St Nicks is the “Green Heart of York”: a 24-acre urban nature reserve built on a previous landfill site. The Environment Centre and its wider activities promote all aspects of sustainable living. Anne Taylor nominated St Nicks for funding on behalf of See Green, a Yorkshire-based digital agency. See Green has supported St Nicks for a number of years, helping to deliver a wide range of digital projects.
Through the Nominet Members’ GiveHub, we awarded £8,900 to St Nicks to help modernise its telephony technology and kick-start a new podcast series. Read on to find out more.
Modernising telephony to reach those most in need
As well as managing the natural habitats for over 2,000 species, St Nicks educates the public, volunteers and young people on the practicalities of environmental, conservation issues and sustainability including recycling and waste reduction. St Nicks also carries out work in schools.
In addition, St Nicks provides a broad range of nature-connectedness programmes to improve mental health and wellbeing – ranging from willow weaving to poetry writing.
Like many charitable organisations, St Nicks identified technical capability as a key challenge. Thanks to the Members’ GiveHub, Nominet funding has enabled St Nicks to modernise its telephony technology – helping it to reach those most in need.
Crucially, the new mobile technology will enable the charity – who are often the first responders – to answer incoming calls faster from those experiencing mental health challenges to enable them to receive the right support.
Spreading the word on sustainability through conversation
The funding is also enabling St Nicks to spread the word on sustainability with a brand new podcast series. The podcast will feature conversations with experts on a wide range of topics related to the environment, conservation and sustainability to raise awareness and inspire action.
The podcast will help St Nicks to engage more of the public, increase support and enable more people to benefit from its sustainability and mental health initiatives.
“We’re so pleased to have been awarded this funding – as well as enabling improvements to our telephony technology allowing us to be more responsive to those who need to engage with us the most, the creation of a series of podcasts will allow us to explore the wide range of topics and subject matter expertise held by the teams at St Nicks. What’s even more exciting is the opportunity to engage with wider experts for the podcast episodes, as well as providing a further media offering with enhanced accessibility features.”
– Ellie Stead, CEO, St Nicks
Looking to the future, St Nicks has big ambitions. This includes modernising its 20-year-old building with sustainability in mind so that it can expand its services and support even more vulnerable people.
About the Nominet Members’ GiveHub
The Members’ GiveHub allows members to apply for up to £10,000 in funding per financial year on behalf of any UK-registered organisation for projects that align with our commitment to making the world more connected, inclusive and secure. A £50,000 fund is available every month.
“We’re so pleased to have been able to apply for vital funds for this wonderful York based charity. St Nicks is more than an environmental centre and nature reserve, it provides services for a number of vulnerable people as well as important recycling services. We were delighted to be able to work with the team to make the application and we know that the funding will make a real difference. I’d encourage Nominet members to consider any charities and organisations that could benefit from Give Hub funds.”
– Anne Taylor, Director, See Green
Thank you to Anne Taylor at See Green – a long-term supporter of the charity – for nominating St Nicks and helping to facilitate the funding process.
We would like to encourage more Nominet members to consider nominating a charity for funding through the Members’ GiveHub. The impact of funding on an organisation in need can be huge and have a knock-on positive effect on the community.
“The application process was clear and really simple – and it’s certainly turned out to be one of the most straightforward as well as receiving a really quick turnaround on the decision.”
– Sam Taylor, Management Team, St Nicks
The GiveHub panel, made up of up to seven volunteer members who work with the Membership Engagement team, review applications monthly.
To find out how you can get involved with the Members’ GiveHub and start making a difference, contact [email protected].
Image provided by St Nicks