A designer by trade, Ali turned his hand to fashion after getting caught in the rain on a cycle home and then struggling to find a waterproof jacket that was cool and sustainably made as well as being functional. His brand Labo Mono, which is based in Hackney, now makes waterproof jackets using 30 recycled plastic bottles and an eco-friendly water-repellent covering. The jackets have all the technical bits you need for city life, including concealed pockets, breathable fabric, taped seams and pit zips as well as bold colourways and fun prints.

labomono.com

Based in the Trellick Tower in North Kensington, Goldfinger Factory is all about turning waste into gold. The social enterprise transforms surplus and reclaimed materials into quality sustainable furniture and runs a teaching academy and workshops to train marginalised people and local low-income residents in craft and woodworking. The People’s Kitchen also provides free meals for the local community, fighting both social isolation and food poverty – they run a monthly service making meals from surplus food and also do regular food deliveries for those in need too.

goldfinger.design

Wellness is a huge industry in this country but it’s not up to scratch when it comes to diversity. Chloe Pierre is looking to change that with her platform thy.self, which is all about actualising self-love and self-care in an inclusive way and making wellness facilities safe spaces for everyone. As well as providing a digital space where the thy.self community can connect, learn and share, Chloe also works with brands like Nike, Monki and Urban Decay to help them create inclusive, authentic wellness campaigns. 

thyself.space

Everyone loves a fresh baked loaf but the ones from Breadwinners are extra special because the company employs refugees and young people seeking asylum to sell and deliver it. Half of young refugees in this country struggle to find work and those seeking asylum cannot work until they are granted status, so it makes it difficult for them to find experience. Breadwinners tackles both of these problems through its three programmes; training young people as market stall assistants, providing first time employment for refugees with newly received status, and supporting refugees with existing experience in running the online delivery service. 

breadwinners.org.uk

Redemption Roasters is the world’s first behind bars coffee company. The roastery is based inside HMP The Mount and they train offenders in barista, coffee production and roasting skills to help them find employment on release – if ex-offenders find work, they’re significantly less likely to return to prison. Redemption Roasters actively helps graduates find a job once they’re out, often in one of their own coffee shops. 

redemptionroasters.com

Founder Sarah Bentley has a passion for making healthy and sustainable food available to everyone, and community cookery school Made in Hackney is the result of that passion. The school helps people to lead happier and healthier lives by teaching people how to grow produce and turn it into plant-based meals, running cooking sessions for a wide range of community groups, and supporting ethical food entrepreneurs by providing kitchen space and training. During lockdown the team started a food delivery service, getting over 40,000 free meals to Hackney residents in need and are still doing the meals today. People can support this service by joining one of their online cookery classes.

madeinhackney.org

You probably know Fred Sirieix from Galvin at Windows or First Dates but you might not know that he’s also been working with ex-offenders for years, including through his initiative The Right Course. The charity opens and runs restaurants in prisons using existing facilities and equipment, at no cost to the taxpayer, to train prisoners in hospitality and set them up with qualifications to help them into employment on release. 

therightcourse.org.uk

Coffee is big business in the UK and for a large industry to function it requires a lot of employees. Eve Wagg spotted that this makes for a great social enterprise opportunity and so she founded Well Grounded, which runs coffee training academies that equip vulnerable adults with the skills and qualifications they need to get a job in the speciality coffee industry. The team provides aftercare and support to all course graduates to help make that transition into work as easy as possible. 

wellgroundedjobs.co.uk

Meat comes with a pretty bg carbon footprint but thanks to The Ethical Butcher, you can still enjoy your steaks and chops and do your bit for the environment too. The company is all about providing ethically and sustainably farmed, carbon-neutral, grass-fed and organic meat. Animals are reared humanely and using methods to reduce the carbon footprint, and of course everything comes in environmentally friendly compostable packaging. The labels show exactly which farms the meat has come from and when it’s been packed for delivery. Many of the farmers have even measured a net loss of carbon as a result of the methods they employ, improving soil health and combating climate change.

