Community stories

Over the years, we have seen communities all across the UK taking part in Great Big Green Week in ways that work for those communities - running events that showcase the work that is happening locally, addressing issues that local people care about. And we know it can be useful to know what others have done - what they’ve learnt and the positive impact their Great Big Green Week events have had for them - to get ideas of how you can take part. So read on to hear stories from just a handful of the brilliant people that take part every year, and take some inspiration from them!

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Castlehaven Community Association

Castlehaven is a Community Association in the heart of Camden, London, who provide safe, inclusive spaces and engaging activities for their local community. They manage a community park, and some of their usual activities include therapeutic gardening, exploring how to reduce waste, nature arts and crafts, environmental film screenings, and more. 

They have been involved in Great Big Green Week for two years in a row, with plans to go even greater, bigger and greener next year. Watch this short video to hear more about what events they run for Great Big Green Week and why they take part.

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Black Girls Hike

Founded in 2019, Black Girls Hike provides a safe space for Black women to explore the outdoors by hosting nationwide group hikes, outdoor activity days, and training events.

In 2024, Black Girls Hike organised a medicinal plant identification walk through Epping Forest. They worked with a plant specialist to share knowledge during the guided walk, and worked with the Grown Urban Festival, a local festival taking place across London during Great Big Green Week, to support promotion of their event and collaborate on showcasing the many ways communities in London are leading on urban agriculture, food security and sustainability. 

Watch a clip from one of our previous training sessions to hear one of the team members from Black Girls Hike sharing their experience of taking part and how they developed partnerships to deliver their event.

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Greener Henley

Greener Henley - a local climate and nature action group made up of volunteers working together to empower individual and collective action to help build a greener, zero carbon future for their town of Henley on Thames and surrounding villages - have hosted a week full of community action as part of their local Great Big Green week for the last four years.

Great Big Green Week is now a regular moment in the Greener Henley calendar!

Hear from a member of the Greener Henley team talking about how they ran their Green Week in 2023.