are fundamental to climate action too.
The climate action we’re most excited about is where we tackle several problems at once – and this work has been more important than ever in the pandemic.
For example, we know we can help ensure people in our communities are fed properly with healthy food and reduce food waste by running community fridges and larders. We know we can reduce illness and additional deaths caused by air pollution (as well as reducing coronavirus transmission) by running community bike workshops and cycle training initiatives. These are just two examples of the many ways in which climate action is part of tackling many of the other challenges we face as a society.
As the groups in our network have changed how they work over the pandemic the CAG Oxfordshire team has spent a lot of time ‘behind the scenes’ supporting smaller organisations in our network to get their heads around new health and safety measures, emergency funding opportunities, the furlough scheme, etc. We’ve moved our training events and network meet-ups online too of course. As a staff team sadly we’re still working remotely, and missing the atmosphere of collaborating in person, our usual social events with the CAG network, and our community at the wonderful Makespace Oxford.
Why did you feel it was important to be part of the team delivering the eScalate programme?
CAG Oxfordshire is all about co-operation. We’re always working to connect people and groups that can learn from each other or work together. It was obvious to us that we should collaborate with Makespace Oxford to be part of the eScalate programme, building on the work we were already doing supporting new social enterprises, community businesses, and co-ops in Oxfordshire. We particularly wanted to focus our efforts on the parts of the social enterprise sector locally that we know best; the co-operatives, community-owned businesses, and climate-focused organisations.
What impact do you think supporting more socially conscious organisations will have on our local economy and community?
Local social enterprises and community organisations are a vital part of tackling some of the big challenges we face such as inequality, climate breakdown, and systemic racism. The imagination and creativity that organisations like these can muster when tackling these issues comes with really understanding their place and community, and its strengths, weaknesses and particular culture. I think community organisations are the true innovators in our economy, getting really creative with very little money or other resources and providing value to communities.
In particular I think that broadening the ownership of our local economy is a vital tool, which is why we fly the flag for community-owned businesses and worker co-operatives, alongside innovative council-owned businesses. When local people have some control and a stake in our local economy, beyond being passive consumers, we’re much more likely to develop businesses that truly benefit people in our communities and protect our precious planetary resources.
How has the eScalate programme helped CAG Oxfordshire over the last 18 months?
We’ve benefited from stronger connections with other organisations in the social enterprise sector, particularly the other ‘eScalate hubs’. The income we receive for our work as a hub has allowed us to be more ambitious with the events and workshops we’ve run, putting on events with new partners and people with different expertise.
As attendees at events we’ve also learnt a lot, and I particularly enjoyed a peer learning group for ‘charity leaders’ near the start of lockdown where we supported each other with the big issues we were facing as our organisations rapidly changed to adapt to the pandemic. It was brilliant to feel supported by others going through similar challenges.
CAG Oxfordshire will be hosting Social Enterprise and Climate Action: Where Are We At? on 20th November as part of POP2020: Power of Purpose Week – a celebration of business as a force for good. In CAG’s session we will hear from Pip Wheaton, from Ashoka, who will be sharing the results of interviews with global climate entrepreneurs and asks what we can do locally.
If you would like to join this session, sign up here.
You can sign up to all the POP2020 events on Eventbrite, here’s the schedule >>