ethicalbutcher.co.uk

Brigade Bar + Kitchen, housed inside a Grade II-listed former fire station in London Bridge, serves up classic British grub and helps bring those who are vulnerable and isolated, have experienced homelessness or spent time in prison into the hospitality industry by offering training and career support. The restaurant is a partner of the Beyond Food Foundation, which runs the programmes for vulnerable adults, bringing good, fresh food into their lives and teaching cooking skills to help build confidence and establish a sense of purpose. The money you spend eating at Brigade goes straight back into working with more apprentices.

thebrigade.co.uk

If you follow Munroe Bergdorf on Instagram, you’ll know how tirelessly she advocates for marginalised communities, using her platform to talk about and educate people on anti-racism, LGTBQ+ rights and feminism. As well as modelling for the likes of Illamasqua, Calvin Klein and Uniqlo, Bergdorf consults on diversity and inclusivity issues for brands, including sitting on the L’Oreal UK Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Board (a significant appointment as the brand had dropped her from a campaign in 2017 after she spoke out about white supremacy and racism). She also wrote Transitional, a manifesto on gender, race, identity, sexuality and how society can change for the better, which was published in early 2023.

@munroebergdorf

Fat Macy’s is a social enterprise that helps young Londoners go from hostels to their own homes through food. By hosting supper clubs, catering events and food deliveries, Fat Macy’s trains participants in cookery skills, front of house service, food hygiene and financial planning, whilst allowing them to save for their future. Profits from the enterprise are invested into a housing deposit scheme for the trainees, so whilst they volunteer their time during the programme (with grants available to cover the cost of small items they need like clothes for interviews and ID documents), at the end they are able to apply for a housing deposit grant and transition into their own homes.

fatmacys.org

If you’re in North London but can’t get out to a zero-waste shop, let it come to you instead. Fair-Well is a mobile refill service designed to make shopping plastic free much more convenient by taking zero-waste products to the people on converted milk float Charlie. They sell Fair Trade and organic dried goods, BioD cleaning products and Faith in Nature toiletries. To shop, you just book Charlie (make sure you’re in the catchment area), have your containers at the ready, and then fill up when the float arrives.

fair-well.co.uk

Thousands of people sleep rough in England on any one night – official estimates place the figure at around 4000 but other data suggests it could be almost double that, and that doesn’t take into account for those who move on and off the streets. The Connection at St Martin’s is rough sleepers get off and stay off the streets for good. As well as providing immediate practical support like hot meals, showers and emergency accommodation, the organisation runs an in-house education, training and employment service to help people find employment. The Connection also runs social enterprises including Poster Bakes, a bakery delivering vegan doughnuts and Show Your Connection, an online store selling eco and ethical products, putting the profits back into the charity’s work.

connection-at-stmartins.org.uk

Set up by former So Solid Crew member Swiss in response to the death of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter protests, Black Pound Day is an initiative that’s all about tackling the systemic racism faced by Black-owned businesses (they are more likely to struggle with investment and have less access to capital than white-owned businesses). On the first Saturday of every month, people are encouraged to shop from Black-owned businesses and share their experiences on social media, which not only injects more money into the Black economy but also helps make these businesses and entrepreneurs more visible, ultimately creating long-term growth for the Black community. 

blackpoundday.uk

There’s a hell of a lot of plastic in tampons and pads – there are nine applicators for every kilometre of beach in the UK and one disposable pad can take up to 800 years to biodegrade. After realising how much plastic was involved in period products whilst working on another brand in the sector, Celia Pool co-founded DAME with the mission to create sustainable and reusable products that were easy for women to use. DAME has created D, the world’s first reusable tampon applicator, made from medical grade Mediprene. It works with all sizes of tampons and you just have to rinse it after use. By making the switch to D, one woman can save up to 12,000 disposable applicators from going into landfill.

wearedame.co

A former COO in advertising, Sophie Williams is an anti-racist activist and author whose 10-slide Instagram post on anti-racist allyship went viral following the death of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter protests. Williams’ Instagram is full of advice and information on how to be an effective ally to the Black community and she also has two guides on allyship and activism and black womxn in the workplace  – Anti-Racist Ally (coming this autumn) and Millennial Black (coming in spring 2021) – on the way. She also works to increase BAME representation at senior levels within the advertising and creative industries through her non-profit organisation Culture Heroes. 

