Welcome! This mentorship programme is a partnership between Friends of the Earth and the Richard Sandbrook Trust. Part of our work at Friends of the Earth is about championing and empowering the voices of the next generation. Richard was one of the founders of Friends of the Earth and was deeply invested in young people’s leadership.
The Richard Sandbrook mentoring programme has two key aims:
- To help create climate justice leaders of the future
- To amplify the voices of young people who are marginalised in the climate justice movement
Who do we mentor?
Our participants come from diverse backgrounds, including:
- working class
- racialised people
- and/or disabled young people
We want to develop the skills and interests of passionate, young people and watch them become climate justice activists who are ready to change our world for the better.
What is climate justice?
Climate justice is about acknowledging and addressing that some people are hit by the climate crisis harder than others. We’re all entitled to live in a world where we’re fairly protected and considered when faced with the worst impacts of climate change, irrespective of who we are and where we live.
How do we create future climate justice leaders?
Our programme aims to help our participants run their own campaigns for systemic change.
We pair up our participants with experienced campaigner mentors – who come from similar backgrounds – to help steer their campaigns to success.
Our programme also organises skill-up sessions every fortnight to allow our participants to share their stories for change.
What is our programme philosophy?
Our programme philosophy builds on ideas of:
- intersectionality – understanding race, class, gender, and other individual characteristics “intersect” with each other.
- collective care – caring for each others wellbeing and emotional health. Seeing it as a communal responsibility, not something you have to do alone.
- international solidarity – showing you stand by and support interests, purposes and actions of the international community and stand by their needs and rights to achieve goals.
Our programme material, campaigns, and the stories we tell actively challenge norms of injustice. We centre the voices of marginalised individuals and communities in the UK and beyond.
