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
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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
Plant and Play: Pollinate Together
Lead Organization Name
Initiative Earth
My initiative is designed for and delivered in London
1
Year that you started/ registered your organisation
2020
Website URL(s) or Social Media Handles
https://www.initiativeearth.org https://www.hackneylaces.co.uk www.ecoactive.org.uk
Initiative Stage
Pilot-Stage (The first activities have happened, and you have proof of concept)
Sectors/Themes: What topic does your project most directly relate to?
Environment & Sustainability
Initiative Summary: Describe your initiative in one sentence
Plant & Play transforms weekly women’s football training in Hackney into joyful, hands-on climate action, where young women team up to combine football and nature coaching to plant, map and care for pollinator habitats along the Hackney Buzzline Corridor - turning sport into a gateway for local climate action and inspiring a new generation to play for the planet.
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?
For many young women football players/fans in urban Hackney, climate action can feel distant, technical and inaccessible, especially when daily life is shaped by mental health pressures, income insecurity and complex family responsibilities. Caring for nature requires connection to it, yet many Hackney Laces players have limited access to quality green space or opportunities to build environmental confidence. Hackney Laces trains weekly at Hackney Downs and Mabley Green, both on the Hackney Buzzline corridor, yet this ecological opportunity remains untapped. Women’s football is one of the most trusted and consistent spaces in young women’s lives. Yet while climate concern is high among young people, grassroots women’s football rarely provides pathways to translate that concern into practical local action. Hackney sits within the Lower Lea Valley, identified in London’s Local Nature Recovery Strategy as a priority for ecological connectivity, with habitat fragmentation and poor air quality highlighted locally. The Hackney Buzzline is restoring a 4km pollinator corridor, but engaging beyond existing environmental audiences remains a challenge. Hackney Laces’ Off the Pitch programme supports members beyond football. ecoACTIVE brings ecological expertise. Initiative Earth has mobilised 17,000+ first-time participants into joyful nature action. Plant & Play bridges these worlds.
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?
Plant & Play treats women’s football as climate infrastructure. Instead of asking young women to attend a separate environmental programme, we embed nature recovery directly into Hackney Laces’ weekly training at Hackney Downs and Mabley Green, both on the Hackney Buzzline corridor. Our "aha" moment: Through the Great British Bee Challenge, we learned that people act when climate participation feels cultural, social and rewarding. By gamifying pollinator planting through music and media partnerships, we reached 30 million people and mobilised thousands. In Hackney, we recognised women’s football is a trusted routine where confidence and belonging is are built every week. It is the ideal gateway for climate action. Each session starts with football drills led by Hackney Laces coaches, then shifts into hands-on habitat creation with Hackney Buzzline gardeners. Players learn to identify pollinators, sow wildflower plots along the corridor and log activity through citizen science. Climate literacy is built through movement, teamwork and fun. Participation deepens through a Youth Pollinator Ambassador pathway. In the pilot, 10 ambassadors will each engage at least 10 peers across schools/estates, enabling 100+ additional “Pollinator Pitstops” in balconies and estates along the Buzzline. Football-related rewards encourage participants to map their pitstops live, making corridor growth visible. Through their social channels, amplified by Hackney Laces players and influencers, pollinator planting becomes visible, shareable and aspirational within women's football culture. When climate action becomes part of football culture, it sticks. Plant & Play builds nature care into weekly training, strengthens the Hackney Buzzline, and creates a model other clubs can use.
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?
Plant & Play builds on existing, community-rooted ecosystems rather than creating something new from scratch. In Hackney, we convene and integrate two trusted community anchors, Hackney Laces and ecoACTIVE’s Hackney Buzzline to ensure the programme is rooted in lived relationships and ecological expertise. Hackney Laces works weekly with girls and young women aged at Hackney Downs and Mabley Green. With retention exceeding 80% and former players progressing into coaching and governance roles, Laces operates through co-design and participant voice. Plant & Play is shaped within this structure: young women co-design how climate action fits into training, shape how it is shared through club culture, and co-create the Youth Ambassador pathway. They are not recipients of a programme, they are building it. ecoACTIVE delivers and stewards the Hackney Buzzline, a 4km pollinator corridor created through two years of resident, school and volunteer engagement. Along sites spaced every 100–200 metres, ecoACTIVE has worked with 400+ local residents to establish and maintain meadows, bee banks and habitats. Plant & Play strengthens this existing stewardship network by connecting weekly football routines to long-term corridor care. Through a Youth Pollinator Ambassador model, 10–20 players will receive ecological training and seed kits to activate at least 10 peers each across schools and estates, enabling 100+ additional pitstops. Participation ranges from balcony planting to citizen science and stewardship. Through Hackney Laces’ influencer networks and Initiative Earth’s wider 17,000-member community, action becomes visible and shareable. Young women become visible climate leaders in their neighbourhoods, influencing peers and reshaping who climate action is for.
