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GET INVOLVED – GO GREEN – GET READING – GET ACTIVE
JULY 2024 News and recent activities Fuse Festival - Transition Stand and Climate Choir What a wonderful time was had by all! The Lichfield Arts Fuse Festival was a great thing to be part of. We had a Transition stand so that we could promote our activities and the groups under out umbrella and the enthusiastic volunteers from Spark Burntwood, lead by Esther, ran the ‘junk instruments’ making and playing tent! We had some brilliant instruments made by some of the repair café volunteers and from the Lichfield Society of Artists. So imaginative! Esther and her team ran making sessions so that children could make instruments out of ‘junk’ – shakers, drums, mini guitars…..allsorts! Quite a racket but a real joy to see everyone enjoying making noise. Ayliffe Edwards had been working for a few months on co-ordinating 3 choirs to create a ‘climate choir’ for Fuse, to perform joyous songs about nature and the planet. A brilliant collaboration and all involved enjoyed the experience, along with the audience. Great job Ayliffe! Here’s to many more performances! Lichfield City Council Community Day – 29th August, 10-3pm Groups have been invited to have a stand at the LCC event in the Market Square so Transition will be joining in. Feel free to come and help out on the stand and to represent your group as well as Transition. The aim of the day is to bring together local organisations, charities, and service providers in a central location to engage with the public and promote the wonderful work done in our community. To add to this special day there will also be live music, face-painting, and ice-cream. Lichfield District Council Cllr Janice Sylvester-Hall has taken over from Cllr Mike Wilcox as lead on Environment, Climate Change and Visitor Economy. Janice is a very proactive councillor so please do get in touch directly with her if you have questions or suggestions – [email protected] Nurture Community CIC – Memory Threads and Growing Communities Nurture have been doing a brilliant job with two major projects over the last few months (and will continue with the Growing Communities until later in the year). They have engaged with hundreds of people on issues around memory loss and dementia and even had a short play written and then performed for them at a number of locations. And the veg growing is going well so we all look forward to sampling some of those courgettes soon Charlotte!! Free Water Butts! Did you know the typical house roof collects enough rainwater in a year to fill about 450 water butts? All of that ends up going down the drain! Severn Trent is offering some Staffordshire residents a free water butt this summer. Not only is the butt free, but delivery and fitting is too. By having a water butt:
Learning opportunities, inspiration and handy hints Read Some positive news on how giving up some space for nature can make a real difference in the urban environment. The new Labour government has acted swiftly to remove the ban on on-shore wind power, opening the way for an increase in green energy production and lower bills for consumers. Visit Lots of you probably haven’t discovered our small wilding areas around town so do go take a wander, especially down Tamworth Street and then round the corner onto Backcester Lane where we have transformed a piece of neglected land into a real haven! If you know if other plots that could be transformed then let us know! We have been given wildflower seeds by Florette so that we can plant up more places. Find out This initiative in Tamworth was brought to our attention. What a great way of getting young people involved in growing! Self Sufficient Children “By engaging children in the process of growing their own fruits and vegetables, we challenge their taste buds and channel their boundless energy towards productive, enlightening endeavours.” Take a look at their Facebook group here. Get involved Staffordshire Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS) SCC held a session at the Staffs Wildlife Trust to engage with groups on the Strategy. You can read more about it here and get in touch with your thoughts/ideas. Gardening/growing We will keep mentioning this as we really do need your support and there were no new offers after the last newsletter sadly. We are always in need of extra hands for our wilding patches around Lichfield and the City Station planters. We can add your number to our WhatsApp group to keep you posted on what needs doing where. It might only be a couple of hours every few weeks, so not that onerous as the more people who help us the better. And if anyone has veg growing expertise who would be happy to teach others, then we would love to hear from you! We plan to hold some skill share sessions at Dovehouse Gardens at some point. Dates for your diary You can also check out the Events listing on the Transition website. August ***No Repair Café sessions in August!