Our story so far
Timeline
SAIL hosted its April Members Meeting at Leeds City Museum, featuring presentations from Leeds Arts University, West Yorkshire Combined Authority, and The Highrise Project. The event also included climate poetry, creative stalls featuring sustainable artists and researchers to showcase their inspiring work and progress in the sustainable arts sector.
On 29th April, SAIL carried out a full day of collections and deliveries, visiting six organisations across Leeds and Shipley. From collecting foam boards at the Royal Armouries to delivering London style set pieces to Bradford Movie Makers, the day highlighted the strength of local collaboration.
To mark Earth Day, SAIL published the first edition of Stories From The Hub, a collection of recent and inspiring stories highlighting how materials have been shared and reused through the Resource Hub. By sharing these real-world examples, we’re using storytelling as a tool to celebrate circularity.
SAIL took part in the ReStage workshop led by Sara Turnbull, which brought together 20 organisations from across the UK. The session focused on sharing future plans, identifying common barriers, and exploring what each group hopes to contribute to and gain from the growing ReStage network.
Leeds Playhouse delivered two van loads of reusable materials to the SAIL Resource Hub, including stage flats, perspex sheets, and faux brick walls. These items are now available to be re-homed across the creative and cultural sector, supporting circular practices and reducing waste.
Proud to announce that SAIL are featured in the BAFTA Suppliers Directory. We’ve been recognised for Circular Solutions, Innovative Solutions, and Our Commitment to Company Sustainability.
SAIL launched the Resource Hub Handbook Version 1. This guide is the go-to resource for everything our users needs to know to make the most of our Resource Hub service. It includes a step by step user guide, clear guidelines for donating resources, and details on our collection service.
SAIL hosted the Theatre Green Book Working Group in the Hub, and this session was joined by Munnch, who are researching & creating new bio-materials that can be 100% composted at home.
SAIL hosted the Circularity Working Group in the new Resource Hub Workshop space. This session explored Strategy & Governance in developing Circularity models in your organisation, followed by a tour of our Resource Hub storage space.
Pip Tuffin awarded one of the winners of Leeds & West Yorkshire Top 30 Under 30 2025. Pip is now part of the LEAP programme 2025, which is designed specifically for young professionals to support their leadership skills.
SAIL celebrates its 5th Birthday!
The SAIL team completed two van load collections this month, saving resources that would have otherwise gone to skips. Our first collection was from Leeds Heritage Theatre, where we rescued sets & props. Our second van collection was from an organisation in Dewsbury, were we saved creative resources.
SAIL supported the Arts, Humanities, and Cultures Careers Services at the University of Leeds to develop a Live Brief for 3 groups of students. Over the month, the students develop and refined their ideas on how to engage young adults in sustainability initiatives at events and festivals.
Pip took part in the Leeds Legacy 2025 Programme hosted by Common Purpose. Over two days, Pip explored leadership and diversity to gain new perspectives on how we can drive change in our communities in Leeds.
In February SAIL delivered two Carbon Literacy Training sessions.
The SAIL Resource Hub officially launched and ready for creatives to use! The hub is a 5000sqft space in Shipley to help collect, store, and re-home valuable resources to the Creative and Cultural industries in Yorkshire.
SAIL are working with academics from the University of Leeds to collaborate on a carbon accounting framework & data repository for Bradford 2025. SAIL’s workshop presented the data capture framework & carbon accounting methodology that will be used for calculating the carbon footprint of Bradford 2025 events and operations.
SAIL hosted two Carbon Literacy Training sessions this January.
SAIL facilitated a workshop with a team from Bradford Museums and Galleries as part of our ongoing support to them developing their Environmental Sustainability Strategy. Collaborating with representatives from across the organisations, this workshop focused on the development of their Sustainability Policy and Action Plan.
SAIL attended a workshop hosted by Bradford City Council to input into the development of the district’s Climate Action Plan. Stakeholders from a range of organisations and backgrounds were invited to share their thoughts and ideas on 8 priority areas for action to achieve the district’s net zero goal.
In December, SAIL delivered Carbon Literacy Training to 5 Bradford 2025 Staff as part of the goal to get all staff 100% carbon literate.
On the 11th December, South Asian Arts hosted the last Theatre Green Book Cohort Meeting of 2024. During this meeting, members shared their progress in achieving the Basic and Intermediate standard of the Theatre Green Book and how the group will continue momentum in 2025.
On the 3rd of December, Jamie Saye presented at Screen Yorkshire’s Digital Skills Event at The Crown Hotel in Harrogate. In this session, SAIL covered the basics of the climate crisis before moving onto what this means for the Film and Tv Industry and how we can respond as practitioners.