sophiewilliamsofficial.com

We as a society have an enormous plastic problem – around 8 million metric tonnes of plastic are thrown into the ocean every year, polluting the waters and destroying wildlife. Ocean Bottle is trying to stem that tide with its reusable bottles. As well as the bottles themselves containing upcycled ocean-bound plastic, for every one sold Ocean Bottle funds the collection of 11.4kgs of ocean-bound plastics (that’s the equivalent of 1000 plastic bottles). So not only does Ocean Bottle help you switch away from single-use plastic, it’s actively addressing the plastic that’s already polluting the environment too. 

oceanbottle.co

If every UK household switched to refillable cleaning products, over 300 million single-use plastic bottles would be prevented from polluting the environment in just one year. Spruce is here to make the switch easy with its reusable aluminium bottles and plastic-free, non-toxic cleaning refills – the refills come through the letterbox, you empty the sachet into the bottle, add water, and then you’re ready to clean. There’s no plastic waste, no water gets shipped and the refills are incredibly lightweight so the carbon footprint is minimal too. And with every order Spruce helps collect a kilo of ocean-bound plastic waste. That’s what we call cleaning.

@we.are.spruce

Baked goods that do good? House of Cinn is doing them. For every box of cinnamon bun that’s bought, money is raised to help break the cycle of homelessness and get rough sleepers back on their feet. House of Cinn has partnered with Street Cafe to build supportive communities around those sleeping rough, with a buddy and back-to-work system in place to help the beneficiaries back into a supportive work environment, and there are jobs as bakers and retailers at House of Cinn available when they’re ready for employment. 

houseofcinn.co.uk

Anxiety Empire is a new print magazine founded by Zoe Hough that explores mental health from a societal perspective, by taking a large system (like gender, money, work or media) as the topic for each issue and examines how that system affects our mental health, through contributions from writers, artists, activists, journalists and academics. Not only is the mag free, because Zoe believes mental health resources should be accessible to everyone, it’s also advert-free too, because ads don’t always have a positive impact on mental health. 

anxietyempire.com

Created by two bloggers, Zanna Van Dijk and Natalie Glaze, Stay Wild is helping fight the scourge of plastic in our oceans with their eco-friendly swimwear. The swimwear is all made from a genius little thing called ECONYL®, a yarn crafted from regenerated fishing nets collected from the ocean as well as other scrap materials, which is turned into high-quality fabric that can be used to make premium swimwear. Although they’re tackling an issue that affects the whole planet, we love that it’s a London brand through and through – the factory is based in north London and at every stage of the process they work with London-based start-ups and sustainability leaders. What’s more, the factory is a social enterprise that brings women from disadvantaged backgrounds in and trains them in clothing production, developing their skills to a high standard and improving their job prospects for the future. Good for the planet, good for London, and looks good on you: we love Stay Wild.

staywildswim.com

Social Pantry is an events and catering company that’s worked with the likes of Alexander McQueen, H&M, Adidas, Harvey Nichols, Rihanna and Gigi Hadid. Food-wise, there’s a focus on fresh, seasonal grub and root-to-stem cookery and in terms of personnel, over 10% of the workforce are ex-offenders. Alex goes into London prisons herself and recruits behind bars ahead of, as well as on, release. Offering opportunity and supporting these employees has and will continue to change lives. She recruits through Novus and charities such as Switchback and Key4Life who are all doing great work too. Commenting on the scheme Alex says: “I’m so proud to employ ex-offenders as they are ambitious, hardworking, trusted and talented and are a great addition to the team.”

socialpantry.co.uk

Tackling food waste is a huge part of a sustainable future, and it’s an issue that can be tackled in many ways as our list of LOTI heroes shows. Restaurants are at the front line of food waste and unless you are someone like Doug McMaster at Silo, there’s a good chance that a lot of good food is being thrown out when it isn’t sold. Enter Too Good to Go an app that connects restaurants with customers who can purchase unsold, perfectly good restaurant dishes at a fraction of the price. Not only does it earn the restaurants a bit of extra money, customers get a bargain meal, and the end result has a positive impact on the planet. Now that’s a win-win-win situation.

