Each month at the Gate, we set ourselves a monthly Green Gate Challenge.

Green Gate is what we call our sustainability policy and we like to embark on monthly challenges. These challenges are about changing how we think in the long term (and not just for that month), but we’ve found that giving each month a focus helps us keep sustainability and our Green Gate Policy at the forefront of our thinking as an organisation.

This month, as a team, we decided to get out the office more, and take our meetings outside.

I’ve heard loads on the grapevine about the benefits of having walking meetings (improving creativity and putting you into a solution focused mind set etc.), and as our office has no natural sunlight, this was a challenge that we all wanted to get behind!

I have a regular catch ups with lots of members of the team and so during April, weather permitting, I took many of these meetings outside, got a dose of natural sunlight, explored a bit of the local area and – crucially – found great, new undiscovered parts of Notting Hill (I also discovered, along the way, a love of rose lattes).

I wasn’t the only one to embrace this challenge: our Artistic and Executive Director were often seen taking phone calls pacing up and down the streets of Notting Hill or walking through Regent’s Park on the way back from meetings. Our Marketing and Audience Development Officer took a few strolls on his lunch break too.

And, I’ll admit, sometimes the best we could muster would be dashing a few metres down the road to our favourite local coffee shop (chai latte please, if you’re asking), but there was a certain shift in our approaches to meetings and our desire to get out more.

Inspired by this challenge Ellen, our Artistic Director, has now tasked Leah, our Theatre Administrator and Notting Hill local, with the challenge of taking the whole Gate team on a walking tour of the local area. And we can’t wait.

Why not take on the #GreenGate challenge?

Let us know how you get on @gatetheatre #GreenGate