My initiative is designed for and delivered in London
Yes
I am 18 years of age or above, by the application deadline.
Yes
My organisation is a registered UK entity and has a London-based address.
Yes
My organisation is a non-profit (e.g. school, university, or local authority) — not a for-profit, which can only join as a partner.
Yes
If there is a for-profit organisation as a partner in my initiative, they work on a cost-recovery basis only.
Yes
My solution is implemented at scale, or if not, I have a clear business plan, a minimum viable solution (prototype, pilot, or proof of concept), and evidence of work or impact in London within your coalition.
Yes
I am aware that, if I am submitting more than one application to a Challenge run by Ashoka and Go! London, only one of them is able to progress through the stages.
Yes
Are you an employee (and their children and grandchildren) of Ashoka or any of its respective affiliates and participating advertising and promotion agencies?
No
I have read and accepted the Challenge Terms & Conditions
1
First Name
Last Name
Pronouns
Email address
I would like to receive notifications and updates about Go London!, Ashoka, Ashoka Changemakers, and other Ashoka opportunities.
Are you an Ashoka Fellow?
Are you applying from an organization founded by an Ashoka Fellow?
If you are applying from an organization founded by an Ashoka Fellow, please specify the name and organisation of the fellow below.
Initiative Title
Our Home: Planet Earth
Lead Organization Name
Sporting Pillars
My initiative is designed for and delivered in London
1
Year that you started/ registered your organisation
2019
Website URL(s) or Social Media Handles
https://sportingpillars.co.uk/ https://www.instagram.com/sportingpillars/?hl=en
Initiative Stage
Idea (You have a solid concept and are hoping to get started in the future)
Sectors/Themes: What topic does your project most directly relate to?
Children & Youth
Initiative Summary: Describe your initiative in one sentence
We deliver a sport-led climate education programme that combines physical activity, mentoring and an interactive climate booklet to help young people understand environmental issues, adopt sustainable habits and lead community climate action.
Challenge Focus: What topic does your initiative most directly relate to?
Climate action through awareness and engagement
The Problem: What problem are you helping to solve and who will benefit the most from your solution? How close are you to the problem and/or community impacted?
Young people are growing up in a world shaped by climate change, yet many feel disconnected from climate conversations or overwhelmed by information that feels distant from their daily lives. Traditional classroom-based climate education often fails to engage those who are already disengaged from school or formal learning, particularly young people from disadvantaged communities. Additionally, a lot of online content regarding climate change fails to help young people appropriately identify with their own climate change-related responsibility and role within their community. At the same time, these communities are often the most affected by environmental issues such as poor air quality, lack of green spaces and waste pollution, but have the fewest opportunities to take part in climate solutions. We work closely with young people who face social and economic barriers, and we see first-hand that climate change rarely feels relevant or empowering to them. Many want to help but don’t know how their actions matter or even that they matter. Without accessible and relatable education, young people risk becoming disengaged from one of the biggest issues shaping their future. Our initiative addresses this gap by making climate learning active, social and practical, giving young people the knowledge, confidence and tools to take positive action in their own communities.
Your approach: How are you addressing the problem outlined above? How are you using the power of sport and physical activity to build awareness, shift behavior, and enable sustainable participation for all in response to the climate crisis? We'd love to know about the origin of your idea, and what was your "aha" moment" that led you to take action?
Our approach uses sport as the gateway to climate education, creating a learning experience that is active, relatable and youth-friendly. Young people first engage through inclusive sports sessions that build trust, teamwork and energy. Once engaged, they take part in guided mentoring and interactive learning using our climate-focused booklet, which explores topics such as climate change, awareness and empathy-building, environmental responsibility and sustainable daily choices. Learning is reinforced through practical challenges and real-world action. For example: - Choosing active travel over car journeys - Reducing waste and recycling - Participating in community clean-ups or tree-planting - Tracking their own sustainable habits This method works because it connects climate action to young people’s real lives rather than abstract global messages. By bringing climate issues closer to home and their own experience, with the combination of physical activities, we are sure that this can have a lasting impact on how they relate to these issues. Our “aha moment” came from seeing how well young people respond to mentoring and booklet-based reflection in our resilience programmes, where we have combined sports like football with mentoring at-risk youth. We realised that this same model could be adapted to climate education, making it engaging rather than overwhelming. By combining movement, mentoring and meaningful action, we help young people to be empowered and see themselves not just as learners, but as contributors to climate solutions.
Collaboration with young people and the community: In what ways does your initiative engage young people and community members closest to the problem? What role do they play in building the solution you deliver?
