Bristol sustainability pioneer’s legacy continues to transform lives
Bristol sustainability: Bristol woman is continuing to shape the region’s green future, with more than 1,800 people inspired to take practical action for the planet through the organisation she helped create.
Sarah Pugh, co-founder of Shift Bristol, a not-for-profit organisation that delivers immersive, hands-on sustainability training in the outdoors, dedicated her life to giving people the skills, confidence and community to create positive environmental change. Sarah began teaching permaculture around eight years before Shift became an organisation and it grew into something great! Although Sarah sadly died in 2022 when she was just 50 years old, following a two-year battle with brain cancer, the movement she helped build continues to thrive across Bristol, the South West and beyond.
Sarah co-founded Shift Bristol with Laura Corfield in 2010, creating the organisation’s flagship Practical Sustainability Course (PSC), a year-long programme that helps people move beyond learning about sustainability to putting it into practice. Through training in areas such as food growing, green building, woodland management, climate resilience and nature restoration, participants gain the practical skills to make a real difference in their communities. Sarah even helped establish Transition Bristol as part of the wider Transition Network movement alongside Rob Hopkins.
More than 16 years later, Sarah’s vision has exceeded expectations. Since it began, Shift Bristol has supported more than 1,868 learners, with over 1,000 graduates and 40 experienced tutors with a growing network of community partners across Bristol and the South West. Shift’s work now extends beyond education into collaborative projects including land and community permaculture designs, water harvesting, compost systems, accessible growing spaces, living willow classrooms and roundhouse builds. Graduates have even gone on to launch community gardens, regenerative growing projects, repair cafés, eco-building businesses and local initiatives that are helping communities become more resilient.
Laura Corfield, Co-founder of Shift Bristol, said: “Sarah was one of the most beautiful people I’ve ever known. She had an incredible passion for helping people and an unwavering belief that, if you gave people the right skills, confidence and support, they really could change the world. She inspired everyone around her with her energy, kindness and determination.
I know she would be so proud of what Shift has become and how it’s continuing to make waves across Bristol, the South West and beyond. Every time we see one of our graduates start a community project, build a sustainable business, restore nature or inspire others to take action, we’re seeing Sarah’s vision come to life.
Since we started Shift, we’ve supported more than 1,868 learners and seen over 1,000 graduates go on to careers across the UK’s green economy. Many have launched community gardens, regenerative growing projects, repair cafés, eco-building businesses and local initiatives that are making a genuine difference to people and the planet. That’s Sarah’s legacy. It’s living and growing every single day, and I couldn’t be prouder of what we’ve achieved together.”
Sarah’s passion for environmental action began long before Shift Bristol. After moving to Bristol in 1997, she founded the Bristol Permaculture Group, growing it into a thriving network of more than 2,000 people interested in sustainable living and community resilience. She also helped establish Transition Bristol, encouraging communities to find practical responses to environmental and social challenges.
Sarah’s approach to education continues to deliver lasting results. A 2025 research project by a University of Bristol postgraduate researcher found that 88% of graduates experienced improved confidence, wellbeing or sense of identity after completing the course, while 82% reported better mental health and a stronger sense of purpose.
Today, Shift Bristol works with more than 40 practitioners and has reinvested an estimated £1.4 million into local educators, community organisations and environmental projects, all while operating without core staff funding.
Shift Bristol is now welcoming applications for its next Practical Sustainability Course, starting this September, inviting a new generation of changemakers to continue Sarah’s remarkable legacy.
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