*** 10th – Ron Rock will run the popular Bee Safari for at the Wolseley Centre. Details can be found on the SinCH website. 17th – Jane Rock from the Staffs Bat Group will run a late evening Bat Walk for us – details on the SinCH website. 18th - Dovehouse Community Garden Working Party, 11-1pm 29th – Lichfield City Council Community Day, 10-3pm, Market Square, Lichfield 31st - Lichfield Wildlife Trust Bat Walk: Led by Heather Lomas, in conjunction with SE Staffs Bat Group, 8:00 p.m at Fisherwick Lakes, Fisherwick Wood Lane, Whittington WS13 8QF. Meet in the car park. September 3rd – Lichfield Wildlife Trust AGM followed by talk: ‘Dangerous Animals’ by Peter Norbury. 7.45pm Wade St Church 7th - Burntwood Repair & Share Café, 10-1pm, St Joseph’s RC Church, Cannock Road, WS7 0BB 7th - NCT Cloth Nappy Library. 10.00-12.00am, Lichfield District Children's Centre WS13 7PH. [email protected] 15th - Lichfield Arts Folk on the Farm, Woodhouse Community Farm 12.00-8.00pm. Tickets available here 20th - Globe Foundation Climate Expo (Uttoxeter) - https://www.tickettailor.com/events/globegroup/1192030 21st - Lichfield Repair & Share Café, Curborough Community Centre, 2-5pm with ‘how to use your tools’ workshop! 21st - Midlands Permaculture Festival - https://earthedup.com/learn/midlands-permaculture-festival-2024/ 22nd - Dovehouse Community Garden Working Party, 11-1pm Burton Conservation Volunteers have a range of activities – if you are interested in helping with projects around the Burton area then contact Lawrence Oates – [email protected]
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News and recent activities
Grace Cares – Pimp My Ride Schools, colleges and local groups joined in this brilliant initiative to showcase the issues with excess medical aids and how more recycling/reuse is needed. Zimmer frames were given to the groups to decorate and these are now on display at the Hub at St Mary’s, following an excellent fundraising night held there last week. Check out all the fun here. The event even features on ITV news! Transition also decorated one (not entered into the competition though). Staffordshire Green Network The ‘Green Conversation’ on 14th June looked at the role of community energy and other avenues to explore for venues and groups looking to reduce their energy costs and emissions. Further details on contacts can be obtained by emailing [email protected] Free online workshops organised by Phil Beardmore - a real expert on energy-saving for voluntary, community or faith organisations. Come along to the ‘Energy Saving In Community Buildings’ free Zoom workshop on 16 July 2024 (10am-12.30pm) and 17 July 2024 (10am-12.30pm), and learn how to reduce your greenhouse gas emissions and your fuel bills. Follow the link to book (you will need to attend both sessions). Repaint Scheme Staffs County Council have opened the Repaint Scheme at Lichfield Recycling Centre, a week earlier than planned. This will allow people to leave their part used/unused tins of paint for others to make use of. Find it in the corner to the right, straight ahead from the entrance. Speak to a member of staff if you would like to make use of the paint. Great Big Green Week - Shenstone Library Shenstone Library Environment Group organised a wonderful range of events and activities during GBGW, including a very successful Gardeners' Question Time! Lots of ideas and tips to take away. The “Cherishing Our Wildlife Through Art” exhibition was a great success, with some very generous donations from artists and some lovely contributions from school children. Over £1500 was raised – what a brilliant amount – and Staffs Wildlife Trust will be the recipient. Well done to all involved. Rethink Food initiative The Rethink Food group (currently a WhatsApp group) had a very successful evening showing of the Six Inches of Soil film, followed by a panel discussion. Annamarie of Woodhouse Farm was one of the panellists. Certainly a lot to think abut in terms of valuing the soil and land and bring about change to working practices. Learning opportunities, inspiration and handy hints Watch If you are in need of an inspiring film to watch then take a look at the ones on offer from the Waterbear platform. A brilliant selection. Read It was heartening to read that Costco is doing a pretty good job re sustainability and reducing food waste, considering its size and the type of business it is in. Read more about here and here. The topic of geoengineering was raised recently at an event I was at. Should we be ‘messing’ with weather systems to try to bring about change? This article from a few years ago gives a good introduction to the issues. Next year sees the introduction of the Future Homes Standard 2025 – a new standard for energy efficient homes. Is it too little too late? Will all those new homes around our local area need retrofitting in the not so distant future? How has your garden fared this year, with warm winter, heavy rains and then not a lot of sunshine? This article from Kew has some advice on adapting gardens for climate change. Parliament will be transformed (we hope!) by the end of the week. No Caroline Lucas though – she will definitely be missed. The speech she gave during the debate about the loss of biodiversity and failure of government to protect nature was excellent. You can read it here. Visit Have you seen the glorious stumpery in the forest at Trentham Gardens yet? And whilst you are there, you can look out for the beavers that have been introduced into the lake! Get involved Lichfield Arts Fuse Festival, 12th- 14th July, Beacon Park We still need a few more people to come forward to help on the Transition stall at Fuse. Setting up on the Friday and manning it over the weekend. We are happy to have info from our connected groups on the stand so do get in touch about joining forces. And the Fuse organisers are still in need of helpers for the festival in general. We will have some musical instruments made from ‘junk’ for people to play on or make their own so if you have expertise in that area or have items that would make great instruments then let us know! Staffordshire Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS) SCC held a session at the Staffs Wildlife Trust to engage with groups on the Strategy. You can read more about it here and get in touch with your thoughts/ideas. Eco Together Eco Together is a Friends of the Earth initiative, aiming to get people talking about climate change who otherwise might not engage. It is based on the idea of small groups of neighbours/friends getting together for 6 sessions over a few months. All the resources are provided. Stephanie Boyle who runs sessions in Birmingham is working with a local Lichfield resident who is wanting to start groups here. If you are interested then email us on [email protected] and we can put you in touch. Gardening/growing Don’t forget that we are always in need of extra hands for our wilding patches around Lichfield and the City Station planters. They have been quite a challenge to maintain over the past few weeks with some of the grasses going bonkers! We can add your number to our WhatsApp group to keep you posted on what needs doing where. It might only be a couple of hours every few weeks, so not that onerous as the more people who help us the better. And if anyone has veg growing expertise who would be happy to teach others, then we would love to hear from you! We plan to hold some skill share sessions at Dovehouse Gardens at some point. Dates for your diary You can also check out the Events listing on the Transition website. July 6th - Burntwood Repair & Share Café, 10-1pm, St Joseph’s RC Church, Cannock Road, WS7 0BB 6th - NCT Cloth Nappy Library. 10.00-12.00am, Lichfield District Children's Centre WS13 7PH. [email protected] 13th - Spark Burntwood – LGBT+ Family Weekend Playgroup session, 10-11.30am. Spark Springhill, Springhill Academy, Mossbank Avenue, Burntwood. 20th - Lichfield Repair & Share Café, Curborough Community Centre, 2-5pm 21st - Dovehouse Community Garden Working Party, 11-1pm 27th - Sausage & Cider Festival, Woodhouse Farm, Whittington. Tickets available from the farm. 27th - Shenstone Library Repair Café, 10-12pm August ***No Repair Café sessions in August!*** 10th – Ron Rock will run the popular Bee Safari for at the Wolseley Centre. Details can be found on the SinCH website. 17th – Jane Rock from the Staffs Bat Group will run a late evening Bat Walk for us – details on the SinCH website. 18th - Dovehouse Community Garden Working Party, 11-1pm 31st - Lichfield Wildlife Trust Bat Walk: Led by Heather Lomas, in conjunction with SE Staffs Bat Group, 8:00 p.m at Fisherwick Lakes, Fisherwick Wood Lane, Whittington WS13 8QF. Meet in the car park. September 3rd – Lichfield Wildlife Trust AGM followed by talk: ‘Dangerous Animals’ by Peter Norbury. 7.45pm Wade St Church 7th - Burntwood Repair & Share Café, 10-1pm, St Joseph’s RC Church, Cannock Road, WS7 0BB 7th - NCT Cloth Nappy Library. 10.00-12.00am, Lichfield District Children's Centre WS13 7PH. [email protected] 15th - Lichfield Arts Folk on the Farm, Woodhouse Community Farm 12.00-8.00pm. Tickets available here 20th - Globe Foundation Climate Expo (Uttoxeter) - https://www.tickettailor.com/events/globegroup/1192030 21st - Lichfield Repair & Share Café, Curborough Community Centre, 2-5pm with ‘how to use your tools’ workshop! 21st - Midlands Permaculture Festival - https://earthedup.com/learn/midlands-permaculture-festival-2024/ 22nd - Dovehouse Community Garden Working Party, 11-1pm Burton Conservation Volunteers have a range of activities – if you are interested in helping with projects around the Burton area then contact Lawrence Oates – [email protected] News and recent activities The new community plot We have made a start with the new plot at Backcester Lane. This plot is owned by Three Spires Shopping Centre but they had no plans for it so we asked if we could make use of it. With a lot of support from members of Lichfield Methodist Church the mesh cover and weeds were cleared then cardboard and compost put down. Wooden planters were made by Jukes Funeral Services for us specially (great to have them on board!) and plants and seeds are starting to be added to the plot. The Church youth groups will be contributing in a number of ways (eg pebble painting) so please do pop down and take a look as it develops and if you have anything you can add or time available then get in touch.  