The sustainability journey of Beicio Cymru since the 2023 Welsh Sports Association Sustainability in Sport Conference
Beicio Cymru were one of many member organisations in the room as the Welsh Sports Association (WSA) hosted its inaugural Sustainability in Sport Conference in November last year.
With the second edition of the event coming up on 12 November this year, we recently spoke to Robbie George, Director of Development and Events at Beicio Cymru, about the significance of the Conference and the impact it had for him and his organisation.
“I found it really valuable,” he told the WSA. “There is some amazing work underway from other sport organisations; I love to see it.
“It was an ‘awakening’ for us, realising how much other organisations are doing compared to us, but we also need to be realistic in terms of recognising we don’t own the same land as Wales Golf, for example, or buildings, like Swim Wales. Which, in some ways, makes our life easier, but also made us think ‘well, what can we do?’”
Robie went on to state that “Beicio Cymru have been on a journey in the last year after the WSA Sustainability in Sport Conference.
“We have written a strategy, employed consultants, and continuously celebrated climate initiatives. It has been tough in that some of the budget cuts to sport have meant we have lost staff who were passionate about this area, but we’re continuing their work and once we have a baseline we will kick on from there.”
Beicio Cymru are just one organotin in sport and leisure that is putting an emphasis on its work in this area, as we look to address the key issue collaboratively.
“The major steps forward in the past year have been the development of our Sustainability Strategy and recruiting consultants to baseline our carbon footprint to help us understand where we can make the most impact,” Robbie explained.
“Cycle sport and Beicio Cymru are unique in that the bike is already a tool to fight climate change, while we don’t own buildings or cars; so, we’re limited in our output anyway.
“The biggest output is travel but we have hybrid working and try to minimise travel, using online meetings for most of our work.
“Our role in sustainability, then, has become using our voice and influence to encourage our members and stakeholders to adopt sustainable practices, whether it be clean ups at cycling events, support campaigns like Trash Free Trails, or encouraging clubs to consider their procurement policies.”
Beicio Cymru’s commitment to sustainable ways of working and sustainable delivery will of course continue to feature in the future.
“We have a project under way with ThinkBeyond to baseline our carbon footprint which will inform some future projects – so watch this space on that front,” Robbie confirmed. “Areas we are keen to explore alongside British Cycling include reducing the carbon footprint of the motor convoy for road races – that is a big challenge with so many team cars and motorcycles supporting the race.
We also want to do a lot more around cleaning up Wales and restoring the places we ride, especially around trails. The cycling community is extremely passionate about and mindful of climate change and always want to do more.”
On this particular front, we are excited to once again welcome Robbie to the WSA Sustainability in Sport Conference. As well as chairing our Sustainable Transport Solutions panel discussion, Robbie will be organising a litter pick around the Riverfront Theatre for our delegates, which sits along the River Usk.
“I’m really looking forward to this year’s conference, especially as I’m hosting a panel on sustainable travel. It will be great to connect with the sport community again and discuss all things climate change.
“I’m excited to also lead a litter pick, as I feel at conferences and events, we should always leave places better than what we found them.
“It’s important to anyone in sport to not just talk about sustainability but to live the values and demonstrate how small actions can make a big difference when they add up. If we want others to change their behaviour, we need to change our own and show positive action in action. We should strive to use all conferences, workshops and sporting events as ‘moments’ where we can collectively try to leave places better than what we found them.”
We encourage delegates to take part in live the values that we will be discussing on the day, to – as Robbie says – “use the moment to do the right thing and do things right”.
Don’t forget to shout about the Welsh Sports Association Sustainability Conference on social media, using #SiSC2024!
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