The official, free venue-finding service for spaces at the University of Cambridge, its Colleges, hotels and other unique properties in and around the city, is celebrating receiving a Silver Award for its environmental achievements.

This year, Meet Cambridge has been upgraded from a Bronze rating in the annual Cambridge University’s Green Impact Awards to a Silver, in recognition of completing a wide range of tasks on its green agenda.

These have including carrying out an energy audit for its offices and creating a sustainability policy when ordering new equipment, ensuring it meets stringent energy efficiency criteria.

The team has also encouraged event organisers booking conferences and meetings at its portfolio of venues to minimise impact on the environment, including delegate travel.

Leah Gibson, Events Executive at Meet Cambridge who heads up the campaign says: “We were thrilled to build on our previous Bronze and be given Silver in this year’s awards. In addition to all the things we achieved, one of the requirements was to hold a sustainability-themed event which unfortunately we had to cancel because of COVID-19. However we were able to demonstrate our detailed event planning, including lining up two speakers: one to discuss a sustainable roadmap for events and the other to share steps a venue has taken to be more sustainable.”

Jessica Haskell, Environmental Engagement Coordinator, University of Cambridge said: “It’s been fantastic to see all members of staff at Meet Cambridge either getting involved with, or actively supporting Green Impact. This year’s auditors were particularly impressed by the team’s efforts to communicate sustainable travel options to their clients, as well as office-focused efforts such as recycling envelopes and sharing best practice.

“A special mention needs to go to Leah, the Green Impact lead at Meet Cambridge. She is a real champion of sustainability and her enthusiasm and creativity have been central to the progress we’ve seen. Congratulations to Leah and the whole team at Meet Cambridge for their well-deserved Silver award!”