Solar panels, food stalls, permaculture visits and lots more!

Hi everyone

We hope you've all had a good summer! We're back with lots of exciting news and events - highlights include a workshop on how to get the most from solar panels at our cafe night next Thursday (12 Sept), the food group stall at the Food, Garden and Produce show on 14/15 September, and the permaculture group visit to Stonebridge Farm on 14 Sept. We also highly recommend the new Ethical Guide to Cambridge from the Cambridge Hub, and Cambridgeshire's 1st gleaning day this Sunday with the Gleaning Network.  And there's lots more below!

CONTENTS

Transition News and Events

  • Tuesday 03 September: Food Group meeting
  • Tuesday 10 September: Energy Group Meeting
  • Thursday 12 September: Transition Cafe - Getting the most from your solar panels
  • Saturday 14 September - Sunday 15: Food, Garden and Produce Festival
  • Saturday 14 September: Permaculture Group Visit to Stonebridge Farm
  • Tuesday 24 September: Fruit Harvest Project Meeting
  • Monday 07 October: Transition Cambridge AGM
  • Saturday 12 October - Sunday 13: Introduction to Permaculture with Claire White
  • Greeniversity classes: cycle maintenance and sewing
  • Transition Free Press - latest edition has arrived in Cambridge
  • Energy Group wants your input

Community News

  • Room to Rent, Trumpington.

Other News and Events

  • Friday 19 July - Monday 30 September: Cambridge Local Plan 2014 - public consultation
  • Sunday 08 September: Food, Farming + Countryside event
  • Sunday 08 September: 1st Cambridgeshire Gleaning Day!
  • 14th-15th September: Clacton Eco-DIY open-house (with permaculture aspects)
  • Saturday 14 September: Bassingbourn Village Harvest Market
  • Saturday 14 September: Fulbourn Community Market
  • Saturday 14 September: Fulbourn Forum: Warmer homes, lower bills event
  • Sunday 15 September: Save the Arctic Parade in London
  • New Ethical Guide to Cambridge - just out!
  • Cambridge Sustainability Centre: Apple-pressing and Shamanics
  • Seeking Volunteer Admin Assistant
  • Events for your calendar

Transition News and Events

Tuesday 03 September: Food Group meeting

18:30-20:00, CB2 restaurant (upstairs room), Norfolk Street, CB1 2LD

All welcome at the Food Group's first meeting in the autumn! We'll be making plans for our presence at the Food, Garden and Produce show on 14th and 15th September on Parker's Piece.

Tuesday 10 September: Energy Group Meeting

20:00-21:30, Judith's house

We will decide on the next forum and discuss further the community energy project for PV panels - and anything else that crops up. Contact Nicola for details of venue.

Thursday 12 September: Transition Cafe - Getting the most from your solar panels

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

Transition Cafe's autumn season starts with home energy expert Nicola Terry. She'll be talking about how to get the most from your solar panels, about choosing a site (and why shading is so important), and what you can do to make sure you use as much of the generated electricity yourself as possible. As always, there will be plenty of time for questions. The Energy group has a fact sheet on solar panels you may also find useful.

Saturday 14 September - Sunday 15: Food, Garden and Produce Festival

10:00-17:00, Parker's Piece, central Cambridge

This is the last of summer's big outdoor events on Parker's Piece. Come and visit the Transition stall - we're usually in the marquee with the fruit and veg judging competitions. Look out for our big banner! You can meet some friendly transitioners and find out more about what we're doing, including the new fruit harvest project. More info. If you can help out on the stall, contact us You might even want to enter a giant vegetable, or a jar of delicious jam in one of the Festival's competitions... See you there! More details here.

Saturday 14 September: Permaculture Group Visit to Stonebridge Farm

11:00-16:00

Visit to community allotment and then on to lunch at Stonebridge Farm where we will think about the permaculture design for the Farm. Lunch bookable for £6 if booked at least a week in advance. Please note this is instead of the visit to Saffron Walden allotments. More details here.

Tuesday 24 September: Fruit Harvest Project Meeting

17:30-20:30, Upstairs at CB2 Bistro, Norfolk Street, Cambridge

Come along to the Fruit Harvest Project meeting. We aim to redistrubute unwanted fruit from gardens to people and organisations who need or can use it. If you can help with picking or delivering fruit, or you just want to find out how else you can get join in, please come along! More details here.

Monday 07 October: Transition Cambridge AGM

19:30-21:30, Friends Meeting House, Jesus Lane (Meeting Room upstairs)

Full details of our AGM are yet to be confirmed but this is just to give advance notice of the date.

