Establishing a new CAG network in Somerset

Community Action Groups (CAG) Somerset was established in 2023 after the successful introduction of similar networks in Oxfordshire and Devon (launched in 2001 and 2016 respectively).

CAG Somerset was envisaged as a new way to support sustainable action in communities across the county, with a focus on delivering innovative projects around community reuse, repair, waste reduction, sharing, surplus food, composting and more.

As with CAG Oxfordshire (now a fully independent entity) and CAG Devon (which it continues to manage), Resource Futures provided its expertise and a team of dedicated social impact experts to get the project up and running and manage its day-to-day operations.

The CAG Somerset network is jointly funded by Somerset Council and SUEZ UK, using ring-fenced income from the sale of recyclable materials.

Objectives

CAG Somerset aims to drive down waste and raise engagement with reuse and repair activities in Somerset, focusing on practical, locally-accessible circular activities including repair cafes, local pantry schemes, community cooking groups, and libraries of things, among others.

As well as helping to promote the events and activities of its member groups, CAG Somerset provides all of its members with practical support and advice, including:

Free training, resources, skills sharing and mentoring
Support with basic governance
Operational support (such as risk assessments)
Access to grant funding
Insurance support, discounts and grants
Fundraising assistance
Support with measuring positive impact and outcomes

Approach

Community Action Groups Somerset acts as an umbrella support organisation for local community groups that are involved in initiatives that can achieve a positive impact on waste, whether that is their primary function or not, and provides free practical support to help these groups to develop and achieve their aims.

Alongside its community fridges and pantries, reuse schemes and repair groups, CAG Somerset’s members include outreach and advocacy organisations, tree planting projects and Fixy, a mobile reuse and repair scheme tackling technology and electricals waste at a local level by collecting and fixing items for donation, saving resources from being thrown out and supporting those in digital poverty.

Outcomes

A soft launch of CAG Somerset took place in November 2023 at Somerset Community Food’s ‘Nourishing Community’ Conference, before the network was fully launched in the county on 9 March 2024 at an event at Shepton Repair Café, Shepton Mallet.

The dedicated Resource Futures team – consisting of Jinny Uppington, Lucy Smith and Charlie Eddisford – have rapidly built out a thriving network of groups taking action on waste reduction and reuse, developing strong relationships with partner organisations to deliver joint events and work collaboratively.

Delivering increased community resilience is a key aim of the network: during this initial period 98 individuals across the county received training or gained new skills through CAG Somerset. Alongside this CAG Somerset ran a small grant scheme providing £2,361 to fund activities, training and resources to support member groups.

Impact

In its first five months of operation, CAG Somerset:

Signed up 20 members to the network, and aided the creation of two groups from scratch;
Supported 398 events and activities across Somerset, including repair cafes, chop and chats, community larders, litter picks and tree planting;
Repaired 523 items and shared 871 items;
Prevented 22 tonnes of waste and avoided 48 tonnes of CO2e emissions;
Saved consumers a total of £40,475.