Morris the Mound In case you did not catch the story in Lichfield Live then our living mud-creature now has a name – Morris the Mound! The name was suggested by Matilda O’Connell from Yr 4 at Christchurch School. Pam visited the school to announce the winner and gave out nature-related books as prizes. The children were very pleased to have been involved in the process. Morris’s grass ‘hair’ is growing very vigorously and needs regular attention!  It was a delight to work with the children of Christ Church Primary School to come up with an origin story and name for our 'mud creature' at Three Tree Triangle on Festival Gardens. The winning entry was by Matilda O'Connell, and she went for.... Morris the Mound! ‘Morris lived in the woods with his family but got taken away to be studied because the scientists had never seen anything like him! Morris was born peculiar looking. The scientists studied Morris and decided that they would let him live in the Wilding area. That's how Morris got there!’   We are delighted to say that following the receipt of grant funding via the Transition Network, provided from National Lottery funds, we have created a fun 'living sculpture' on our Festival Gardens wilding area. We hope it will attract interest and be enjoyed. We are awaiting the results of a 'give it a name' competition so we will announce the winner shortly!  News and recent activities
Our film night and gin tasting was well attended and much enjoyed. Our thanks go to Shenstone Library for hosting and the Apiarist Gin for supplying the delicious, locally-produced, honey-infused gin! ‘Planet Local: A Quiet Revolution ‘ produced by Local Futures, explores the negative impact of the globalisation of the world economy and argues that: • It is an extractive model, not a sustainable one. • Globalisation has turbocharged the pursuit of economic growth at all costs. • In turn, this is driving the twin threats of global warming and ecological destruction. • It is also concentrating economic power and money in very few hands and increasing inequality. • Governments should invest more to support local communities. • Communities need to take their future into their own hands. • It argues that we can improve the situation by re-localising our economy. There were so many people and projects around the world already using the ‘localisation’ model and bringing about change, resulting in people having a sense of purpose and community. It was very inspiring to see solutions. The next step for us all is to see how we can bring about change to our own locality! If you did not get chance to attend then do watch the film – available here. LDC are planning to hold a Climate Summit on 27th Sept at Lichfield Cathedral which would be aimed at residents of the District as well as community groups and businesses. A comprehensive recycling campaign is proposed for May time too, so these provide good opportunities for conversations with the community. And LCC have an active Climate Change Committee which has a number of plans for the City in relation to planting, drinking water and support for eco projects. Repair Café celebrated its 6th birthday and calculated that well over 1000 items have been looked at/repaired! That’s quite an achievement! They will be having a stand at The Great Imagining event, being held at Chase Leisure Centre, Cannock Chase on Sat 9th March. The event will showcase lots of climate and environmental activities – a fun day out for all the family. Grace & May Home (based at the Plant Plot Garden Centre, Lichfield, main building) are now open Fridays - 11-4, Saturdays - 10-4, Sundays - 10-4. They have a new refill station including cleaning, laundry and beauty products (see photo). Customers can purchase ready filled bottles which include a loyalty stamp scheme for refill returns, and/or bring their own clean containers for refills (no loyalty scheme with fill your own). They also have Terracycle collection point for the following items: All Babybel packaging; any brand of flexible plastic cheese packaging and nets; Ferrero Rocher and Ferrero Collection aluminium wrappers, plastic boxes and plastic trays; biscuit, cracker and cake wrappers; Pringles tubes; Bakery plastic packaging; Warburton's wax bread packets; Air, home and laundry care products; Philips dental care products. If getting ready for holidays/travel then they have a number of useful products including insect repellent, after bite balms, toothbrushes, stick deodorants and shampoo bars. Nearly all of their products are vegan friendly and made in the UK. Check them out online for more information. Spark in Burntwood have a number of fundraising events coming up, to help support their many activities - a timetable which can