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?
Plant & Play combines three proven foundations; Hackney Laces’ trusted youth network, ecoACTIVE’s Hackney Buzzline, and Initiative Earth’s citizen engagement experience to drive both behaviour change and ecological gain. The Hackney Buzzline has already demonstrated impact: 320 pollinator surveys recording 170+ species including 35 solitary bee species, with children from Kingsmead and Mandeville schools co-creating meadows and rooftop habitats. Initiative Earth’s Great British Bee Challenge reached 30 million people and mobilised thousands into first-time nature action. Plant & Play brings these models together by embedding climate action into women’s football. Pilot impact: Climate awareness: 60 Hackney Laces players build climate literacy through habitat creation and citizen science. Behaviour shift: 10–20 Youth Pollinator Ambassadors each activate 10+ peers, enabling 100+ additional Pollinator Pitstops. Ecological impact: 3–4 new pollinator sites co-created along training routes, with biodiversity gains tracked via Buzzline monitoring and iNaturalist. Cultural shift: Pollinator planting becomes visible and normalised within women’s football networks. How sport accelerates impact: Football provides routine, repetition and peer accountability. When a teammate plants and shares it, climate action becomes part of team identity. Pathway to sustained change: Awareness → Action → Stewardship → Leadership. This builds climate citizenship through football infrastructure, not one-off events. Long-term vision: Plant & Play becomes a replicable model. The wider Pollinate Together programme targets 12–14 flagship sites, 3,000 pitstops and 40,000 participants across London through football club partnerships, positioning clubs as climate delivery infrastructure.
Innovation: What is different about your initiative compared to other solutions that are already out there? How is your approach original and innovative?
Most climate programmes ask people to opt into “environmental” spaces. Plant & Play does the opposite by weaving nature restoration into women’s football, the trusted cultural space young players already live in. Structural innovation: Football as climate delivery. Instead of hosting one-off planting events, Plant & Play integrates habitat creation into Hackney Laces’ regular training, evenings, weekends and holiday camps. Football drills transition into hands-on ecological work with Buzzline ecologists, making climate action part of what football is, not an add-on. Behavioural innovation: Functional Pitstops. Participants create pollinator “Pitstops” on balconies and estates, mapped live to show collective impact. These close the 100–200m gaps between Buzzline sites, creating real stepping stones for pollinators. Design innovation: Gamification with club culture. Plant & Play adapts successful gamification models to football. Players log pitstops, earn points, take part in team challenges and unlock football-related rewards. Live maps show corridor growth in real time, turning ecological restoration into shared achievement. Cultural innovation: Influencer-led normalisation. Unlike traditional environmental campaigns, Plant & Play is amplified by football voices that young women know and respect, from Hackney Laces players to widely recognised figures like Lotte Wubben-Moy and Leah Williamson, whose off-pitch presence inspires broad online engagement, making climate action something football people do as part of their identity. Plant & Play tackles the deeper barriers to climate participation, cultural and structural ones, by turning sport itself into a climate delivery system that that shifts norms, builds sustained behaviours and achieves ecological impact.
Roles and Responsibilities: Describe how responsibilities are shared among your team or partners.
Plant & Play is delivered through a co-designed partnership where each organisation brings distinct, essential capabilities. Decision-making is shared, with quarterly reviews ensuring alignment and youth voice shaping programme evolution. Initiative Earth (Pollinate Together programme lead): - Programme design, gamification infrastructure and live pitstop mapping technology. - Storytelling, cultural framing and communications strategy. - Learning capture, evaluation and replication toolkit development. - Connection to wider Pollinate Together network (in active conversations with West Ham, Tottenham Hotspur and Leyton Orient.) Initiative Earth brings proven experience weaving sport, music and brands into participation campaigns that reach beyond traditional environmental audiences, essential for engaging football communities new to climate action. Hackney Laces (community anchor and football delivery): - Trusted access to 200+ girls and young women aged 5–25 training weekly at Hackney Downs and Mabley Green. - Football coaching, confidence-building and leadership pathway development. - Integration of climate action into existing training sessions, holiday camps and club culture. - Mobilisation through influencer and ambassador networks (such as Lotte Wubben-Moy, Ian Wright and Leah Williamson.) - Off-the-pitch progression: skills development, aspiration-building, voice amplification. ecoACTIVE / Hackney Buzzline (ecological expertise and place-based delivery): - Proven pollinator corridor model and ecological credibility. - Habitat design aligned to Buzzline species mix and climate resilience goals. - Planting coaching led by Gerard Tissier (Buzzline founder) and the Buzzline Postcode Gardener. - Place-based delivery, ongoing stewardship and pollinator monitoring. - Integration with wider Buzzline volunteer network and community gardens. Shared governance: Quarterly partnership reviews with Youth Pollinator Ambassadors assess what's working and shape adaptations. Young women co-design priorities, communications and recognition models, ensuring the programme remains community-led, not institutionally imposed
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?
