Merry Christmas from Transition Cambridge!

Hi everyone,

As Christmas approaches, take a look at our "Gifts that don't cost the Earth" - thanks to everyone who suggested new ideas at Mill Road Winter Fair (here are some photos of our stall). And we hope you can come to our Christmas party this Thursday in CB1 cafe - there'll be mince pies and music (bring instruments if you'd like to play!). Looking ahead to the New Year, the next Wildlife Wanderings will be on 4th January, and Seedy Sunday is coming on 19th January - a great chance to swap seeds ready for next year's growing season. And we have lots more events planned through to March, including a forum on community-owned energy and a film on forest gardening, and lots of group meetings - so lots of ways to get involved! 

CONTENTS

Transition News and Events

  • Thursday 19 December: Transition Christmas Party
  • Saturday 04 January: Wildlife Wanderings
  • Thursday 09 January: Cafe evening: Welcome to Transition Cambridge!
  • Sunday 19 January: Trumpington Seedy Sunday
  • Photos from Mill Road Winter Fair
  • Low-carbon gift ideas, updated with ideas from the fair
  • Transition Cafe will be monthly in 2014
  • Assistant Treasurer needed!
  • Helping out with TC stall at Seedy Sunday
  • New Year calendar of events (Jan to March)

Other News and Events

  • Thursday 19 December: CFC premieres: Cambridgeshire Film Consortium productions 2013
  • Sunday 12 January: Wassail at Trumpington Community Orchard
  • Saturday 25 January: Cambridge Climate and Sustainability Forum 2014
  • Cambridge Re-use

Transition News and Events

Thursday 19 December: Transition Christmas Party

19:30-21:00, CB1 cafe, 32 Mill Road, CB1 2AD

Everyone is invited to our Transition Christmas party, where there will be music (bring along instruments/songs if you'd like to play/sing), cakes and mince-pies - and bring your friends! (We may move to the 6 Bells pub on Covent Garden (just around the corner by Cambridge Wine Merchants) after 9 o'clock.)

Saturday 04 January: Wildlife Wanderings

11:30-13:00, Logan's Meadow LNR, Logan's Way, Cambridge

Join us for a friendly and informal wander around this local nature reserve (LNR), observing the little details of nature as we go. This nature reserve is in the heart of Cambridge and is a haven of peace amidst the bussle of the city. There's a lovely description of it in the Guardian's Country Diary. We'll meet at the entrance - map here - and wander for about an hour. There's more info about the reserve here. Please bring sensible, stout shoes, warm clothing and some water. All welcome, including families. Feel free to contact Jade if you have any questions.

Thursday 09 January: Cafe evening: Welcome to Transition Cambridge!

19:30-21:00, CB1 cafe, 32 Mill Road, CB1 2AD

Come along to the first cafe evening of 2014 to find out who we are, what we do and (optionally) how to get involved. If you've got ideas, bring them along - or just enjoy meeting others who want to help make Cambridge more sustainable and resilient. All welcome.

Sunday 19 January: Trumpington Seedy Sunday

13:30-16:00, Trumpington Village Hall, High Street, Trumpington CB2 9HZ

Trumpington Seedy Sunday is a regular annual event. Note the date now! Bring self-saved seeds to exchange, exchange bought surplus seed, or take seeds in exchange for a small donation. If you don't have any spare seeds, don't worry - there are always plenty to go round.  There'll be a talk by Keith Jordan on The Joy of Seeds (2:00pm) and a film "Seeds of Sovereignty" at 3:00pm. Stalls include: Trumpington W.I. refreshments, Thomas Etty Seed Merchants, Trumpington Community Orchard, and Transition Cambridge. There'll also be a children's activity - Fun with Seeds - and a student networking session. Entry costs £1.50 for adults (children free). We'd love some help publicising the event (web-page here: Trumpington Seedy Sunday) and if you'd like to help out on the day anytime between noon and 5:30pm that would be great. We're also looking for a photographer to help us record the event. Donations of garden and seed-related gifts for the raffle will be appreciated! To make your offer please get in touch before January 11th 2014. If you can help, please contact the organisers.

Photos from Mill Road Winter Fair

Here are some photos of our stall at Mill Road Winter Fair - a big thank you to everyone who helped out!

Low-carbon gift ideas, updated with ideas from the fair

Thank you to everyone who contributed ideas for low-carbon Christmas gifts at our stall on Mill Road Winter Fair! Your ideas have been added to our list of "Gifts that don't cost the Earth". Our favourites are the offer of bringing your loved one tea in bed, a box of home-made biscuits, a lesson in a skill e.g. crocheting, DIY, cycle repair or playing a musical instrument, and a plant or vegetable from your allotment, amongst many other lovely ideas!

