Community Story: Our Only World

For our latest article spotlighting a recent recipient of a  Community Matters Fund (Green Spaces 2026) grant from National Grid, it’s time to visit Cornwall once again to find out about a fantastic project from Our Only World. Luke Upton chatted with founder Tina Robinson about how one water station on a Cornish beach grew into a UK-wide network, and how a new refill station will become part of everyday community life.

Luke Upton (LU): Thanks for your time today, Tina. To start, could you tell us a little about the origins of Our Only World and how the organisation has evolved over the years?

Tina Robinson (TR): We noticed a lot of plastic bottles while litter picking on our local beach, so in 2018 we worked with our local marine group to site a water station there. We then found out it had been made in America and imported, and we thought: why couldn’t we create a solution here in Cornwall?

So, during COVID-19, we brought together a small team of local suppliers and a designer to develop and manufacture our own Cornish model. The top section of each unit is made from recycled fishing nets from Odyssey Innovation.

That has shaped the way we work today. We look for practical solutions to marine conservation problems and find ways to scale them up for a bigger impact. What started with one water station on a Cornish beach has grown into a network of 49 refill stations across the UK, alongside our Living Sea Walls and other marine conservation projects. We’re proud that our projects are rooted in Cornwall but designed to inspire change far beyond it.

LU: What are you currently focusing on, and what are the main priorities for the organisation at the moment?

TR: Our focus at the moment is on taking two of our most successful projects, our water refill stations and our Living Sea Walls, to the next stage.

Our main priority now is to build long-term partnerships with businesses and corporate backers who share our environmental ambitions. We want to work with companies who want to support practical projects with a measurable impact, rather than simply making a one-off donation.

We are a small, volunteer-led charity, so finding the right partners would make a huge difference to our ability to grow while keeping our projects practical, local and focused on improving our blue and green spaces.

LU: You’ve recently received funding through National Grid and Localgiving’s Community Matters Fund (Green Spaces) 2026. Could you tell us more about the project, what the funding will support and what you hope to achieve?

TR: The funding is supporting the installation of one of our water refill stations at a community hub used by a wide range of local groups, including Brownies, Scouts, football clubs and other community organisations.

We wanted to put the refill station somewhere it would become part of everyday community life, rather than a facility people only use occasionally. By making free drinking water readily available, we hope to encourage people of all ages to get into the habit of carrying a reusable bottle, refilling it and thinking twice before buying single-use plastic.

So the funding supports much more than the physical installation of a water station. It’s a practical, everyday reminder that choosing to refill and reuse is something we can all do. So, a very big thank you to National Grid and Localgiving for making it possible.

LU: How important is grant funding like this to Our Only World, and what difference does it make to the work you’re able to deliver in the community?

TR: Grant funding is incredibly important to us because, without it, we simply couldn’t deliver many of our conservation projects.

The communities we work with, including town councils, community groups and environmental organisations, often have plenty of enthusiasm to make a difference but limited budgets. That’s why a backer such as the Community Matters Fund makes such a difference. It means we can put a water refill station into a community where it is genuinely needed, without asking a small community organisation to find the full cost themselves.

LU: Brilliant. Beyond financial support, what do you think would make the biggest difference to your organisation and the communities you support?

TR: We would love to develop long-term partnerships with organisations such as the National Trust, National Grid and others with a strong connection to local communities and the environment.

For a small charity like ours, the right partnership can be incredibly powerful. It can give us access to new communities and help us share our ideas and practical conservation solutions with a much wider audience.

We would also value partners who can help us communicate the impact of our work. Our water refill stations and Living Sea Walls are practical projects that people can see and use every day.

LU: And finally, is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers, such as upcoming projects, events, achievements or other ways people can get involved?

TR: We have lots to look forward to! We’d love to see more of our water refill stations in schools and community spaces, where they can help young people get into the habit of refilling and reusing from an early age. We also want to develop our work with Surf Life Saving Clubs, bringing practical solutions to communities closely connected to the ocean.

Our next big milestone is particularly exciting: our next installation will be our 50th water refill station. What started with one station on a Cornish beach has grown into a much wider network, and we hope to make a real “splash” when we celebrate number 50!

We are always looking for businesses and organisations who would like to become sponsors or partners and help us take these projects into more communities. If you’d like to support a water station, a Living Sea Wall or another of our practical conservation projects, we would love to hear from you.

We’re not going to stop here. We want to show that we can all make a difference.

LU: Great! Well please keep us updated with your fantastic, ambitious plans! 

You may also be interested in: 

• Community Story: In the Mix Project
• Community Story: The Acrewood Project
• Are you ready for the Christmas fundraising rush?
• Community Story: Stonebridge City Farm 

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