toogoodtogo.co.uk

Plastic packaging from takeaway is one of the worst offenders for waste, and with our appetite for Deliveroo and Uber Eats, the problem is only going to get worse. Reusable packaging is the way forward and that’s what DabbaDrop, which specialises in curries delivered in metal tiffin boxes, is all about – it’s curry with a conscience. Sign up for either weekly or fortnightly deliveries and you will be sent a regularly changing selection of veg curries, dal, rice and salad all made with fresh, quality ingredients. With your first delivery you’ll also get a reusable tiffin box for an extra £15 charge – each time you get a new delivery you just give back your old (clean!) tiffin box and keep swapping it out. So far DabbaDrop has saved over 200,000 plastic containers from being used and has avoided 2500kg of food waste.

dabbadrop.co.uk

We love what Steven and Richard have created down in Clapham – the UK’s first underground farm. Here they sustainably grow fresh micro greens and salad leaves 33 metres below the streets in disused WW2 tunnels, and supply top restaurants and supermarkets. Using the latest hydroponic systems and LED technology, the crops are grown year-round in a perfect, pesticide-free environment, using 100% renewable energy use 70% less water than traditional farming. Thanks to a controlled environment, each tiny leaf has a consistent flavour and are unaffected by the weather and seasonal changes. The prime location also means they reduce the need to import crops and drastically reduce the food miles for retailers and consumers.

growing-underground.com

nibs etc. is about making delicious snacks from ingredients that would normally be thrown away, to fight food waste, and enable customers to reduce their carbon footprint. nibs etc. was launched as a food and photography blog in 2015, about upcycling leftovers and no waste recipes. Chloe then landed upon a brilliant food waste product – juice pulp – that she began to collect from juice bars to make into granola. From there business has blossomed, winning at the WeWork Creators Awards (twice), setting up at Borough Market where she now sells crackers, brownies and loaf cakes alongside the granola, and being stocked in a number of independent sustainable stores.

nibsetc.com

Although we have highlighted some of favourite sustainable Londoners on our LOTI Heroes list and in our articles on sustainable swaps, there’s far more out there than we can cover. So we really recommend having a look at the site Trash Plastic if you are serious about reducing your reliance on plastic. Run by Londoner Sophie Tait, it’s an incredible resource of sustainable swaps for the whole house, with everything from plastic-free dental care to pet food and kitchen goods. If you’re serious about going plastic-free this site will come as a huge help.

trashplastic.com

Luminary Bakery isn’t just our local bakery, but one of our favourites in all of London… and not just because they make some of the best cinnamon swirls we’ve ever had. The bakery, founded by Alice Williams, is a social enterprise designed to offer opportunities for women from an economic and social disadvantage to build a future for themselves. Encouraging ambition, restoration and second chances, they use baking as a tool to take women on a journey to employability and entrepreneurship. Yes, by feasting on cake, traybakes and pastries you are supporting a good cause and they are now open 7 days a week in both Hackney and Camden.

luminarybakery.com

Second Shot is all about ‘bringing people together by tackling homelessness one espresso at a time’. The coffee shop on Bethnal Green Road founded by Julius Ibrahim, employs people affected by homelessness, helping them with training and moving further on the workplace as well as running a pay-it-forward system, so you can pre-pay for an extra drink or snack when you buy your own brew, ensuring that someone on the street can get something to eat or drink for free. What’s great about Second Shot is that people can contribute toward something more, just through buying their daily coffee. But more than that, they’ll be receiving some of the best coffee London has to offer, made by individuals who not too long ago were homeless.

secondshotcoffee.co.uk

The best way to learn a new language is to practice with a native speaker, but imagine if you could do that and have a positive impact at the same time? Chatterbox, which was founded by Mursal Hedayat, trains and employs refugees and people from marginalised groups to teach corporate language courses, meaning they are able to put their talent to good use whilst helping professionals and businesses improve their skills at the same time. The beauty of this solution is that it provides meaningful employment for refugees whilst plugging the language skills shortage in the UK. As Mursal explains: “I started Chatterbox because I was a bit fed up with the misperception of refugees as a threat or a burden. Like many other talented members of our community, my mum faced significant challenge finding work that made use of her ample talent. She used her language skills to become a language teacher here in the UK, so I pinched the idea from her and am using it to unleash this huge wealth of talent in the refugee community”.

