South West London Environment Network (SWLEN) is a charity dedicated to helping people and organisations protect and enhance the environment. We work in the London Boroughs of Richmond upon Thames, Kingston upon Thames and Hounslow. Our work focuses on preserving and protecting green spaces and biodiversity, promoting sustainability and community development and supporting environmental groups achieve their goals.
SWLEN also chairs and acts as the secretariat of the Richmond Biodiversity Partnership.
Vision & Values
SWLEN exists to build active and engaged communities who protect and enhance our local environment. Our core values are:
- Local empowerment – we passionately believe the best way to protect and enhance the environment is through empowering local people to take an interest, become involved and to take action themselves.
- Collaboration and partnership – we know that by working together we achieve more, and in sharing best practices we are strong together. This approach brings wider benefits to the community, charitable organisations and local authorities.
- Environmental protection and enhancement– we exist to ensure South West London maintains a thriving and sustainable environment.
History & Governance
SWLEN is a registered charity (no. 1140872) and registered in England and Wales as a company limited by guarantee (no. 7469024). SWLEN began as the Richmond Environment Network (REN) in August 2004, set up by three local environmental organisations: Environment Trust, Thames Landscape Strategy and Richmond office of The Conservations Volunteers.
We were established as the charity SWLEN in April 2011, and continue to work closely with our founding partners. In 2015 we established a wholly owned social enterprise Community Current Ltd to work on issues outside SWLEN’s charitable objects.
SWLEN is governed by a board of trustees, and is managed by Chief Executive Colin Cooper.
Our financial information can be found on the Charity Commission’s website with our most recent annual accounts here:
Trustees
Henry is Head of Sustainability for Nando's and before this worked for Bioregional. One of his projects was to create a CSR strategy for Nando's. Henry also helps with the charity's fundraising and grant applications.
Ben is a senior contracts manager with with Centrica. He has commercial and legal experience drawn from the sustainable energy and construction sectors. He holds an MSc in Environmental Strategy and Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL).
Staff
Colin has a fourteen year track record of managing non-profit organisations and an MA in Charity Management. Colin also has a background in business.
Initially starting as a volunteer, Diana became our Communications Office in February 2017. Diana oversees our communications and supports groups in our 'network' with their newsletters, websites, social media content and crowdfunding.
Clive leads our energy-related work including our energy team. The team conducts visits to homes, community buildings and schools, to identify potential energy saving measures, which also reduce bills and CO2 emissions.
Volunteers
Daija previously worked at the Royal Society of Biology, in their Natural Capital Initiative. Daija is overseeing the coordination and launch of a revised Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) for Richmond Borough.
Coming from a background in marketing, Paula is helping the charity develop marketing materials for our new crowdfunding platform and encouraging donations and new projects.
Coming from a background in business development, Richard is helping the charity develop relationships with businesses in the area in relation to our new crowdfunding platform and encourage charitable giving.
Mark helps with the charity's fundraising, helping with grant applications drawing on his knowledge as Director of Business Development, Partnerships and Marketing at Prevista.
Interns
