Groundwork East

Who we are

Our Vision

Groundwork is the community charity with a green heart.

We want places to look better, streets to be safer and outside areas to be green and beautiful. We want people of all ages to be able to do things together to make the best of where they live. We want to improve job prospects by offering training. We want to show people how they can make their homes more efficient places to run and support businesses with their corporate social responsibility. 

We work towards a vision of a society of sustainable communities which are vibrant, healthy and safe, which respect the local and global environment and where individuals and enterprise prosper. Creating these sustainable communities means developing initiatives which cut across economic, social and environmental issues.  Our work is diverse, but it all helps to achieve our vision.

We focus on three major areas of activity:  
 
Creating better places
Encouraging greener living and working
Improving people's prospects

Our work is diverse and all of it helps to achieve our vision. We create real change. That means carrying out work locally, regionally and nationally that:

• Builds people's skills and improves job prospects 
• Redesigns our neglected open spaces for twenty-first century use 
• Helps people make their own decisions about their area 
• Motivates and develops our young people 
• Promotes greener ways of living and working 

We know we’ll only achieve our vision by working with passionate individuals, proactive public services and innovative parts of the private sector.

Our History

The Groundwork movement was established more than three decades ago as a one-off experiment to galvanise communities, businesses and government in a joint effort to improve the quality of life and promote sustainable development in places that had become run-down and neglected.  It has since grown into a national network and international movement of independent Groundwork Trusts which is collectively one of the UK’s largest charities and social enterprises. 

Every Groundwork Trust is rooted in the area it serves. Each Trust’s programmes and services are tailored to the needs of partners and communities in their locality. When all that local activity is added together, it becomes a major national force for change.

Groundwork East is a successful, highly regarded and mature Trust that has enjoyed continued growth since its inception in 1985. Our local brands are Groundwork Hertfordshire, Groundwork Luton & Bedfordshire, Groundwork Cambridgeshire & Peterborough, Groundwork Suffolk, Groundwork Essex and Groundwork Norfolk.