A little update on our wilding project!

Children from Christ Church Primary School created some bug hotels for the site and some cute little signs too. Lovely to get them involved. And the students from Rocklands School enjoyed connecting with nature by creating some art using natural materials and nature themes.

​We now have additional trees and shrubs in the space and the wildflower planting has worked out SO well! We will be planning for the autumn soon no doubt!

The verge along Tamworth Street might not look all that attractive at the moment, although when you PROPERLY look at it, there are so many different species of plants and grass there that would normally be mown down.
We are planting a range of plants that will eventually bring colour and bee/insect food to the space and look so much more attractive for everyone. 
We are also pleased to have the Brownies, Boys' Brigade and toddler group from Lichfield Methodist Church involved and they will be using the space and the banked areas around the corner for art and nature projects. Brilliant to get community involved.
​Do bear with us as this area evolves....it is for the benefit of wildlife and not just humans after all!

                                                     Delicious clover, a favourite for bees!

We are delighted to see so much growing in the Three Tree Triangle area.  Well over 30 species - and being opposite a council mown area, it really shows how fantastic it is leaving things to Mother Nature!
Our wildflower patch is very happy, and we have planted herbs in one of the planters, plus raspberry canes so that passers by can help themselves to fruit and herbs. Great eh?

There are 3 new trees planted too and soon we will have log benches so that people can sit and enjoy the space, despite the busy road nearby.

We know the grass is growing long on the Three Tree Triangle patch on Festival Gardens so we want to assure you that we have not forgotten about it!  It is all part of the plan to see what actually grows in there - if you keep cutting the grass then you get no idea of what there already is.
The insects will be happy about it, even if tidy-minded humans aren't!
We will be planting up the 2 raised beds later in May with herbs and fragrant plants and the wildflower patch seems to have taken well so let's be patient.
Children from Christchurch School will be adding some artwork and a bug hotel for us in June too. So good to have them involved.
Get in touch if you would like to help us with this site (and others that we have).
​

Another session with our volunteers to establish a bit more structure to the Three Tree Triangle section of Festival Gardens.
Top layer of turf removed from a patch and wildflower seeds sown; a range of winter and spring flowering bulbs put in under the trees; 2 raised planters created in old crates which we will jazz up a bit soon; old pallets used for a noticeboard....again, some jazzing up required on that!  Two trees to be planted soon and a check on what has taken root around the site. The pieces of bay, hawthorn and buddleia around the edges are mainly there to de-mark the site rather than to be healthy plants but if any of them take root then even better!
Lots more planned in the coming months.

Do get in touch if you would like to help out.

We have made a start on the 'wilding' of the triangle of land which borders Queen Street and the A51, marking out the space and planting a few plants which can get growing until we are ready to properly plan!
Children from Christchurch School will be contributing the the area and also using it for learning about planting for climate change and about creating habitats for wildlife. Local residents will hopefully get on board too and come and help out or keep an eye on things for us!
Get in touch if you are interested in helping too.
Thanks to Staffs CC Climate Change Fund for a grant to help us buy plants and equipment.
​

​News and recent activities
Our first event of 2022 went very well and thanks for coming along those of you who did. Held at the cosy Lichfield Pantry Café at the Plant Plot Garden Centre (thanks for having us Sam and for the delicious muffins!), Zoe Robinson, Professor of Sustainability in Higher Education at Keele University introduced us to the environmental projects that they are involved in and gave an overview of the Zero Carbon Rugeley project. Lots of questions ensued and hopefully attendees gained a better understanding of projects going on behind the scenes which will result in carbon reductions for us all.
Those attendees from the community groups that we support gave a quick update on their activities. It was great to hear what they have been up to but we definitely need to hear more from them all, and ensure event dates are promoted through our website and social media, so do keep us posted if you are the rep for a group (add this email to your mailing list perhaps). We have our 2022 Calendar of Events at the end of this newsletter.
LDC
We are continuing to engage with LDC on their climate change strategy and have been invited to be part of a task group which their Scrutiny Committee have set up. Robin Taylor will represent us on this, with Pam on stand by! Robin was the founder of Low Carbon Lichfield 12 or so years ago and has a lot of relevant knowledge to bring to the discussion.
Councils from across Staffordshire have joined forces to help tackle climate change in the county. Representatives from district and borough councils across Staffordshire came together last week to discuss what was needed to tackle climate change and to achieve the target of becoming net carbon zero by 2050. Working together, influencing change and encouraging residents, organisations and businesses that we all have a role to play, was the focus of discussions at the first meeting of the Staffordshire Sustainability Board. The partnership was created in January 2022 and will meet quarterly.
Philippa will be running a session for officers and council leaders in March looking at how organisations can use the  UN Sustainable Development Goals as reference points for working sustainably.
Publication of the Local Plan has been postponed and discussions are underway as to how the Plan should be amended to ensure zero carbon development is fully embedded. Cllr Iain Eadie has responsibility for the Plan and can be contacted with questions/comments via email Iain.Eadie@lichfielddc.gov.uk
 