be found here. Their Community Fridge will be undergoing some upgrades throughout March/April but anyone can make use of the items from the fridge so do check it out. Lichfield Cathedral’s Lent Lectures will be a series based on the theme ‘Faithfully Political’, looking at issues that will dominate the narrative of a General Election, expected this year (homelessness, migration, law and order). The Climate Crisis, and it’s impact upon daily life will surely be one of these, and they are pleased to have Andy Atkins, Chair of ‘A Rocha (UK)’, coming to speak (7.15pm - Wednesday, 6th March) on how as people of faith can use our vote and place in the public square, to make changes that will address the existential crisis of Climate Change. The lecture will be followed by group discussion, and a chance for groups to ask questions. New Co-op HQ in Lichfield Good to read the following….“The building, situated at Queen Street, Lichfield, WS13 6QS, includes sustainable features, including solar roof panels, and soon to be installed EV charging points plus a bike shed, and showers planned for early in 2024, for those who choose to take advantage of our new cycle to work scheme. We even recycled and reused as much as we could from our old offices to avoid waste.” Transition are hoping to team up with them on some planting initiatives on the site soon too! Support Staffordshire Job Role Support Staffordshire are recruiting for a new Community and Environment Officer to work on future projects as part of Transforming the Trent Valley Partnership. This is a 30 hour/week post, with work mainly focussed on north Staffordshire, Stoke-on-Trent and Stafford. The role will focus on engaging communities along the River Trent with their local natural spaces, working in partnership with other Transforming the Trent Valley partners to develop environmental community action and volunteering opportunities. The full application pack can be found here but please feel free to share widely among your networks and interested contacts. The closing date is 4th March 2024. Mud Creature! Our Mud Creature is taking shape at Three Tree Triangle at long last! It needs its mosaic eyes adding in and planting to be done too of course but do go take a look if passing! Although it does not look all that big, it has taken over 90 bags of soil so far! Learning opportunities, inspiration and handy hints Read Some items in the news recently: Why are farmers around the world protesting? A useful insight. About time that the UK left the Energy Charter Treaty. Why did they even sign up in the first place? A space probe, made out of wood and about the size of a coffee cup will be launched in the summer! Visit The RHS has a new venture – an urban based show, looking at community growing, indoor plants etc. Household The story of Vinted – are second hand clothes the future? A lot of our Transition members think so! Loo rolls…. There are lots of eco loo rolls out there. What kinds are the best? Serious Tissues loo roll, kitchen roll and tissues are highly recommended (by Pam!). UK made from 100% recycled from post-consumer waste. They plant trees for every roll purchased. In fact, every box sequesters 11% of the average annual carbon footprint of someone in the UK. Check out their calculations on their website. Anyone else use something to compete with this? Please let us know! Get involved Transition meetup Thurs 7th March, 7.00 for 7.30 start at BitterSuite pub. Lots of thing to discuss and plan for. Volunteers are definitely needed if we are to continue to have an impact in our locality so please do show your support if you are able. Mothers Rebellion Sat 9th March, 11am at Speakers’ Corner. Mums, daughters, grandmothers….gather to speak out about our children’s future The Big Plastic count – 11th to 17th March. Try and reduce the plastic you are buying but also count the stuff that you do have! You will be surprised. Gardening/growing There are lots of opportunities for people to help out with planting, maintenance, planning and so on with a range of projects going on. Please get in touch if you would like to be on our list of contacts so that we can get in touch and let us know if you have specific skills or interests. Email [email protected]. Some interesting tips here from the RHS on planting for the environment and also on watering effectively. Contribute Findings from discussions held around the County at consultation events will be brought together at a Staffordshire COP event, which is taking place at Staffordshire University on 15th March. Click here to book your place and/or stand or for further details on the project, partners, sponsors and other events please visit the Staffordshire COP website. ********* Dates for your diary You can also check out the Events listing on the Transition website. March 2nd – Burntwood Repair & Share Café, 10-1pm, St Joseph’s RC Church, Cannock Road, WS7 0BB 2nd - NCT Cloth Nappy Library. 10.00-12.00am, Lichfield District Children's Centre WS13 7PH. [email protected] 2nd – Burton Conservation Volunteers. Washlands litter pick 9.30-12 noon, meet Washlands car park, Watson Street. 