Our Impact
Stories of change, straight from the trails
As a small organisation in an ocean of other worthy causes, it can be easy to get caught up with trying to shout about what we've done. But to truly achieve our mission of Trash Free Trails, we need to understand our impact over the long-term.
It's not only about what happened, but what has changed.
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Our Impact Reports capture not only chapters of our life as an organisation, but together showcase the change happening in the heart's of individuals, across their communities, and on their trails, everyday. We don't believe in tickbox Reports - we're here to share the stories that chart the course to a Trash Free Future.
'Change is underway, and more is coming. We couldn't be prouder of what we're growing together.
'
Rich Breeden, Associate Director
Since 2019, our community has removed and surveyed over 570,000 items of single-use pollution across more than 15,000 km of trails, powered by thousands of volunteers. Those outputs matter - but the more important shift is cumulative. The world around our volunteers is changing, thanks to their efforts.
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To understand this cumulative impact and set the best course for our 2030 Vision, we must also look back - celebrating our achievements and learning from the challenging moments. Here you can find all our Annual Impact Reports, and see for yourself what has changed.
Impact Highlights
Removed
and surveyed
572,830
items of single-use
pollution
7,671
With the help of
volunteers
Who have donated
12,113
hours of their time
15,408km
And cleaned
of trails
81%
of items surveyed were
classed as single-use
Together
we have
78%
of volunteers felt more connected to their wild places after trail cleaning
Worked with
2600
young people
Reached over
1 million
people across the world through digital storytelling
Stories of Change
Here we introduce you to two members of our community whose individual stories capture the positivity and purpose we hope our work continues to host for trail lovers all over the world.
Ruth Finney
Community Hub Lead
Working with young people who often feel overlooked - teenagers facing trauma, disrupted education and low confidence - Jo saw in TFT a chance to offer belonging and purpose. From that vision the TrashMob Academy was born - now one of our most impactful youth-engagement programmes. The Academy helps students get outdoors to ride bikes, connect with nature and take pride in their local spaces.
What started as one woman’s act of care for her local hill has grown into an annual event bringing together an entire community. Ruth Finney - mountain bike guide, Bikeability instructor and Trash Free Trails Community Hub lead - lives just a few minutes from The Wrekin trailhead. For her, caring for this place is personal, and her Spring Trail Clean is now a fixture in the calendars of people across the local community.
Jo Shwe
Non-Exec Director / A-TEAMer
“Doing a positive thing is mentally rewarding; it feels good inside,” says Ruth. “And the stats gave me a firestarter with the landowners and the council.”
People feel proud afterwards; they talk about the sense of doing something meaningful, the joy of being part of a shared effort. For Ruth, it’s the sight of people connecting through their care for The Wrekin together, that makes the effort worthwhile. By caring for these trails, she has brought connection to a whole community.
“Some of these young people arrive thinking the world doesn’t care about them. The TrashMob Academy shows them they matter,”
says Jo.
Since launch, the Academy has supported over 2,600 young people, including 1,000 through direct classroom delivery, across 100+ sessions. These young people have spent hundreds of hours on trails, removing more than 5,000 pieces of litter and contributing to our Research programme.
