Groups of young people across North Cleethorpes have been supported to work on green/environmental projects together
When? 2021 – 2024
Partners: VANEL. Ernest Trust (funders). Each school and venue connected to a group.
Green Influencers was a programme originally delivered in North East Lincolnshire during 2021 and 2022 by VANEL. VANEL was one of many organisations across the UK taking part in a National Green Influencers programme. The mission for the overall programme was to assist young people to create deep, lasting and meaningful connections with the natural environment. The aim of the scheme was for young people to learn and build skills which will help them contribute to the local community through environmental action.
VANEL setup and supported a number of Green Influencers groups across North East Lincolnshire, and in the North Cleethorpes area groups started at Reynolds Family Hub and in Sidney Park.
These schemes started engaging some of the youngest children from the North Cleethorpes area in hands-on environmental projects that got them out and about, engaging with and caring about their environment and learning a range of skills.
Big Local North Cleethorpes was supportive of these Green Influencers efforts in our area of benefit and in some cases was able to provide direct sponsorship to some of the groups – such as in Sidney Park and at Reynolds.
The original, national scheme eventually came to an end in 2022, but since then, VANEL has continued to run Green Influencers and support groups across North East Lincolnshire through additional fundraising and grant application efforts.
There have essentially been five Green Influencers Groups running in North Cleethorpes at one time or other.
Green Influencers at Reynolds Family Hub – now Little Green Influencers
Sidney Park Sorters – in Sidney Park. Now closed.
Beacon Academy – still running
St Peters C of E School – still running
We Are Fish community group at Community Allotments on Carr Lane Allotments site. Now closed.
Together these groups have delivered 100s of sessions to 100s of local children (and continue to do so). Big Local North Cleethorpes has been able to sponsor groups when possible to ensure they keep running and keep making an impact.
Reynolds Family Centre
Group started late in 2020 informally whilst the Reynolds Family Hub outdoor space was being refurbished through efforts from Big Local North Cleethorpes and volunteers. (Read about the improvements to the Reynolds gardens here).
In 2021 a Green Influencers group started and has run in some form ever since through support of a range of volunteer leaders. Reynolds Family Hub has made financial contributions, but much of the funding has come via VANEL and Big Local North Cleethorpes.
These days the group runs as a Little Green Influencers Group with children as young as 2.
The space at Reynolds is very special having been created with families and children over the years. The focus of the group is always simply about learning about and connecting to the environment.
Many additional grants have been gained by the Reynolds Group (including a small Mayoral fund grant). These funds help keep the group running and it was still very full and active in 2025 as Big Local came to an end.
Sidney Park Sorters
This Park was supported in a number of ways – often by Big Local North Cleethorpes – first as a Park Watch and then as a Sidney Park Partnership. As part of these community efforts the environment in the park was always important – starting with litter picking and tidying up of flower beds. Community Feasts and community fun days often featured.
Cleethorpes in Bloom received funding at one point to create a smaller park within a park for the community. Eventually a Sidney Park Sorters young peoples Green Influencers Group was able to start up for a couple of years around 2022/23.
Lots of families and children were able to be proud of their local park. Green Influencers sessions were held regularly in the Park. A storage container helped keep equipment safe.
Volunteer support was hard to keep in place and for a while the ‘community feasts’ support moved to the We Are Fish community allotments site.
Whilst the formal Green Influncers group came to a close around 2023, local residents and families are very often around the Park caring for their environment.
Beacon Academy
Beacon Academy Green Influencers is a school based and school supported group. The focus of the Eco Committee of young people is around eco thinking – single use plastic reduction; eco recycling and upcycling; awareness raising; smart energy and so on.
The group runs eco sales and awareness campaigns; has been on eco related school trips and more. It’s been very successful and well supported by the school itself. The group has been successful enough to receive a number of bits of funding through Big Local, Ernest Trust and other external funders.
The Green Influencers Group has been running since around 2023 and at the end of the Big Local programme in early 2025 Beacon Academy Group is still underway.
The group has raised £10k+ for various campaigns; run or participated in many groups and even won a few awards. A success eco-campaigning effort from all the children.
St Peter’s Avenue School
This is another school based and school supported Green Influencers Group. It’s run since 2022 and since late 2023 has been supported by Big Local North Cleethorpes but will be continuing into 2025 through support from the school and other sources of funding.
The children are involved in a green garden at the school known as the St Peter’s Sanctuary Welcoming All Life garden. It’s been slowly developed and improved by the children but of course it’s also the children who have been developing and learning too.
The group had managed to bring in some additional grants and funding too and has been a great success
We Are Fish
This Green Influencers group was led by local group We Are Fish who took over a total of eight plots on Carr Lane Allotments to run as community allotments. They were engaging local families to improve the allotment spaces and to come together as a community for ‘community feast’ events.
They started running as a Green Influencers group from 2022 to 2023 and during that time managed to gain some additional grants from Ernest Cook which helped fund the construction of a shed on site. Smaller grants such as a Mayoral award were also helpful. The site was worked by volunteers, parents and slightly older children. Unfortunately momentum was slowly lost (perhaps in part due to not running all year round as allotments are closed over winter) and the group closed by 2024. But for a couple of years this was a very active community venture.
In 2025 the Green Influencers ‘brand’ continues to be strong across North East Lincolnshire thanks to VANEL being a driving force and thanks to a range of external funding which allows Green Influencers to operate across all Family Hubs in the borough. Big Local North Cleethorpes has been able to support five groups within our area – three of which continue to run in 2025. Hundreds of children from our area have received support and a connection to their environment as a result.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
For information about current Green Influencers across North East Lincolnshire contact VANEL