The destruction of wildlife and habitats is one of the most pressing environmental challenges we face today.
The problems can seem overwhelming and sometimes far away. But even during our country runs and hikes, we can see the impact on our local landscape and habitats.

If you have met Simone, you know that she is an earth-loving person, with a particular fondness for trees. Increasingly over the last months, Back on Track is putting nature at the centre of what we do.
We offer various initiatives to join us in our mission to protect nature and do the little things that we can, to make a difference as a collective.

Here at Back on Track we want to help lessen this impact by making environmentally ethical business choices and raising awareness.
They may seem small, but by making eco-friendly choices when it comes to business decisions can still make a difference.

For example, we are use an eco-aligned bank, avoid single-used plastic and find environmentally friendly ways of printing our t-shirts.
We are also part of other sustainable businesses sharing ideas to lessen our impact through our networking group Surrey Hills Enterprise.

We are very proud to have been acredited the Trade Mark Surrey Hills, a Mark of local provenance, quality and sustainability.
The Award promotes the best of what Surrey has to offer and celebrates those businesses of high quality that reflect and support the distinct and special nature of the Surrey Hills.

It’s our passion to connect people with nature to get fit, but we also want to use this connection as a platform to educate and motivate people to make their own small changes.
Thankfully there’s strength in numbers, so we’ve teamed up with some local charities, initiatives, companies and global networks who are aligned with our values.

Surrey Wildlife Trust

Back on Track is proud to be a small business supporter of Surrey Wildlife Trust’s important work.

Surrey Wildlife Trust is a wildlife charity forming part of 46 Wildlife Trusts working across the UK. In Surrey alone one third of species are now lost or in decline. The only way to reverse the decline of wildlife is to ensure that all the elements that make up our living landscape are managed with nature in mind, and for that to happen we need as many people across the county working together for nature.

We hope that our collaborative events can help to make a real difference to wildlife by offering opportunities for more members of our local community to connect with nature.
We run joint events, which are always popular so book up when you see them pop up on our events page.
Back on Track is donating the full event fees of any Surrey Wildlife Discovery walks to SWT , plus an extra £300 from our Surrey Three Peaks Challenge (see Instagram Reel).

How can you help?
• Look out for joint fundraising events throughout the year on our Hiking page
• Sign up to our newsletter so you don’t miss opportunities to get involved
• Donate directly to Surrey Wildlife Trust here

David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation

Another charity close to our heart is the David Shepherd Wildlife foundation.

We have joined this local charity to help fight, protect, and engage on behalf of endangered wildlife around the world.
David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation was our chosen charity when Simone ran the London Marathon in 2022. She has donated £2500

No single-used plastics

Earth is now full of plastic pollution – still millions of tons are produced and wasted every year. As plastic is not biodegradable, it ends up in landfills, soils and oceans. Our planet is at a critical stage, and we can only tackle the problem if we all do our bit.

Back on Track has taken the Plastic Free Pledge to become a ‘Community Ally’ for Surfers Against Sewage.
We have committed to work on the following 3 areas to reduce single-use plastic. We hope you will join our pledge:

1) Asking members to only bring reusable water bottles
2) Avoiding plastic cups etc at events (e.g. hiking) – we offer reusable options, or participants can bring their own
3) Choosing suppliers that offer plastic-free solutions (e.g., ethically sourced garments and printing) with reduced or no plastic packaging

We are very proud to have found a fantastic t-shirt printer that is the only one in Europe to have achieved Soil Association Accreditation, for both a range of organic garments as well as screen printing and embroidery processes. We have added their ethical and organic fair wear into our branded T-shirt range.

How can you help

• Follow our 9 Plastic-Free Guidelines
• Become Plastic-free at home – or follow local tips to reduce single-used plastic
• Join us for a Litter picking or community Event
• Wear one of our ethical friendly t-shirts (shop coming soon)

Volunteering and Free events

We often get involved in events and initiatives in our local community. For example, we organise local ‘wellbeing walks’ which are a great way to bring people together and raise awareness of ways to help nature on a local level. We also offer free walks during Surrey Walkfest every September.

By signing up to our newsletter you can stay up-to-date on all the events and initiatives that can help give back to nature.
We love the quote below by Joanna Macy of Treesisters…

‘Every day we choose our impact, both in terms of what we take from Nature and what we choose to give back.’