Festival Gardens
We have been successful with our application for funds from the Staffs CC Climate Change Fund, through Cllr Colin Greatorex.  £500 has been awarded towards the costs associated with developing our ‘Three Tree Corner’ plot in Festival Gardens.  Nick Burton of Forest Harvest has drawn up a suggested site plan which we will add to the website but any ideas and contributions are very welcome and we would love new people to join the regular team for planting and maintenance. We also want other groups to connect with the site and make use of it for education and wellbeing so make sure you come by to see it once there is something to see!
Burntwood Repair Café
The Repair Café has branched out, to run a second session in Burntwood. This session runs on the first Saturday of the month, 10.00-1.00pm. The two sessions held so far this year have resulted in a good number of repairs and attendees have been very grateful to have the volunteer repairers. The Lichfield one continues to be very busy (3rd Sat of the month) and skill share sessions are being planned for the year.
Learning opportunities, inspiration and handy hints
Housing retrofitting is something many of us have questions about – what exactly can we all do to our homes?  Who are the best tradespeople to get in touch with? Take a look at the Blog section of our website for some tips and advice from Philippa Birch-Wood.
Sign up to The Guardian newspaper’s ‘Down to Earth’ series. An excellent email roundup of environmental related articles and discussion points.
Friends of the Earth are working hard campaigning on a number of issues and keeping track of government policy on plastic pollution is one of them. You can read more here. They have also developed a very handy tool called
‘Near You’ that provides detail on how well your local authority/local area is doing in relation to environmental issues/carbon emissions. Just put in the postcode!
Amazing news just in from the Restart Community, a people-powered social enterprise that aims to fix our relationship with electronics. They are setting up two Fixing Factories in London, for people to get their items repaired. Read all about it here. “We’ll turn the Fordist factory on its head and forge new spaces for fixing, learning, curiosity and empowerment. Opportunities for 16-30 year olds, including skills development, training, and paid work – will be central. Our fresh approach, novel locations and community powered design can create new forms of climate action that meet local needs and involve new communities.”   How brilliant is that?!
 
Spotlight slot
Lichfield Waterworks Trust – Sandfields Pumping Station, Chesterfield Road, Lichfield.
    
The Trust was set up in 2015 to save the Grade II* listed redundant waterworks at Sandfields in Lichfield. Volunteers have been painstakingly restoring the building and the pumping equipment for the last five years and the station is now being used as a venue for a range of events, including music concerts for Lichfield Arts. There is also a meeting room that can be hired.
“We have different teams working on various projects connected to the pumping station. One group, our engineers are doing hands on work to get the amazing engine moving again. Another group is doing practical work to maintain the buildings (Victorian 1873 and a much later 1960s building) and make the more modern part into a community and arts venue. We have heritage team who are looking after the archive and artefacts and researching the lives of the people who worked at Sandfields and other South Staffs Water locations. A small group look after our limited grounds including an area we are trying to turn into a wild-flower meadow.
Our ethos is to 'green up ' the building where we can.  Already we have utilised Freecycle for kitchen units for our kitchenette and we have received donations of various other tools and equipment that are no longer needed.    Last year, to make the large room in the 1960s building available for performances we removed two large concrete plinths. Before smashing up the concrete we carefully removed what tiles we could for reuse and this is our way of working on all our projects.
Although not open to the public on a regular basis, we love to give tours to groups of interested people to showcase the amazing pumping engine and the work we are carrying out. If you would like to have a tour that please let us know - Tues or Fri mornings are best for us but we can do other days if required.”  Chairperson, Katy Shore-Kapsis.
 
Get involved
Please do get in touch if you can spare time to help with projects that we talk about in here or on our social media, whether that be in person or from home, and even better if you have specific skills that you think we could benefit from.
If you are a member of other community groups then let us know ways that we can better connect – Lichfield is a small place and we ought to ensure we are helping one another out.
 