chatterbox.io

Migrateful is a charity and social enterprise that supports asylum seekers, refugees and migrants struggling to access employment in the UK due to legal and linguistic barriers through a cooking school. Migrants teach cookery classes where they share their cuisine and culture with the public, and since Migrateful was founded in July 2017 by Jess Thompson, they have run thousands of classes and supported over 90 migrants. As well as offering a fun way to learn new cuisines from around the world, the social impact of integration and contact with other communities has a huge effect on how people view immigrants.

migrateful.org

It’s estimated that 60 million women worldwide – aged 18-35 and working in the garment industry – make less than minimum wage. These women are making the clothes we see on the high street everyday, and are hidden in the fashion supply chain. London company Birdsong, founded by Sophie Slater and Sarah Beckett in 2014, is aiming to do things differently however – they work with skilled women makers in the UK that face barriers to employment, and pay them a fair wage. Sophie and Sarah offer an inspiring alternative model for how the fashion industry can work, a protest against the practices of the global chains and its abuses.

birdsong.london

Tom Fletcher turns fruit and veg destined for the bin into juices with his company Rejuce. He set up his production kitchen in Hackney Wick after researching for his dissertation on food waste and discovering that there was a huge edible food waste site just by the Olympic Stadium and deciding that he had to do something about it. Rejuce turns odd, ugly and wonky produce into cold-pressed juices, and as well as encouraging the farms and packaging plants they work with to reduce their waste, Rejuce has saved over 300 tonnes of fruit and veg from landfill.

rejuce.co.uk

When it comes to single-use plastics, beauty products and bathroom essentials are some of the worst offenders liquid hand soaps, shower gel, and shampoos often come in packaging that can’t be recycled. Moving away from these products is clearly an essential step to reducing our plastic consumption but of course, we all need to stay clean at the same time! However, we wanted to introduce you to a Londoner, Marta Tarallo, who makes beautiful hand made soaps from all natural ingredients with traditional methods and no waste. Marta also runs soap-making workshops so if you’re feeling inspired, you can learn to make your own. With natural materials and no unnecessary chemicals, the soaps are good for your skin too, so you can have a clean body AND a clean conscience.

bottegazerowaste.com

Richard Murray is the man behind FoodChain, a simple idea that’s helping to connect chefs directly with producers. By bringing several farmers and producers together in one online based ordering system chefs are able to both streamline their ordering as well as see what the best produce available is from each seller. If at a particular time a farmer has an excess of rhubarb, for example, they can get this message out directly to chefs, helping them sell the product, reduce food waste, and giving chefs a good price in turn. For consumers, this is a win as the chefs in your favourite restaurants have easier and cheaper access to the best produce in the UK which trickles down to us as diners. What’s even more exciting is FoodChain’s plans to bring this ordering system direct to consumers as well as chefs so we’ll all be able to buy directly from farmers direct from our phones. Sounds like the future to us.

joinfoodchain.com

Founded by Ben Tattersall and Nia Jones in London in 2016, Good News is a contemporary British footwear brand with a conscience. As well as making some very stylish kicks they have sustainability and a sense of purpose as a core business model, not just some tacked on idea to score sustainability points. The shoes themselves feature recycled rubber soles and organic fair trade cotton and their production uses as few processes as possible to reduce carbon and chemical footprint. Any deadstock they end up with is donated to homeless charities in London and further afield too – through their partnership with Good Luck Shoes they’ve already donated 3,000 pairs of shoes to refugees and migrants arriving in Italy.

goodnews.london

Founded by Arthur Potts Dawson in 2011, The People’s Supermarket is actually inspired by the past where shops where the focus of the local community. But with big name supermarkets becoming dominant since the 1950s, The People’s Supermarket is now aiming to be the shop of the future, offering good healthy food at fair prices to both suppliers and customers. The shop is staffed and run by the local community, with everyone that puts in at least a 4 hours shift every week getting a 20% discount on food. The shop, located on Lamb’s Conduit Street, is now a hub for the local community, where customers can enjoy a local connection and even take part in regular events. A big success since launching, Arthur then came up with The People’s Kitchen, the logical next step whereby fresh food is made from food waste and sold in the shop at a fair price. We love the alternative vision of food retail that The People’s Supermarket offers – perhaps in the future all supermarkets can be vibrant community hubs with a positive impact.