Plant & Play is designed as a replicable pilot within the wider Pollinate Together programme, proving that football clubs can function as climate infrastructure. Operational sustainability: Stewardship is embedded from day one. Youth Pollinator Ambassadors and Hackney Laces integrate habitat care into weekly training, while ecoACTIVE aligns planting with existing Buzzline maintenance cycles. Climate action becomes part of routine club life, not an add-on. We are building financial resilience through diversified income: chargeable corporate volunteering days, Premier and Football League sponsorship activations and will support coordination while keeping participation free. Strong foundations are already in place: Hackney Laces commits coaching time and youth leadership pathways; ecoACTIVE provides ecological design and monitoring; Initiative Earth supplies digital mapping and gamification infrastructure proven through national campaigns. Scaling: Learning from Hackney will be captured in an open-access Football Corridors Playbook. Through relationships we are developing with clubs including West Ham, Tottenham Hotspur and Leyton Orient, we will aim to replicate the model across East London, aligning with Local Nature Recovery priorities and growing a pipeline of youth climate leaders. To scale we need: catalytic funding, club partners and a youth leader pipeline.
Upcoming Milestones: Please provide an overview of the milestones that are required for your initiative to come to fruition/ to grow.
Plant & Play is structured as a 12-month pilot, progressing from co-design to replication planning. Phase 1: Partnership & Co-Design (Months 1–2) – Formalise delivery agreements between Initiative Earth (lead), Hackney Laces and ecoACTIVE – Confirm 3–4 flagship pollinator sites along Hackney Downs and Mabley Green – Co-design session format and planting palettes with Hackney Laces players – Secure land permissions and align with Buzzline stewardship plans – Establish governance and Youth Ambassador advisory input Phase 2: Launch & Early Delivery (Months 3–5) – Recruit and train 10–20 Youth Pollinator Ambassadors with ecoACTIVE ecologists – Deliver 4–6 integrated football + planting sessions within Hackney Laces training schedule – Launch Plant & Play Pitstop challenge and distribute seed kits – Activate live mapping and storytelling – Establish first flagship pollinator site Phase 3: Expansion & Stewardship (Months 6–9) – 100+ pitstops mapped across Buzzline routes – Additional 2–3 corridor sites created – Monthly stewardship sessions led by Youth Ambassadors – Mid-point evaluation: climate literacy, confidence and participation tracking Phase 4: Evaluation & Replication Planning (Months 10–12) – Ecological assessment with Buzzline monitoring data – Behaviour change evaluation and ambassador feedback – Draft Football Corridors Playbook capturing session design and ambassador pathway – Share blueprint with wider grassroots football networks Success markers: 60–80 participants engaged | 10–20 Ambassadors trained | 3–4 flagship sites established | 100+ pitstops created | Replication model documented
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).
We are committed to participating fully in the 8-week capacity-building programme and see it as critical to refining Plant & Play as a scalable sport-led climate model. While Initiative Earth will contribute leadership time in-kind for the 8 week capacity building programme, access to up to £10,000 would enable us to prototype, test and strengthen core components during this development phase. Indicative use of support funding: Prototype Development & Testing (£3,000) Small-scale testing of the Plant & Play session model, including materials for initial planting pilots, coaching costs and refinement of the football–climate integration format. Mapping & Participation Infrastructure (£2,000) Development and testing of live mapping tools and user experience for logging Plant & Play Pitstops, ensuring scalability and data integrity. External Ecological & Behavioural Consultancy (£2,000) Specialist input to refine habitat design alignment with Hackney Buzzline monitoring data and to strengthen behaviour change measurement frameworks. Youth Co-Design & Research (£1,500) Structured co-design workshops with Hackney Laces participants to test ambassador pathways, incentives and engagement strategies. Impact Framework & Replication Toolkit (£1,500) Development of monitoring tools, evaluation metrics and a draft “Football Corridors Playbook” to prepare for scale. This funding would enable us to test and refine the model during the capacity-building period, generating robust evidence and a transferable framework ahead of final judging.
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