Dates for 2022
February
All month - Share the Love Campaign – Climate Coalition
19th – Lichfield Repair & Share Café, Curborough Community Centre, 2-5pm
20th - Chasewater Burton Conservation Volunteers (BCV) 10.30am, Lawrence Oates 07732 608931
21st - Fairtrade Fortnight – Choose the World You Want Festival
25th-27th – Window Wanderland around various parts of Lichfield
26th – Festival Gardens Working Party, 9.30am
27th - Chasewater BCV 10.30am, Lawrence Oates 07732 608931
March
2nd – WFEG Green Drinks at the Dog Inn, Whittington 7.30pm
5th - Burntwood Repair & Share Café, 10-1pm St Joseph’s RC Church
19th – Lichfield Repair & Share Café, Curborough CC, 2-5pm with craft workshop using recycled materials
26th – Big Spring Clean with Litter Legends 10-3pm
TBC – Festival Gardens Working Party
April
2nd - Burntwood Repair & Share Café, 10-1pm St Joseph’s RC Church
6th - WFEG Green Drinks at the Dog Inn, Whittington 7.30pm
23rd - Lichfield Repair & Share Café, Curborough CC, 2-5pm with skill share session (tbc)
30th April – 8pm Lichfield Arts event at Sandfields Pumping Station
TBC – Festival Gardens Working Party
TBC – Sustainable business networking event with The Apiarist Drinks Co
May
4th - WFEG Green Drinks at the Dog Inn, Whittington 7.30pm
7th – visit to Forest Harvest in Yoxall. Forest bathing session (fee for this) followed by a tour of the site. Can attend both or either.
7th - Burntwood Repair & Share Café, 10-1pm St Joseph’s RC Church
8th – Gaia Earth Installation at The Hub at St Mary’s (until 5th June)
TBC – Showing of 2040 Film (The Hub)
11th-21st – ‘Together We Can’ Summit – online events with Transition Network
21st - Lichfield Repair & Share Café, Curborough CC, 2-5pm with skill share session (tbc)
31st – Clean for the Queen, Stowe Fields, 11-2pm (Litter Legends)
TBC – Festival Gardens Working Party
June
2-5th - Platinum Jubilee Weekend (Garden Party at CCC with Litter Legends on 5th TBC)
5th – World Environment Day
4th – Bower Day (Litter Legends doing litter pick along route of procession)
4th - Burntwood Repair & Share Café, 10-1pm St Joseph’s RC Church
18th - Lichfield Repair & Share Café, Curborough CC, 2-5pm with skill share session (tbc)
TBC – Festival Gardens Working Party
July
2nd - Burntwood Repair & Share Café, 10-1pm St Joseph’s RC Church
8-10th – Lichfield Arts Fuse Festival, Beacon Park – Transition stand
16th - Lichfield Repair & Share Café, Curborough CC, 2-5pm with skill share session (tbc)
TBC – Festival Gardens Working Party
August
TBC – Festival Gardens Working Party
September
3rd - Burntwood Repair & Share Café, 10-1pm St Joseph’s RC Church
24th – Great Big Green Week – ‘Ecofest’ event at Lichfield Methodist Church (TBC) & Repair Cafe
30th – Staffordshire Climate Expo, Uttoxeter Racecourse, The Globe Foundation
TBC – Festival Gardens Working Party
October
1st - Burntwood Repair & Share Café, 10-1pm St Joseph’s RC Church
15th - Lichfield Repair & Share Café, Curborough CC, 2-5pm with skill share session (tbc). International Repair Day!
TBC – Festival Gardens Working Party
November
5th - Burntwood Repair & Share Café, 10-1pm St Joseph’s RC Church
19th - Lichfield Repair & Share Café, Curborough CC, 2-5pm with skill share session (tbc)
TBC - Global Day of Climate Action
TBC – Festival Gardens Working Party
December
TBC - Christmas social

We had members from various groups come along, including the Fun Club Hub leaders Liz and Kerry (pictured above - our local youth group) so it proved a worthwhile exercise for Transition Lichfield in terms of networking.
Here’s to an even bigger and better event next November!
COP26
No doubt many of you will have been trying to follow the events at COP and will have received updates since on what actually happened.
There is a useful analysis here from Friends of the Earth but please do share any others you may have seen.
Discussions with LDC continue about their elusive Climate Strategy but rest assured, we will not let them off the hook!

Learning opportunities, inspiration and handy hints

Sustainable and Local Christmas Gift Guide
Philippa has produced another gift guide to showcase local businesses with sustainable gifts. Find it here on our website and also showcased on the Transition Instagram feed. Shopping locally and ethically is another way of doing your bit!
Climate Change Funding
Staffs County Council has a fund specifically for projects that can demonstrate reducing carbon impact, improving air quality or show adaptation for climate change. If you have a local project that you think would benefit from the funding then take a look at the criteria here. Transition will be applying for funds to help with an area of Festival Gardens that the City Council have allocated to us.

Spotlight slot
Our group focus this month is The Whittington Waste Reduction Group
If you are trying to reduce your plastic/packaging use and want an option to buy loose items then get in touch with Clare for further details of what is available (email wprbg@outlook.com or check their Facebook page). You can drop your own containers off and then collect once filled.