At CCF’s AGM on 19th May, Tom Bragg paid tribute to Ro Randall and Andy Brown, founders of CCF, who stood down at that meeting. 
CCF was born when Ro and Andy used a footprint calculator from the Centre for Alternative Technology at a street party in Gwydir Street. Tom talked of their thoughtful attention to people combined with rigorously-checked information about how to make carbon reductions.
Andy has excelled at “translating the technical”, while Ro has led growth as director, developing high-quality and inspiring projects. There are currently 87 Carbon Conversations groups running outside Cambridge. He finished by saying that the Trustees now have something really precious to tend in a new way and appealed for more volunteers to help with this.
You can read CCF’s 2010 Annual Report, with details of all the projects, on the website, together with the 2010 accounts. CCF trustees: Paul Bearpark, Tom Bragg (chair), Carolyn Moody (treasurer), Bev Sedley
After the formal AGM, Paul introduced the consultation about the future of CCF, attended by around 30 people. Tom explained the context
- post-Copenhagen political situation
- loss of core funding next year
- Ro and Andy’s stepping down
- negotiations to pass on national Carbon Conversations to another organisation
and described the new management structure: monthly operational meetings between staff and two trustees (Tom and Bev) together with quarterly trustee meetings. There will be more of a focus on teams of volunteers responsible for projects, supported by staff.
Bev gave a brief overview of CCF projects before participants ranked them in order of priority on their feedback sheets. Results, in order of priority:
Order of priority for projects (most popular at top):
- Carbon Conversations
- Open Eco Homes
- Workshops and presentations for other organizations
- Stalls at public events
- Climate-friendly Homes/Sustainable Streets
- Talks by outside speakers
- Akashi Project
- Eco-renovations meetings
- Low Carbon Network events
If you would like to volunteer for CCF, please contact Beejal Parekh. If you are interested in becoming a trustee (particularly in the area of championing our psychological approach or supporting outreach initiatives, please get in touch with Tom Bragg (or Bev Sedley if before June 17th).