News
KCF Introduces Eco Coaching Programme
Are you a community organisation in Kent or Medway taking steps to implement new sustainable values and approaches to supporting local communities?
We are pleased to announce a new coaching programme, run by local coach and presenter, Liu Batchelor, made possible by funding through Kent Community Foundation.
The programme is designed to help you develop skills and confidence to express and promote your early-stage ideas, projects and ways of working which improve your environmental impact.
It will help you to more effectively engage the community you serve, describe to funders how you can deliver further local benefits through the way in which you work, and inspire other local organisations to consider what they can be doing too.
Who can apply?
This programme is open to charitable organisations of all sizes, and is designed to empower ‘the aspiring eco champion’ within non eco specific organisations.
Participants do not need existing sustainability knowledge or skill - just a passion to bring the benefits of sustainable values and approaches, both big and small, to the great work you already do.
About the programme
This free-to-attend programme will be delivered between January and March 2024 - fortnightly over several 2-hour group sessions; delivered online in a supportive group space with 5x 30min of pre-recorded videos to help you prepare for each session.
Through the course, participants will develop skills and confidence in storytelling and presenting your sustainable values and ideas. At the end of the programme, you will be able to develop a short talk and video about your organisation's new sustainable work, which can be used if/as you wish within your marketing, community engagement, funder presentations, grant applications, etc.
For those wishing to, there is also the opportunity to deliver your developed talk as part of Kent Community Foundation’s Sustainability Forum in March 2024. This is a peer-to-peer event bringing together voluntary organisations to share aspirations, inspiration and work-in-progress case studies to encourage further exploration of how to improve sustainability within existing community work.
How to apply
There is no fee to participate in this programme but there is limited space, to ensure its quality, so applications must be submitted. Application details can be found below, and must be submitted by the deadline of 7pm Friday 1st December 2023. Applicants should be available for the programme dates stated below.
Successful applicants will be notified by end of December 2023.
The sessions will run on the following dates:
- 9th January 2024, 11am - 1:30pm
- 23 January, 11am - 1pm
- 6th February, 11am - 1pm
- 20th February, 11am - 1pm
- 5th March, 11am - 1pm
To submit an application, please send the following in an email with the subject 'Eco Coaching Programme' to admin@kentcf.org.uk by 7PM 1ST DECEMBER 2023
Organisation Name:
Organisation Address (must be in Kent or Medway):
Organisation core activity/work (Max 100 words):
Tell us about the environmental or sustainability project, values, or approach you have been developing within your community organisation. (Max 250 words)
Tell us about you/the person participating - and why you are passionate about bringing sustainability to your organisation and your community. (Max 250 words)
Tell us about why you would like to participate in this programme, and what you hope to gain from it. (Max 150 words)
Meet the programme leader - Liu Batchelor
The programme is designed and delivered by local coach, presenter and TEDxFolkestone curator, Liu Batchelor.
Liu designed the programme following many years experience working with TEDx speakers, many of whom were “Just local people, with good ideas and values. No public speaking experience but all of whom were passionate about making a positive difference in the world!”
Despite now being a TEDx speaker and presenter herself, Liu says she wasn’t always confident to share ideas:
“As a kid, I had speech therapy, and I always struggled to express myself and my ideas; often feeling incredibly overwhelmed and frustrated at not being able to communicate the value I had to give and how my project could contribute to my community. Since then I’ve spent my life and work overcoming these challenges, and now have designed this course to help others who struggle like I did.”