It started on a run
In 2019, Pledge founder Alice Kendall was training for the Edinburgh Marathon and listening to Turning the Tide on Plastic.
Like most runners, Alice had thought about fundraising. But endorphins, exhaustion and a fair dose of climate anxiety sparked a different idea.
What if support didn’t have to be money? What if friends and family could support a challenge by making an environmental pledge instead?
She wrote 16 practical climate actions people could choose from. Pledges became a new kind of currency, and one runner’s challenge turned into collective action.
The idea of action-raising, and Pledge for the Planet, was born.
Alice moved to Australia in 2020 and kept building. Pledge officially launched in 2021 with the first 48 Hour Mission.
Those 16 pledges have grown into a community of Pledgends taking action through clubs, schools, workplaces and races, across Australia and beyond.
The idea
A marathon-training run and one question: what if people could back a challenge with action instead of cash?
A new home
Alice moved to Australia and rebuilt the idea around sport and community.
Pledge launches
The first 48 Hour Mission brought movement, pledges and a bit of friendly competition together.
The community grows
The second Mission inspired 657 pledges. Our first Clothes Swap saved 250 items (102 kg) from landfill.
Pledge also began creating new ways for people to take action together, including its first Clothes Swap, where 250 items and 102 kilograms of clothing were swapped rather than wasted.
The Mission takes off
24 teams and 400+ people made 1,263 pledges and moved 21,002 km, with a live leaderboard keeping score.
Together, the community made 1,263 environmental pledges and moved 21,002 kilometres across walking, running, cycling and swimming.
A live leaderboard made the action, activity and friendly competition visible throughout the Mission.
HATCH Taronga
Pledge joined Taronga’s HATCH Accelerator to grow the organisation, platform and impact model.
New programs and partnerships
The fifth 48 Hour Mission, and Run the Talk launched with the TCS Sydney Marathon.
Five years of collective action
Five years in, with Kickstart Mission, Planet PB, event activations and Pledge Schools.
The idea hasn’t changed: give people a practical action, bring them together and show them what they can do.
