Through our Social and Environmental Fund we are committed to donating a minimum of 20% of our profit each year to relevant social and environmental charities. Around half of the investment goes to social charities — we all know that Cornwall’s a beautiful place to visit, but, for many, it can also be a tough place to start life, with some of the most socially and economically deprived communities in the country. The other half is committed to fighting climate change and we work with partner organisations to plant thousands of trees each year to help offset the carbon generated by the cottage you are staying in, from heating, cooking and electrical devices — as well as the carbon generated by your car journey to Cornwall and home again (based on average UK driving distances to Cornwall).
WILD is an award-winning charity that works alongside some of the most vulnerable and marginalised young parents in Cornwall to give them the best possible start to family life, improving the outcomes for their children and helping future generations to thrive. By tackling issues such as mental health, food and fuel poverty, debt, housing problems, substance misuse, and money management, WILD helps parents to develop skills and build resilience to the many challenges they face. Thirty years after it was first founded, WILD has become the UK’s largest single cause charity for young parents and has helped over 400 families in and around Cornwall; the story and impact of WILD was recently celebrated and shared at a 30-year anniversary party at the Eden Project.
Find out more about WILD
The idea that the coast has a positive effect on our mental health has gained huge momentum in recent years, but one charity in Cornwall has taken this to the next level. Supported and funded by the NHS and founded in 2010, The Wave Project offers the world’s first surf therapy courses, which aims to improve children’s wellbeing through surfing. Their 6,000 volunteer surf mentors deliver life-changing surf therapy, every day.
Find out more about Wave Project
The Pole Pole Foundation (POPOF) is an award-winning gorilla conservation charity — it was one of the finalists for the prestigious Earthshot Prize in 2021 — and works to protect rainforest and the critically endangered Eastern Lowland Grauer’s gorillas in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Gorilla numbers have fallen dramatically following decades of deforestation and poaching, compounded by years of civil unrest in the region. Since 2017, we have planted over 60,000 trees with POPOF, working to create a buffer zone between the rainforest and the community, and providing a sustainable source of charcoal and timber. The saplings are grown in the POPOF nursery, providing employment to local women, then distributed to members of the community to plant. Fruit trees are included in the mix of species — part of multi-strand work that includes anti-poaching messages, tackling malnutrition, healthy diet education, and building plant-based food resources.
Find out more about the Pole Pole Foundation
Field to Forest is a brilliant Cornwall-based Community Interest Company that works with farmers who want to grow trees on their land but can’t secure other grants. Their mission is to plant trees that would not otherwise get planted. We started working with Field to Forest in 2021, initially funding the planting of 600 multi-species indigenous trees near Hayle in west Cornwall, as part of a habitat regeneration project. Our second project with Field to Forest is at Woodland Valley Farm in mid Cornwall — read more about this below…
Find out more about the Field to Forest Foundation
The mission of the Cornwall Wildlife Trust is to allow our wildlife to come back to what it once was, before human interference had such an impact on nature. We have pledged to support Cornwall Wildlife Trust and the work they do to protect and provide habitats, from clifftop heathland to wooded areas and riverbanks. They also monitor marine life and habitats, collecting data to conserve the underwater ecosystems and raising awareness about how to protect them.
Find out more about the Cornwall Wildlife Trust
Created in 1990 by a group of surfers in St Agnes on the north coast, this national marine conservation charity works to protect oceans and marine life through education, activism and fundraising, inspiring people to take action and campaign for better water quality in our coastal regions. They carry out regular beach cleans throughout the UK for their Million Mile Clean campaign, and have so far organised over 4,000 events, collecting nearly half a million kilos of rubbish.
We’re proud to be part of the Ocean Network, a national movement with over 300 businesses supporting environmental solutions.
Find out more about Surfers Against Sewage
Dive Project Cornwall aims to highlight the importance of our ocean environment and its vital role in our very own existence. By working with schools across the country, they deliver education programmes and diving experiences to hundreds of thousands of young people. In 2021, Dive Project Cornwall asked us to support their work in engaging young people to protect our oceans. The world’s oceans sequester a third of all carbon emitted by human activity, so we felt compelled to focus some of our environmental support towards this important ecosystem and are proud to have supported the project with Dive Buddy sponsorship.
Find out more about Dive Project Cornwall