Octopus Group Case study

Octopus Group and Thames21

“Thames21 have been brilliant to work with- they have educated us, sparked our curiosity and pushed us to help more and in ways we couldn’t have imagined before the partnership. 

Helping fight the climate emergency can often feel like too big a challenge for individuals but we’ve found in this partnership that we can really feel as though we’re having a tangible impact.”

 Louise Skinner, Head of Octopus Giving

The three-year partnership with Octopus Group provides support to the charity in many ways, all of which help Thames21 to build expertise in order to deliver more and better impacts.

Watch this video to hear about how Thames21 and Octopus Group have worked together so far:

UNRESTRICTED FUNDING

Octopus Group committed to a generous annual unrestricted donation to Thames21 over 3 years. Their transformative approach to funding charities has enabled Thames21 to invest in the next stage of its growth to ensure it can deliver its increasingly urgent mission to tackle the impacts of climate change whilst delivering powerful social and environmental benefits.

PROFESSIONAL VOLUNTEERING

Octopus Group staff volunteer their time and professional expertise to Thames21 in a wide range of areas from advocacy to green finance, commercial contracts, design, HR, and advice on planning the charity’s growth.
Most important of all, the two organisations benefit from each other’s enthusiasm and drive to bring about positive change. Check out the video below, where Justine Duggan, Head of Public Affairs at Octopus Group, talks about her work with us and how it has benefited her as a volunteer.

GET YOUR WELLIES ON!

In the two years of our partnership, 672 volunteers spent 3,356 hours:

planting 300 trees to reduce flood risk, build biodiversity and store carbon

clearing 250 metres of riverbanks and pathways to enhance biodiversity

removing 1,607 bags of litter and 87,500 wet wipes to tackle the microplastics crisis and prevent plastics entering the ocean and causing ecosystem collapse

eliminating 85m2 of invasive species such as Himalayan Balsam to prevent riverbank erosion.

Here’s what they said:

“A massive thank you to you and the team for what was a totally wonderful Thames21 volunteering day for Octopus yesterday! The team yesterday were so excited and really, really enjoyed the day and feeling a sense of achievement about what we did.”

Louise Skinner, Head of Octopus Giving

FUNDRAISING FOR THAMES21

Octopus Group staff run numerous fundraising activities to raise additional funds for Thames21 to help us to continue to deliver our vital mission to improve rivers and connect communities to their rivers!

INTERESTED TO GET HEAD AND HANDS-ON WITH US?

We begin each of our partnerships with a conversation.

To explore how we can work together, contact Tom.Whitehead@Thames21.org.uk

THE BENEFITS OF VOLUNTEERING