Working with Egin has so far ‘has equipped and enabled us to take action.’ Helen, director of Hope St Mellons.
Nestled in the growing East Cardiff community of St Mellons, Hope St Mellons is a community development charity driven by volunteers and a small staff team. The group was established in 2018 and has since flourished, growing from a handful of dedicated individuals to a network of 40 volunteers and 7 part-time staff. They are community-led and driven, focusing their activities on addressing the key challenges faced by their local area. From their community building, the group hosts a variety of incredible weekly and monthly sessions, including friendship and activity groups, arts and crafts workshops, gardening activities, a community-led pantry, an affordable arts drama club, and a bike repair club. They also provide space for partner organisations to offer vital services, such as welfare, debt and housing advice.
Looking to Egin for clarity and direction
In May 2023, Hope St Mellons took on the management of the community building from which they run their activities. Although the building provided a valuable space for the community, it required significant upgrades to improve energy efficiency, reduce running costs, and align with their sustainability goals. The group recognised the need to lower energy costs and explore environmental improvements for their building; however, they lacked clarity on what actions to prioritise and how to move forward.
Identifying the pathway for change
The group’s facilitator, Lisa Williams, worked closely with them to identify their priorities, discuss the challenges they were facing, and explore the types of climate action they wanted to pursue. She then coordinated tailored sessions with Egin mentors to provide expert guidance and support in these areas.
The group received support from Elfed Lewis, an Egin Mentor and expert in low-carbon energy efficiency. With his guidance, the group undertook a comprehensive energy efficiency assessment of their building. Elfed walked them through the process, providing technical insights and sharing examples of other organisations’ successes, offering inspiration and practical advice for future-proofing the space.
Michele Fitzsimmons, another Egin Mentor and expert in community garden design, biodiversity, permaculture, and edible landscaping, collaborated with Hope St Mellons’ gardening group. Michele delivered an interactive workshop on edible landscaping and helped them to develop a biodiversity plan for their outdoor space. During a site visit, they worked together to draw up a vision for the space, helping them navigate risk considerations and plot out possibilities for the long-awaited pond.
From a long listof ideas to an actionable plan
The tailored support from Egin facilitators proved invaluable for the group, equipping the team with clear priorities and realistic next steps.
Helen, the director of Hope St Mellons, shared that the most transformative impact of working with Egin has been the group’s newfound confidence around climate action. Initially overwhelmed by the scale of work required and unsure where to begin, they now feel equipped and empowered to take action. Egin’s expert guidance helped them refine their priorities, turning a broad list of ideas into a clear, actionable plan for improvement.
Helen told us:
‘Coming out of this process, we are in a space where we can take action, and we feel very confident in moving forward.’
Looking ahead for Hope St Mellons…
Looking ahead, Hope St Mellons will continue their Egin journey and are focused on securing the Egin grant to support their energy efficiency and biodiversity plans. Their priorities include replacing the roof, improving insulation, and installing solar panels to reduce energy costs and environmental impact.
The gardening group is ready to get started, full of enthusiasm as they put their plans into action to enhance their green space for greater biodiversity. Digging their long-awaited pond has now become an exciting reality!
Hope St Mellon’s Egin Facilitator, Lisa Williams say,
‘It’s always inspiring to work with a group who are so enthusiastic about making a difference in their community, especially in such diverse areas as wildlife and energy. I identified Michele as the perfect Mentor for this group with her vast experience of community consultation and nature based garden design skills. It was fantastic to see the group engaging with their local community using visual techniques and on site surveys of the area’
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