SAIL attended the first ever Exhibition One, a landmark event featuring inspiring talks by Chris Packham, Swarzy, and Dale Vince. The day offered insightful lab sessions on Cleaner Arenas, Audience Engagement, Powering Productions, and Upskilling for a Sustainable Future, sparking ideas for greener practices in the creative and cultural sector.
November marked the final session of 2024 at SCRAP Centre of Creative Reuse, where Mari and employee at SCRAP gave us a tour of their facilities and shared the incredible stories behind the materials they’ve rescued.
The SAIL team attended POP29 at Future Yard, a climate symposium brining together professionals across the industry to discuss the big challenges for making live events more sustainable, we discussed three big themes: Audiences, Operations, and Collaboration.
At the Mode Shift Conference, SAIL delivered a presentation on the importance of sustainable audience travel. We shared strategies to make travel more accessible, helping events reduce their environmental impact while continuing to support audiences overall experiences.
SAIL delivered 3 Carbon Literacy Training Session this November.
SAIL presented to the Priestley Climate Scholars at the University of Leeds, covering topics such as low-carbon power, virtual production, circularity, audience travel challenges, and the arts’ role in building emotional connections to the climate crises.
SAIL hosted on webinar covering carbon footprint scopes, the GHG Protocol, calculation methods, and tools like Creative Green Tools and the GCC Calculator. The session explored what to calculate, how to do it, and the pros and cons of different approaches.
SAIL became a Members of the Carbon Accounting Alliance. The Alliance is a coalition of 500+ organisations who collectively represent 85,000+ company carbon footprints.
During Green Careers Week, SAIL partnered with Leeds Arts University to deliver a workshop for creative students. The session explored pathways into green careers and developing green skills in the arts and provided practical tips for more sustainable art practices.
SAIL has partnered with Leeds Night Light to develop a comprehensive Environmental Policy Plan that aligns with LCC’s commitment to sustainability and the Eurocities call for low-carbon and inclusive culture. We also will deliver a detailed action plan followed by calculating the Light Night Carbon Footprint.
SAIL participated in the UK Centre for Events Management Day at Leeds Beckett University, showcasing practical ways to make events more sustainable.
SAIL organised the 4th Theatre Green Book Cohort Meeting at Northern Ballet. Emily Deller and Jim Malkin kindly facilitated a group tour of Northern Ballets facilities, followed by the cohort sharing their progress with reaching ‘Basic’ by the end of 2024.
On the 8th October the Indigo Team and SAIL presented the results for West Yorkshire’s Act Green 2024 Survey. We shared insights into audience attitudes towards the climate emergency and facilitated a discussion on key topics such as sustainable audience travel.
This month we launched The Skoon Decision Tool Lite for SAIL Members. Now our members can easily explore options for more sustainable power solutions for their upcoming events.
This month we announced that the SAIL Circular Arts Network Platform is live and ready to use, so users can now share resources with others in the network, who can re-use them rather than going to waste.
SAIL launched a new online course ‘An Introduction to Climate Change and Sustainability in the Creative and Cultural Sector’. The one-hour course is designed to equip learners with a foundational understanding of climate change and practical tools to begin integrating sustainable practice into their creative worlds.
On the 18th September, SAIL hosted an online webinar to showcase the capabilities of the Microsoft Power Platform to help those interested in automating data capture for reporting to funders, developing their customer relationship management system, and integrating disparate digital systems together.
SAIL organised the September Members Meeting at the Thackray Museum of Medicine on the 16th September, 9:30am – 13:30pm. Our members had the opportunity to meet one another, share their success and challenge stories with others, and listen to presentations from some of our SAIL members.
SAIL delivered Carbon Literacy Training to Calderdale Key Commissions team on the 5th September.
SAIL delivered Carbon Literacy Training to the One Dance UK team on the 13th August.
SAIL published the Green Book Cohort’s Press Release: Making Theatre Sustainable in Yorkshire
Mary Lawrence joined the SAIL team on the 5th August as Sustainability Manager.
SAIL hosted delegates from Italy who are working on a project called 4C Cultural and Creative Carbon Cut in order to assess and understand how to activate a just transition in the Italian Cultural and Creative Industry.
Our Green Book Cohort is launched with our first meeting, will all members aiming to achieve ‘Basic Level’ by the end of 2024.
At the Yorkshire Sustainability Festival in the Cloth Hall Court in Leeds, SAIL delivered two presentations on ‘Creating Sustainable Events’.
SAIL delivered 2 Carbon Literacy Training sessions.
We attended the Launch of Theatre Green Book Version 2.