At the end of 2012 Transition Town Market Harborough was instrumental in securing a grant of £1 million from the Big Lottery ‘Communities Living sustainably’ fund. The funding allowed the establishment of a staffed 5 year project aimed at designing and creating projects that support Sustainbility within the Market Harborough area.
At the end of the funding period in December 2017 a new entity was established to at as a legacy organisation for the project. The Sustainable Harborough Trust has been setup as a Community Benefit society which is a cooperative model that allows the raising of funds by the offering of shares.
The Objectives in the cooperative rules are give as :
The objects of the Society shall be to carry on any business for the benefit of the community by the following within the Harborough district and surrounding area:
- Owning and maintaining community assets in perpetuity.
- Developing new assets to the highest performance standards for sale and rent at affordable and market rates.
- Helping establish and develop community enterprises that create meaningful and gainful employment whilst generating and retaining wealth locally.
- Running local services as a not for profit.
- Enriching the local built and natural environment.
- Promoting social inclusion.
The common understanding of sustainability is that it has three components that are completely interdependent.
- Society cannot exist without an environment or economy to support it
- An economy cannot succeed without a strong society or environment
- The environment needs to be healthy to support and be valued by society and the economy
We are an open group and welcome the attendance of anyone wishing to get involved.