Transition Cafe will be monthly in 2014

Transition Cafe is changing its rhythm and will be moving to being once-a-month from January 2014. These will be at our usual place - CB1 cafe, 32 Mill Road, on the first Thursday of the month (7.30 till 9.00pm). From time to time we may do an occasional 'Cafe special' on another date if something unmissable comes along. We have several great cafe evenings planned for the first part of 2014: January 9th - Introducing Transition Cambridge; February 6th - Forest Gardening; March 6th - CropShare. And we have some interesting ideas for cafe evenings after that...keep an eye on the weekly bulletin. If you have a great idea or something you'd like to suggest for a cafe evening, get in touch. Hope to see you at one or more of these enjoyable and informative evenings!

Assistant Treasurer needed!

Our treasurer is off to Spain for 3 months in the new year, so we are looking for an assistant treasurer to help keep our accounts in order while he's away. If you might be able to help with this, please get in touch! We'd also very much appreciate some help with fundraising, in particular filling in an application form for a grant that is currently available (the grant would help fund a series of masterclasses in social and environmental activism, and possibly (separately) a new gazebo). In the longer term, we are also interested in raising funds for core costs that would allow us to rent an office with storage space and a meeting area to hold events and group meetings. If you could help us with any of these, we'd love to hear from you (e-mail us here). Thanks!

Helping out with TC stall at Seedy Sunday

We'd love some help on the Transition stall at Seedy Sunday on 19th January (1:30-4pm, Trumpington Village Hall) - if you could help out for an hour or two, please let us know or just come along on the day - thanks!

New Year Events Calendar

We also have a leaflet - if you'd like to print a few out and leave them places, that will be brilliant! (They are arranged on 4 A4, so if you ask your printer to print 2 to a page (without borders) and double sided, you should get two A5 leaflets).

Other News and Events

Thursday 19 December: CFC premieres: Cambridgeshire Film Consortium productions 2013

18:00, Arts Picturehouse, 38-39 St Andrews Street, CB2 3AR

This evening showcases the work of the Cambridgeshire Film Consortium, including Willow Farm, a short film made by young film-makers when they joined Transition Cambridge's Cropshare project for the day. The evening has an entertaining programme of CFC 2013 films, including: Mega Wizards, Cambridge Time Travellers, Greatest Sporting Mistakes in History 2, Jump Cuts and Farm (supported by Cambridge Sustainable City) as well as the Cropshare film. Presented by the CFC and BFI Film Academy Autumn 2013. More details here.

Sunday 12 January: Wassail at Trumpington Community Orchard

15:30, Trumpington Community Orchard, next to the Foster Road Allotments and very near the guided bus station

Everyone is welcome to our Wassail, a traditional ceremony to celebrate the apple trees and encourage them to bear a good crop in the year to come. There will be a bit of traditional dancing, some hearty singing of wassail songs, and a cup or two of mulled cider (or apple juice) to keep out the cold. The orchard will be decorated with lights, ribbons and anything else we can lay our hands on, and we will celebrate apple trees, traditional orchards and the Old Twelfth Night all in one go. The event will start at 3:30pm with a musical procession, where we will hang toast on the oldest apple tree, and sing a wassail carol. We will then go round the orchard adding ribbons, decorations and lights, before warming up with a wassail cup. Adults and children very welcome - wrap up warm, bring a torch or a lantern, a musical instrument or something to make a noise with, and a ribbon or anything you like to decorate the trees.

Saturday 25 January: Cambridge Climate and Sustainability Forum 2014

09:00-17:00, Murray Edward College, Huntingdon Road

Interested in climate change and sustainability? Want to learn more about innovative solutions to the challenges ahead? Keen to network with like-minded environmentally-conscious individuals? Get your tickets for the Cambridge Climate & Sustainability Forum 2014 now! For more details, check out our website. The conference aims to raise awareness of pressing environmental issues surrounding the world today, and seeks to be a platform that allows students to discuss and debate critical issues and trends evolving around the topic of climate change and sustainability. It is organised and run by a group of students each year who are dedicated to spread the word about climate change and environmental issues. The initiative is supported by Cambridge Hub.

Cambridge Re-use

Cambridge Re-use (http://www.cambridgereuse.org.uk) offers good quality low-cost furniture, white goods and other household items to anyone on a low income: that is, single households with an annual income of £18,000 or less and joint households on £23,000 or less. As well as large furniture pieces such as sofas and beds, a range of smaller items – like bedding, lamps, vases and pictures – are also available along with books, DVDs, CDs and toys. Some great opportunities for environmentally-friendly Christmas presents! Cambridge Re-use is based just off Cherry Hinton Road on the Paddocks Industrial Estate (near Budgens supermarket, CB1 8DH). Opening hours are 9 am – 4.30 pm Monday to Friday and 10 am – 3 pm Saturday.

We hope you all have a lovely break over Christmas, and we'll be back in the New Year!

Anna and the TC bulletin-writing team

Our Mission

Transition Cambridge aims to help Cambridge make the transition to ways of life that are more resilient in the face of rising energy prices and a changing climate.

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