3rd - Burton Conservation Volunteers. Milford - training locals to manage 2 community woods. 5th - Lichfield Wildlife Group, talk by Joan Lockley, West Midlands Hedgehog Rescue. Wade Street Church Hall, Frog Lane, Lichfield WS13 6HL. 7.45pm. £3:50. 6th – Lichfield Cathedral Lent Lecture, Andy Atkins of A Rocha, 7.15pm in the Old Stables building. 7th – Transition Meet-up, 7.00pm for 7.30pm start Bitter Suite pub, St John Street. 9th – Mother’s Rebellion gathering, 11-12, Speakers’ Corner Lichfield 9th – Great Imagining, Chase Leisure Centre, 10-4pm. 15th – Staffordshire COP, Staffordshire University, 10-3pm 16th - Lichfield Repair & Share Café, Martin Heath Hall, Christchurch Lane, Lichfield. 2-5pm. Note change of venue just for March only. 24th – Friends of Lichfield City Station working party 10.30am. 29th - 31st – Easter events at Woodhouse Farm. 30th – Shenstone Library Repair Café, 10-12pm April 2nd – Lichfield Wildlife Group – talk by Jane Arnold Pipe Green Trust, Wade Street Church Hall, Frog Lane, Lichfield WS13 6HL. 7.45pm. £3:50. 6th - Burntwood Repair & Share Café, 10-1pm, St Joseph’s RC Church, Cannock Road, WS7 0BB 6th - NCT Cloth Nappy Library. 10.00-12.00am, Lichfield District Children's Centre WS13 7PH. [email protected] 12th – Spark Fashion Show, Ashmole Club, Hammerwich (time tbc) 18th – Lichfield Cathedral along with Lichfield Wildlife Group iNaturalist workshop at College Hall, The Close, 2pm-4pm 20th - Lichfield Repair & Share Café, Curborough Community Centre, 2-5pm 22nd - Lichen around The Close. Ivan Pedley will be sharing his expertise on lichen, beginning with a Talk in College Hall at 2pm followed by a Walk around The Close. Email [email protected] to book 27th – Shenstone Library Repair Café, 10-12pm It has been a while since we have had a film showing and discussion and this one was made even better with the addition of the fabulous, locally-produced, honey-infused Apiarist gin! The Shenstone Library Environment Group hosted it for us at the amazing community run library in Shenstone village and we watched an appropriate film entitled 'Planet Local: A Quiet Revolution', looking at the topic of localisation v globalisation. Local wins hands down! The group discussed issues affecting us locally and celebrated all the brilliant initiatives already happening. If you want to be kept informed of our events then join our mailing list - email on [email protected].  News and recent activities
We held a very constructive Transition ‘meetup’ at the Bitter Suite pub on 11th January and it was great to see some new faces there. As we will be holding a film night and gin tasting event on 28th Feb (details a bit further on in this newsletter!), then perhaps a meet-up on Thurs 7th March would be an idea, so that we can follow up on anything raised at the film showing/discussion and make some plans for the year ahead. Gemma Wall was one of the attendees. Gemma was appointed as the Waste Minimisation Officer for Staffs CC in September and has got of to a brilliant start at bringing about changes at all the recycling centres across Staffordshire and introducing some new initiatives. There is a ‘Repaint’ scheme starting up where usable paint that is dropped off at the Centres can be taken by anyone for reuse. Staff will sort the paint brought in to ensure that it is in good condition still and then people will be free to take what they want. It costs SCC an awful lot of money each year to dispose of unwanted paint. A great resource for community groups too if needing to revamp premises or do arty projects. Gemma is also putting together ‘home starter packs’ consisting of secondhand goods which are still in good condition and usable that might otherwise have been put into skips. The packs are then given out to people leaving prison or perhaps escaping domestic abuse. Groups or individuals who might be able to rehome other items can register with the sites to be part of a scheme to pick up items left in the Katherine House containers (large blue shipping container at the Lichfield site). If Katherine House do not want certain items then they will leave them in there and if you can show that you are putting items to use to benefit others (could be something that gets repaired or upcycled and then used by a community centre for example). All ideas helping to cut down on waste. It was great to meet Nicky Jones (and husband Will!) from Spark in Burntwood too. Nicky runs the Babybank scheme, amongst other things! We did do a Spotlight on the group in one of last year’s newsletters but we just wanted to share how much they are doing for the community and for families who really do need support. Hats off to Team Spark! Here is their current timetable of activities, just to show you what’s going on. ReThink Food initiative for Staffordshire. A lady called Diana Smith is spearheading this group and has connected with a wide range of groups, individuals and businesses who are concerned about the current plight of our food system. Diana is keen to get an effective network of suppliers, producers, teachers and so on to benefit the whole county. Shropshire has a very successful food initiative in place and it is hoped that a Staffordshire one can be set up. If you are interested in being part of this network then please get in touch with Diana ([email protected]) and take a look at the Shropshire Good Food Partnership website for reference. We can contribute to this network here in Lichfield with projects like the ‘Growing Communities’ one which Nurture are running again this year. Repair Café sessions have become increasingly busy and great to know that the word is spreading. If you know of somewhere where a poster could be located that you would be willing to keep an eye on/update then do get in touch. Home insultation initiative just launched with Community Home Solutions and supported by Staffs County Council and Lichfield District Council. Further details can be found via https://www.staffordshire.gov.uk/Warmer-Homes/Staffordshire-Warmer-Homes.aspx or https://www.communityhomesolutions.co.uk/grant-funded-schemes.html Stychbrook Leisure Centre proposals. Diane Harrison attended the planning meeting but found it most unsatisfactory. Inaccurate information about the form of heating to be used and a general dismissiveness of concerns about noise from the pitches and lack of joined up public transport plans. Diane will continue to follow up on areas of concern. The Grace & May Home store at the Plant Plot garden centre has increased its range of liquid and powder refill items (shampoo, soap, washing up liquid, cleaning products, citric acid etc) and is open Saturdays and Sundays at the moment or look online for more information. They also have some Terracycle recycling bins and hope to increase the coverage of those soon. Woodhouse Community Farm are preparing for the showing season so visitors might be lucky enough to see Bull Stewart, Cow Belle and calf Priscilla or bull calf Buster out for a walk. They hope to be showing their rare breed Irish Moilies at Staffordshire, Shropshire, Derbyshire and Three Counties Shows this year. Lichfield Cathedral’s Lent Lectures will be a series based on the theme ‘Faithfully Political’, looking at issues that will dominate the narrative of a General Election, expected this year (homelessness, migration, law and order). The Climate Crisis, and it’s impact upon daily life will surely be one of these, and they are pleased to have Andy Atkins, Chair of ‘A Rocha (UK)’, coming to speak (7.15pm - Wednesday, 6th March) on how as people of faith can use our vote and place in the public square, to make changes that will address the existential crisis of Climate Change. The lecture will be followed by group discussion, and a chance for groups to ask questions. With support from the County Climate Action Fund, Lichfield Cathedral have purchased a touch screen dedicated to its environmental activities. Material is still being uploaded but do take a look when you’re next in the Cathedral. Lichfield District Council are recruiting for this role – Policy & Strategy Team Leader: Environment & Communities. The closing date is today (26th January!) but whoever gets this position will be a crucial connection for us and many other groups around the District. Useful to see the remit of the role. Transition - Ideas and projects for the coming year – ‘open garden’ dates for showing/skill sharing gardens with veg growing and/or wilding spaces; the Great Big Green Week in June – what could we do for that?; a group visit to the Centre for Alternative Technology in Wales; Fuse Festival 12th-14th July – have some activities and a ‘green’ presence there? Also form a Climate Choir to perform at it (currently being looked into). Learning opportunities, inspiration and handy hints Read The Resilient Garden by Tom Massey (copy available to borrow via Philippa). An excellent and very clear guide. The concept of doughnut economics is being talked about a lot. But what is it?! Read about the concept here. Not the End of the World by Hannah Ritchie. This is a data based discussion with a very positive slant. Hannah is well respected and has great positivity about what CAN be done. The reports feeding back on the local ‘green conversations’ held around Staffordshire last year and which some of you attended. Two handy articles about heat pumps here, something many of us will need to learn about in the next few years. Good to see that research is showing that they are effective. And this visualization is great at explaining how they work! Watch Countryfile on 4th Feb as Lawrence Oates of Burton Conservation Volunteers may be featured on there (if he hasn’t been cut from the filming!). He certainly deserves some recognition for the mazing and varied work that he has been involved in for the past 30 years across Staffordshire. TED Countdown: A New Climate Vision – excellent range of talks and inspirational people. Listen Planet Critical: podcast journalist Rachel Donald interviews people confronting the climate crisis, revealing what is really going on and what needs to be done. Sustainability Champions podcast – highlighting the people, ideas and innovations protecting and healing the planet. Get involved Transition film night Wednesday 28th February, 7.30-9.30pm Shenstone Library, Main Street, Shenstone The Economics of Happiness: a short film. "Localization is the best way to repair our ecosystems, our societies and ourselves." Come and join us for an evening of thoughtful discussion on how making small changes locally can help with the bigger picture. Hosted by Transition Lichfield and the Shenstone Library Environment Group, we will show this short film, followed up with discussion about some of projects happening around the District, with a positive slant to it all! And to keep us in the positive frame of mind, attendees can sample the delights of the locally produced, bee-inspired gins courtesy of The Apiarist! No ticket required but please book in so we can cater for the right number - email [email protected]. Gardening/growing There are lots of opportunities for people to help out with planting, maintenance, planning and so on with a range of projects going on. Please get in touch if you would like to be on our list of contacts so that we can get in touch and let us know if you have specific skills or interests. Email [email protected]. Contribute Book a place at the Lichfield session (8th Feb) of Future’s Thinking Consultation Events, organised by the Globe Foundation. The events are taking place across each Staffordshire district in Feb 2024, plus one online workshop, to enable people from all different backgrounds and sectors to take part and talk about climate change/environmental concerns. Link to book your local one here. Findings from discussions will be brought together at a Staffordshire COP event, which is taking place at Staffordshire University on 15th March. Click here to book your place and/or stand or for further details on the project, partners, sponsors and other events please visit the Staffordshire COP website. Mother’s Rebellion Are you worried about the climate emergency, and want to take some positive action? Join Grandmothers, Mothers, Aunties, Sisters, Daughters and allies (everyone welcome really!). We believe in the power of Mothers and caregivers to demand climate justice. We know that the least responsible for the climate crisis are also the most impacted. Please join us for this peaceful action. Likely to be held at Speakers’ Corner, Lichfield 11-12pm but contact Clare Whitehouse to be kept up to date – [email protected] ********* Dates for your diary January 27th – Shenstone Library Repair Café, 10-12.00. 26th to 28th - RSPB Great Garden Birdwatch 31st – Sausage Making Workshop, Woodhouse Community Farm, 2-5pm. Booking essential. February 3rd - Burntwood Repair & Share Café, 10-1pm, St Joseph’s RC Church, Cannock Road, WS7 0BB 3rd - NCT Cloth Nappy Library. 10.00-12.00am, Lichfield District Children's Centre WS13 7PH. [email protected] 3rd – Burton Conservation Volunteers. Washlands litter pick 9.30-12 noon, meet Washlands car park, Watson Street. 4th – Burton Conservation Volunteers. Milford training locals to manage 2 community woods. 6th - Lichfield Wildlife Group, talk by Nicola Lynes on Transforming the Trent Valley legacy. Wade Street Church Hall, Frog Lane, Lichfield WS13 6HL. 7.45pm. £3:50. 7th – Lichfield Science & Engineering Society talk “The Scale of Human Impact During the Anthropocene” Prof Colin Waters. Lichfield Garrick Studio, 8pm. £8 non-members. 8th – Futures Thinking Workshop, Lichfield Guildhall, 1-3pm 17th – Build your own nestbox with SinCH. 1.45-3.30pm Great Haywood Memorial Hall, Great Haywood. Come along to assemble a bird box from a kit provided by the Staffordshire Wildlife Trust. £6 per box. Email [email protected] to book (places limited to 20) 17th – Lichfield Repair & Share Café, 2-5pm, Curborough Community Centre, WS13 7NY. 24th – Shenstone Library Repair Café, 10-12.00. 28th – Transition/Shenstone Group film night and gin tasting. Shenstone Library, Main Street, Shenstone. Please email [email protected] if you intend to come in case plans changed and you need to be notified. March 2nd – Burntwood Repair & Share Café, 10-1pm, St Joseph’s RC Church, Cannock Road, WS7 0BB 2nd – Burton Conservation Volunteers. Washlands litter pick 9.30-12 noon, meet Washlands car park, Watson Street. 3rd - Burton Conservation Volunteers. Milford - training locals to manage 2 community woods. 5th - Lichfield Wildlife Group, talk by Joan Lockley, West Midlands Hedgehog Rescue. Wade Street Church Hall, Frog Lane, Lichfield WS13 6HL. 7.45pm. £3:50. 6th – Lichfield Cathedral Lent Lecture, Andy Atkins of A Rocha, 7.15pm 7th – Transition Meet-up, 7.00pm Bitter Suite pub. 9th – Mother’s Rebellion gathering, 11-12, Speakers’ Corner Lichfield 9th – Great Imagining, Chase Leisure Centre, 10-4pm. 15th – Staffordshire COP, Staffordshire University, 10-3pm |
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