Young people are central to the design and delivery of Our Home: Planet Earth. We do not see them as passive recipients but as co-creators of the initiative. Participants will shape the programme through regular feedback circles, short surveys and youth-led discussions where they can share what climate topics matter most to them (e.g. pollution, food waste, fast fashion, local green spaces, protection of species). Their input will influence booklet content, activities and community projects. We will establish a small Youth Climate Panel made up of engaged participants who help refine materials, suggest local action projects and act as peer ambassadors. This builds leadership, ownership and relevance. Community members, including parents and local groups, will be invited to take part in clean-up days, tree-planting, recycling drives and awareness events. This strengthens intergenerational learning and community impact where young people feel empowered to be changemakers in their communities. Because Sporting Pillars already has trusted relationships with local families and schools, we can ensure the programme is culturally relevant and accessible. By involving young people and their communities at every stage, the initiative becomes something they build together with their peers, not something delivered to them.
Potential for/Evidence of Impact: How do you imagine your initiative will make a difference in raising climate awareness, shifting behaviors, or reducing environmental impact or harm? If you have already implemented it, what difference have you made so far? What is the impact your initiative has had¡, and/or what impact do you envision having in the future?
The initiative is designed to create both immediate learning outcomes and long-term behaviour change. Short-term impact includes: - Increased climate knowledge and awareness - Improved attitudes towards environmental responsibility - Higher participation in physical activity through sport Medium-term impact includes: - Behaviour changes such as reduced littering, more recycling and active travel - Youth-led community environmental projects - Greater confidence discussing climate issues Long-term impact includes: - A generation of environmentally conscious young people who influence their families and peers - Stronger community ownership of local environmental issues - Integration of climate awareness into everyday decision-making Impact will be measured through: - Pre- and post-programme surveys - Booklet progress tracking - Attendance data - Youth reflections and case studies - Number of community actions delivered We anticipate reaching at least 100 young people in the pilot, with ripple effects into families and schools. If successful, the model can be replicated in other boroughs and internationally.
Innovation: What is different about your initiative compared to other solutions that are already out there? How is your approach original and innovative?
What makes this initiative innovative is the combination of sport, mentoring and climate education in one accessible model. Many climate programmes are classroom-based and struggle to engage young people emotionally. Our approach uses sport as the gateway (something young people already enjoy and trust) to introduce climate learning in a non-preachy, relatable way. The climate booklet is interactive, youth-friendly and linked to real-world action. Learning is reinforced through physical activities and challenges, helping information “stick.” The model is also: - Low-cost - Easy to adapt across cultures - Deliverable in schools or community spaces - Designed for global replication By connecting climate action to young people’s daily lives, identity and community pride, we shift climate awareness from abstract and distant to personal.
Roles and Responsibilities: Describe how responsibilities are shared among your team or partners.
The project will be led by Sporting Pillars’ experienced youth and sports delivery team. Key roles include: Project Lead: Oversees delivery, partnerships, safeguarding and reporting. Coaches/Mentors: Deliver sports sessions, facilitate discussions and guide booklet learning. Youth Support Workers: Provide pastoral care, encourage participation and support behaviour change. Community Partners: Schools and local groups help recruit participants, provide venues and support community action projects. All staff hold safeguarding training and DBS checks and responsibilities are clearly defined to ensure safe, consistent and high-quality delivery.
Viability and Scalability: How are you setting your organization up for success, and what is your plan to ensure operational sustainability of your solution and its impact? What are your ideas for scaling your initiative to the next level?
Sporting Pillars has been operating since 2019 and has a proven track record in sport-based youth mentoring. This gives the initiative a strong operational foundation. The programme is designed to be: - Low-cost - Resource-light - Easy to deliver by trained coaches - Flexible across different settings Scalability plans include: - Expanding into additional London boroughs - Partnering with schools and youth organisations - Developing digital versions of the booklet - Training other organisations to deliver the model Future funding will be sought from environmental and youth development funders. Corporate CSR partnerships linked to sustainability are also a strong opportunity if our pilot is successful. Because the model uses existing sports infrastructure and simple materials, it can grow without heavy investment.
Upcoming Milestones: Please provide an overview of the milestones that are required for your initiative to come to fruition/ to grow.
Phase 1 – Development (Months 1–3) - Finalise climate booklet - Train staff - Recruit pilot participants Phase 2 – Pilot Delivery (Months 4–9) - Weekly sport + climate sessions - Youth feedback collection - First community action projects Phase 3 – Review & Adapt (Months 10–12) - Impact evaluation - Booklet refinement - Stakeholder review Phase 4 – Expansion (Year 2) - Deliver to additional groups - Develop partnerships - Explore replication opportunities
Capacity-Building Participation and Support Funding: If you were to make it as a finalist, you will be required to participate in an 8-week capacity building programme. If funding/ cost is a barrier to your participation, we may be able to offer up to 10,000 GBP of grant money available to support you. Please break down below, if it is the case, what costs you would incur and you would need covered. (Please note that there are restrictions on how the grant money may be used; please refer to the T&Cs for further details (LINK).
If selected, funding support would help cover: - Staff costs, training and capacity building - Venue hire - Booklet design and printing - Monitoring and evaluation tools - Youth engagement materials - Travel costs for community action projects This support would strengthen our ability to deliver high-quality climate education and ensure measurable impact.
If you selected “Other”, please specify below.
