Co-operative Grant Success and launch of ‘Climate Heroes’
9th December 2022
The Co-operative Bank’s Customer Donation Fund supports Climate Explorers CIC.
The Co-operative Bank has given £1000 to Climate Explorers, a community group which is a media house highlighting climate solutions, raising environmental awareness and promoting physical and mental wellbeing through a sharing platform and inspirational eco-adventures in the great outdoors.
The donation from Co-operative Bank’s Customer Donation Fund will support our ‘Climate Heroes’ Multimedia Series, which will go beyond our current media activities to engage stakeholders and promote sustainable behavioural change. The project objectives are to raise awareness of and promote climate solutions and illustrate the urgency of their implementation, so that they can be scaled up. Climate Explorers will do this by producing a series of films, podcasts, books, blogs and summits and sharing these climate solutions within them. The climate solutions will be drawn from founders of organisations making a difference through innovating the way we live to help the planet. They will be indirect beneficiaries, as the platform will support their objectives.
Isaac Kenyon, CEO of Climate Explorers, said:
“With this donation we can support a global community, broadening the scope of our current reach and enhancing our contribution to the fight against global warming and climate change. This primarily aligns with the Cooperative Bank’s ecological priority, as it directly supports ecological projects which contribute to a sustainable society. Cooperative Bank’s support will further contribute to making a significant impact in this sense, supporting its own educational thematic priorities for stakeholders concerned with responsible production and consumption.
We can now better share climate solutions such as companies looking to eliminate single-use plastics from everyday consumption, others seeking to change consumer behaviour from a buying to a sharing/borrowing mindset, and others pushing for more consumption of locally grown food.
We are ever more reliant on support from organisations such as The Co-operative Bank. This donation is a great boost to the awareness of climate solutions within communities.”
Catherine Douglas, Managing Director of SME Banking at The Co-operative Bank, said:
“It’s great that our Customer Donation Fund enables us to give money to organisations like Climate Explorers CIC who make a difference to their community and bring people together.”
About Climate Explorers CIC
Climate Explorers CIC provides communication (media and film), educational training programmes, workshops and events (keynote speaking, discussion panel, film festivals) to educate, raise awareness and drive environmental change within organisations, businesses, and community groups.
Climate Explorers partner with clients to work with them in a long-term capacity and provide continued support for systemic change. This helps our clients to work towards the UN’s sustainable development goals and addressing the climate change challenges facing our planet and its people.
About The Co-operative Bank
The Co-operative Bank plc provides a full range of banking products and services to around four million retail and SME (Small and Medium Sized Enterprises) customers and is committed to values and ethics in line with the principles of the co-operative movement.
The Co-operative Bank is the only high street bank with a customer-led ethical policy which gives customers a say in how their money is used. Launched in 1992, the Policy has been updated on five occasions, with new commitments added in January 2015 to cover how the Bank operates its business, products and services, workplace and culture, relationships with suppliers and other stakeholders and campaigning.
*The Co-operative Bank Customer Donation Fund is available to all Community Directplus account holders. The fund grows in relation to the deposits made, so for every £100 increase in collective deposits across Community Directplus accounts 20p is added to the fund and the Bank promises to distribute a minimum of £5,000 twice a year. Community Directplus account holders can apply for up to £1,000 from the Customer Donation Fund to support special projects and fundraising activities.
Since 2003 The Co-operative Bank has donated over £1m to 1,149 organisations – read more on this monumental achievement here. Deadlines for applications are at the end of March and September every year. Donations range from £500 – £1,000 and applications are judged twice a year in April and October. If successful, the money is paid into the organisations Community Directplus account shortly after.
For more information about The Co-operative Bank’s Customer Donation Fund visit: