News / plastic waste
Major funding boost for sustainability organisation
City to Sea, a campaigning organisation that aims to stop plastic pollution, has received a major funding boost from Triodos Bank UK.
The finance, in collaboration with grant and donation funding, will allow the St Paul’s-organisation to continue to expand its campaigning and education work on plastic pollution.
The two organisations were both founded with aims of tackling social and environmental issues.
City to Sea, which became a community interest company in 2016, works with communities, businesses, and activists to provide practical solutions to the problem of single-use plastic.
Triodos Bank, which has its HQ on Deanery Road, has a 25-year history of lending to organisations working for positive social and environmental change and was named Charities’ Bank of the Year at the Charity Times Awards 2023.
Simon Crichton, South West team leader for business banking at Triodos Bank UK, said: “We finance sustainable organisations all across the UK – and Europe – but it’s always particularly exciting when you’re able to work with a likeminded organisation in the city where you’re based.
“City to Sea has had an incredible impact in transforming the public’s awareness and approach to unnecessary, everyday plastic use, so we’re pleased to be able to enable them to continue building on this work.”
City to Sea has campaigned across areas including water refills and disposable coffee cups – photo: City to Sea
City to Sea has campaigned across areas including water refills and disposable coffee cups, as well as plastic-free period products and brought about significant legislative bans on items such as cotton buds, cutlery and polystyrene.
Natalie Fée, founder of City to Sea, said: “City to Sea have banked with Triodos for almost ten years now, so when it came to securing a loan to support our growth, it was incredibly valuable to have a relationship with a local, ethical bank that know us well and could take us through the lending process painlessly. We’re grateful to have Triodos finance backing us so we can keep investing in our much-needed environmental campaigns.”
City to Sea has recently announced an expansion of Refill destinations, with ten more local authorities across the UK, as well as offering its returnable coffee cup scheme to university campuses in Bath to help cut pollution. It has also recently launched a campaign to ban single-use packaging in restaurants, cafes and bars.
“City to Sea has had an incredible impact in transforming the public’s awareness and approach to unnecessary, everyday plastic use,” says Simon Crichton, South West team leader for Triodos Bank UK – photo: Triodos Bank
City to Sea was founded in 2015. Natalie had her “plastic awakening” in 2014 when she came across the trailer for the film Albatross and decided she had to do something about plastic pollution. Natalie, who had a full-time job in TV at the time, set about getting City to Sea off the ground in her spare time, initially with a crowdfunding campaign for a music video, followed by a series of ‘open space’ workshops in Bristol to get the message across.
Over the years, they have been tackling the most commonly found, single-use plastic items in rivers and oceans by creating simple solutions and inspiring positive change.
Main photo: Jon Craig Photos
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