CARBON OFFSETTING
Cotswold Historic Road Rally 2025
For the 2025 Cotswold Historic Rally the club decided that there would be a provision within the entry fee for carbon offset. We used the MSA Carbon Calculator to calculate the CO2kg’s so we would know what effect the event had on the environment.
Taking this calculation, we contacted several companies that deal with carbon offset but didn’t feel that they were the way forward for the club. We also decided that we would prefer to buy a few mature trees instead of several hundred saplings. We found a community project that is very much interested in carbon capture close to the club’s base of Bristol. Empowering Futures is based in Hambrook.
We bought two fruit trees, Sunburst Cherry and Merryweather Damson which were planted in the orchard and two Pyramid Hornbeams which will be part of a hedgerow at the boundary of the site. They were purchased from Chew Valley Trees.
It’s taken a while to get here but on Monday 16th March we finally planted the trees!!
Please see below an extract from Empowering Futures Misson Statement. For further details go to https://empoweringfutures.co.uk
About Empowering Futures
Empowering Futures is a charity operating a Care Farm dedicated to empowering the most disadvantaged and vulnerable people.
Mission and Approach
Their core aim is to provide access to more opportunities and activities to enrich lives and futures, utilizing an outdoor green space and therapeutic farming-related practices.
Biodiversity
Trees will be planted to sustain the environment and fruit trees will feed into pies, crumbles and preserves to sustain the café and its workers. Creating habitats for bats is crucial for biodiversity.
We commissioned an Ecology Land Management Plan in 2021 which estimates we will bring over 300 new species to the area. We have planted over 2000 trees, as of March 2022, which is quite an accomplishment for a small organisation. During 25/26 we have invested in seeds that will have a benefit to carbon capture within the soil structure. We have worked as a partner to Bristol Uni where students have completed yearly soil sampling seen 2024. What we have found in our 2026 study is that our soil has gone from a horse sick paddock to above national average.
What this has also shown us is that planting diverse species has also had an impact alongside the tress and hedges that we have invested in since 2021. We have also invested in composting in different ways to reduce waste and recycle waste and turn it into useable materials which has a positive impact on the environment.
Environmental Issues
In January 2020/21/22, we collected and recycled over 500 Christmas Trees, these were turned into compost and mulch and used on the farm. We have a water treatment plant and water harvesting system allowing us to collect rainwater and reuse it.
Kelly Rogers. Founder of Empowering Futures
Our plants are fed from our water collection and the toilets flushed from the collected water. Recognising and sharing climate change impacts allows everyone to make changes at home etc and we feel it is important we raise awareness.
Forward Vision
The farm focused on continuous improvement, including a 3-year Land Management Plan to enhance biodiversity, completed in 2023
We now work with different partners and mentoring services so we can share the space we have created and allow the site and its green space to be used by more people than we can support in a week. This allows us to reach more within the community.
We are about to start an outreach programme to support children who are out of school and in mental health decline. This programme will support young people to increase confidence and support mental health. The parenting sessions will centre around preventing families reaching crisis point and being able to better advocate their children’s needs.