thepeoplessupermarket.org

OURMALA was founded in 2011 by a Yoga teacher called Emily Brett at Hackney City Farm in East London. Emily had been teaching Yoga to vulnerable refugee and asylum-seeking women at the British Red Cross’ Destitution Centre in Dalston, all of whom had experienced gender-based violence, were at risk of destitution and were either pregnant or had children. With small funding from Big Lottery, Emily offered the often malnourished women Yoga and a hot lunch. The British Wheel of Yoga seed-funded a 12-month pilot called Hackney Yoga Project, covering the costs of travel refunds, without which the women would not have been able to get to class. By the end of the pilot, women were coming to class, referred by organisations including the British Red Cross, Freedom from Torture and Refugee Council. An English class was also added after lunch to help the women with their language skills. Since then, OURMALA has helped over 200 women, has won funding from Big Lottery, Lululemon Athletica, NHS, the British Wheel of Yoga, Inchrye Trust and Vodafone World of Difference and Oak Foundation.

ourmala.com

The number of people sleeping rough in London accounts for almost a quarter of the entire homeless population of the UK, so it’s clear that more needs to be done to help. And that’s exactly what Varun and Anisha are doing with Unhoused.org, a non-profit online shop stocked with essentials and warm clothing (including the world’s first self-cleaning hoodie) where for every item you purchase, another of the same is delivered to someone homeless – so far they’ve distributed over 100,000 items of clothing and changed over 2000 lives. What we really love is that they also send a photo or video of the donation so the giver sees the final result of their “purchase” in action.

unhoused.org

Although mental health can be a stigma across any industry, typically macho ones like restaurant kitchens are perhaps even worse when it comes to talking about mental health with many chefs afraid to talk about the issues. That’s definitely starting to change, however, and that’s partly down to chef Andrew Clarke who has been vocal in speaking out about his own mental health and encouraging others in the industry to do the same. There is still a long way to go however and to help other chefs in the industry, Andrew has launched Pilot Light, a campaign focused on changing the way people think and act about mental health through in professional kitchens and the broader hospitality sector. You can hear Andrew talk more about his career and Pilot Light in our recent interview with him on our Yes Chef podcast.

pilotlightcampaign.co.uk

Forty Hall is not only a great vineyard based in Enfield, north London, making some superb English wines, but also a social enterprise. As London’s only commercial-scale vineyard they put all their profits back into the project and local community to drive its ecotherapy programme. Centred around the idea that being outdoors and active is good for our mental health, Forty Hall provides volunteering opportunities in the vineyard to the local community, particularly those with mental health issues. All volunteers can benefit from the support and guidance of an eco-therapist who attends volunteering sessions and participants can work alone, in pairs, in small groups or in larger teams. Their aim is to improve mental and physical health through working outdoors in a green environment, being socially connected, and engaged with horticultural activity and the production of the wines.

fortyhallvineyard.com

Many things have claimed to be the best thing since sliced bread but Toast Ale, might just have the best shout of all. A whopping 44% of bread is wasted but Toast Ale is making a dent in that by working with bakeries and sandwich makers to brew delicious fresh beer out of surplus bread. The only other ingredients are hops, yeast and water. They also send the spent grain from the brewing process to a local farm to be used as animal feed which creates a nice closed loop, and also use recycled bottles. Oh and if tackling food waste wasn’t enough, Toast Ale is entirely not-for-profit, donating all proceeds to Feedback, an environmental charity campaigning to end food waste. Cheers!

toastale.com

Rubies in the Rubble make amazing condiments – all out of fruit and veg that is wonky or would have been discarded for some reason. Jenny had the idea after reading an Evening Standard article about bin divers and getting hooked on the topic of food waste. One early morning trip to New Covent Garden Market later and Rubies in the Rubble was born. The nature of fresh produce and the unpredictability of supply & demand means that a lot of perfectly good fruit & veg gets wasted, so being onsite, wooden spoons at the ready, to turn it into chutneys and preserves that day was a great set-up. Nowadays the company has grown beyond these humble beginnings but still has that same principle at heart, although on a much bigger scale. The range now includes everything from the famous banana ketchup so spicy tomato relish and chutneys.

