Students Organising for Sustainability (SOS-UK) is a new educational charity that seeks to get more students leading on and learning about sustainability. Building on fifty years of leading-edge campaigns and programmes, developed by the National Union of Students (NUS UK), SOS-UK aims to harness the desire of students and young people to respond to the climate emergency and make a real difference now.

Driven by an urgent determination to go further and faster with NUS sustainability campaigns and programmes, SOS-UK has been created by NUS officers and staff and launches today (01 October 2019).

The new charity will initially have three workstreams:

• Getting more students leading on, and learning about, sustainability;
• Transforming education so sustainability covers all disciplines;
• Making sustainability more inclusive, so it�s for everyone.

SOS-UK will be a partner to NUS and take responsibility for the delivery of NUS�s award-winning sustainability programmes, including Student Switch Off and Green Impact, and campaigns like Divest-Invest. It will also develop new projects and campaigns independently and in partnership with education sector partners, other charities and sponsors.

Announcing the new charity Richard Dunne, Chair of SOS-UK said:

�The launch of our new charity today builds on the historical groundbreaking work of NUS on social justice and sustainability. We look forward to working with NUS, and other organisations, to harness the enthusiasm of young people to make a difference not just now but also for future generations.�

Founding trustee Zamzam Ibrahim, NUS National President, comments:

�As one of the founding trustees of SOS-UK, it�s both an exciting and an incredibly crucial time for the new charity. Students and young people across the world are calling for immediate action, and with youth climate strikes happening in every corner of the planet. It�s time we galvanise that energy and build on it.�

�SOS-UK is our way of contributing and helping the student movement organise and have its say.�

Speaking on behalf of NUS, Erica Ramos, NUS Vice President Union Development, said:

�We�re delighted to support the launch of SOS-UK and hope it will be able to go further and faster across the education sector, as a smaller and more dynamic charity. As this year�s climate strikes have shown, children and young people are very conscious of the climate issues facing us. SOS-UK will be able to engage in work direct with schools across the country, to help speed up the process of action against climate change, and to develop more challenging campaigns that resonate with what�s going on around the world.�

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