LCWO is a volunteer-driven initiative with over 400 members and supporters in the community.  It is overseen by a Board of Trustees, which provides overall direction, and run by a Lead Programme Manager, working closely with a Co-ordinating Committee and team of volunteers,  to coordinate activities and events.

Brief history:

LCWO started life as a community association.  It merged with West Oxford Waste Watchers, and the Osney Island Sustainable Group in 2007, and with the West Oxford Wildlife Group in 2009.  It became a limited company (No. 06907815) in May 2009 and a registered charity (No. 1135225) in March 2010.  It is a member of Oxfordshire’s Community Action Group network.  For a great overview of the charity’s work so far, check out our ‘River of life‘ infographic, which charts our first decade.

Meet the team:

Alison Mathias (Chair); Gary Irvine (Treasurer); Grainne Darnton; Geoffrey Ferres; and Jean Hindmarch

Contact the Chair here.

Contact the Treasurer here.

Hugo Crombie, Ruth Mayne, Lois Muddiman, Helen Reid, Fiona Scrivener and Neville Scrivener (Chair).

L-to-R: Management committee members Helen, Ruth, Fiona; Chair of Trustees Alison; committee member Lois; founding member Ruth and Lead Programme Manager Mim; Helen with Luke Skywalker at one of our Bring & Takes; LCWO under lockdown – screenshot from a recent coordinating committee meeting

Lead Programme Manager Mim Saxl became interested in climate change in 2004, and has spent the last 15+ years working in climate communication and engagement.  She previously worked for Climate Outreach, ran Agile-Ox knowledge  exchange project at the Environmental Change Institute, and completed an MSc in ‘Nature, Society and Environmental Policy’ before joining LCWO as its main member of staff in 2016.  She actually lives in Florence Park over the other side of the city (shh!) with her family, but can frequently be found in Tumbling Bay Cafe, when Coronavirus permits.  She works for LCWO 2 days a week, and is also a consultant with the Low Carbon Hub, working on Project LEO.  Contact her here.

Working with us on specific projects:

Event manager: Karen Starr

Running the school cookery project [currently on hold]: Ruth Lyster

Much of work could not happen without the hard work of our 120+ volunteers.

We always need new energy, enthusiasm and input, either on specific projects or more generally.

If you’d like to find out more about volunteering with us, head over to our volunteer page.  If you know you’d like to volunteer already and want to sign up, you can do so via the mailing list or by dropping us a line.

Just under 90 local people make up the LCWO membership.  These members attend LCWO’s general meetings, receive the annual accounts of the company, elect Trustees, vote on resolutions and vote on any fundamental changes to the nature of the charitable company, its name and purposes.  Membership is open to anyone living within the charity’s boundaries; to see a map of the boundaries and to find out about membership of LCWO here.

For those living outside the charity boundaries, but still keen to support our work and receive regular updates, we welcome LCWO ‘supporters’, of which there are currently 340.  Become a supporter by joining the mailing list to receive the monthly newsletter – you sign up to volunteer if you wish, at the same time.