rubiesintherubble.com

Founded by Eliza Rebeiro in 2007 when she was just 14, this campaign started as a simple t shirt she had made emblazoned with the words ‘Lives Not Knives’. 16 years later and the issue of knife crime in London is still prevalent, making the work of charities such as Eliza’s Lives Not Knives more important than ever. Having grown from that first t-shirt design LNK has since moved towards supporting young people into education, employment and training. LNK works with a broad range of young people up to the age of 24, as well as a great number of local businesses – forging the connection between young people and prospective employers. The charity aims to assist young people by developing their skills, capacities and capabilities to enable them to participate in society as independent, mature and responsible individuals rather than falling into the traps of gangs and violent crime.

livesnotknives.org

London may be a big and bustling city full of people yet it can also be a lonely and isolating place. North London Cares is a charity combating loneliness by helping to connect young professionals (who may be new to London and not have any roots in the community) and older residents (who may live alone or feel isolated in such a rapidly changing city). Group social clubs and one-on-one friendship matching schemes – being done virtually during the coronavirus pandemic – help participants, both young and old, feel less lonely, bridge generational divides and become more active in the community, 

northlondoncares.org.uk

Apparently, it takes around 4 – 10,000 litres of water to create your average pair of jeans – YIKES. A simple solution would be to buy more second-hand vintage jeans but if that’s not really your thing then meet Anna Foster of East London Vintage (E.L.V.) who’s here to solve your sustainable denim dilemma. Each pair of jeans is made from two old pairs that have been stitched together to make a fresh new pair in a completely new style. Plus no two pairs are ever the same, so you’ll be the only one wearing your unique pair. For even greater customisation there’s even a fitting service available so you can get a pair made to fit you perfectly.

elvdenim.com

Combining regular exercise with community work? Good Gym, which was founded by Ivo Gormley in London in 2010, is the very definition of a win-win situation. Building on the idea that working out in a gym is a waste of energy when you could be putting that energy towards helping someone (and helping yourself at the same time) Good Gym has grown to not only have a presence across London but all over the UK too.

Once you sign up there are three types of run you might go on: 1) a solo run to help someone with a one-off task they can no longer do alone (think gardening or changing a light bulb); 2) a run to make a social visit to an elderly person that may be battling loneliness – over 1 million people aged over 65 admit to feeling lonely or isolated; and 3) a group run with a trainer to do physical tasks for community organisations, such as sorting cans for the food bank or planting trees in the park. An incredible idea that started with one person in London and is now influencing lives for the better all across the country. Hats off to Ivo.

James and Felix are here to save you from both wasteful brewing practices and from crippling hangovers and for that they truly are heroes. They started out in Bermondsey in 2017 aiming to produce low alcohol beers that still tasted great, and through impeccable ingredient sourcing and a careful, slow brewing process they’ve now done just that. Their three core beers are between 0.5% and 2.8% ABV which, as you can imagine, is significantly less punishing than your average punchy IPA. More important are their sustainable brewing methods however. Running the UK’s only entirely dry floor brewery has contributed to dramatic reduction in their water usage, from an industry standard of 8-10 pints to just 1.5 pints per pint of beer brewed. The brewery is powered by wind, water and solar, and they have big plans for driving forward their responsible production agenda. Drinking beer with less carbon footprint and less of a hangover? Heroes.

theoriginalsmallbeer.com

Fashion is the second most polluting industry in the world, so overconsumption of clothes that are worn only a few times before being discarded is a big problem. The #LoveNotLandfill campaign, run by ReLondon, is hoping to address the issue by specifically appealing to 16 – 24 year olds with info on swapping clothes, buying second hand, and donating with clothing banks, sprayed by female street artist Bambi, placed around London to encourage younger fashionistas to think about the life of their clothes once they’re done with them. By putting used clothes in the clothing banks, consumers can ensure that wearable clothes are sold on to people who need them and that man-made fabrics especially (which take years to break down) stay out of landfill.

lovenotlandfill.org