Saturday 12 October - Sunday 13: Introduction to Permaculture with Claire White

09:30-17:30, Trumpington Pavillion

Permaculture is the underpinning philosophy behind Transition Towns. While Permaculture has it's origins in land use and growing systems that is only a part of Permaculture. It is a design system, not just for gardening but for all aspects of living sustainably, be that in our emotional lives, how we design and use our homes and much much more. Cost £75 (£65 unwaged). To book, please fill in the booking form. More details here.

Greeniversity classes: cycle maintenance and sewing

The next Greeniversity classes will be on cycle maintenance (21 Sept) and sewing (29 September) - please book for these via the Greeniversity web-site as we expect them to be popular (the cycle workshop will appear there soon). If you'd like to share a skill, please get in touch as we are currently planning skillshares for this coming Autumn. And don't forget our next Skillsfest on Saturday 9th November!(We're also looking for people to help organise and publicise skillshares in Cambridge, so get in touch if you'd like to be on the organising team - thanks!)

Transition Free Press - latest edition has arrived in Cambridge

The next edition of the Transition newspaper, Transition Free Press, has arrived, and is full of inspiring Transition news from the UK and further afield. It will be available in Cambridge at our events and in Urban Larder (9 The Broadway, Mill Rd) and also hopefully at the organic veg stall on the Sunday market (to be confirmed).

Energy Group wants your input

The energy group has now run forums on: Solar panels for electricity, Wood burning stoves (twice), Solid wall insulation, Draught proofing and Ventilation, Reducing Heat Loss from Walls and Window, Managing Your Home Heating - what do you think we should do next? What home energy topic - either generating power or saving energy - would be of most interest to you? Please fill in our survey to let us know.

Community News

Room to Rent, Trumpington.

Room to rent in Trumpington. Green household with lovely garden backing onto allotments/community orchard. We are after a friendly non-smoker to rent a large room, shared use of kitchen, dining room and bathroom. Own fridge. 10-15 minute cycle ride from station and town centre on dedicated cycle routes. £350 Rent includes bills (water, electric gas and broad band.) If you are interested or know someone who might be, do get in touch.

Other News and Events

Friday 19 July - Monday 30 September: Cambridge Local Plan 2014 - public consultation

09:00-09:00, online and community venues

Would you like to have your voice heard in shaping the future of Cambridge? Maybe you feel passionately about what's happening where you live, new housing, low-carbon buildings, food-growing spaces, biodiversity, cycling? The City Council's draft Local Plan 2014 is now going through its final round of community consultation. There are exhibitions in community venues all around the city and in some of the nearby villages during the consultation period (find dates and venues via the link below) - and of course you can comment online too. Participate in this important consultation - it's your chance to give your views and shape the future! <a href="https://www.cambridge.gov.uk/draft-local-plan-2014">Full info here</a>.

Sunday 08 September: Food, Farming + Countryside event

10:00-16:00, Milton Country Park

Local food stalls, information and activities from wildlife and countryside organisations. Including the Milton Produce Show (still accepting last-minute entries!) and the Milton Country Park Dog Show. More details here.

Sunday 08 September: 1st Cambridgeshire Gleaning Day!

10:00-17:00,

This Sunday 8th September we will be heading down to a farm near Peterborough to glean tonnes of onions and potatoes! All produce will to charities dealing with food poverty and of course you're welcome to take some too. We will also be filmed by THE BBC BREAKFAST SHOW, one of the most watched programmes on TV, so get your digging skills on the telly for an amazing cause. So come join us on the farm for an great day out in the countryside, travel expenses paid from nearby (just ask us first). We are also looking for people to drive and liftshare from Cambridge and the area, please contact me the Cambridge Gleaning Hub Co-ordinator Jennie Debenham to volunteer or for more info - join the Gleaning Revolution! (If you're wondering what gleaning is, it's when you harvest the remaining crop that the farmer would otherwise leave in, either because it's too difficult to harvest the last few veg, or because the supermarkets decide they don't want it - so it prevents food from going to waste, and can help to provide food for those who most need it.) More info here.

14th-15th September: Clacton Eco-DIY open-house (with permaculture aspects)

10:00-17:00, Clacton C015 4LN (contact for full address)

Chris and Rosie will be showing visitors their wood burning cooker and central heating and talking about their experience of solar water heating and electricity production. They are also focusing this year on food growing and extending the season and the range of crops. They can also talk about keeping chickens and keeping bees in a bee-friendly way. They are now a Permaculture Land Project and have a steady supply of volunteers living there and learning about permaculture. See more information here. House open 10 to 5 each day; for more details and the full address contact Chris or Rosie by e-mail.

Saturday 14 September: Bassingbourn Village Harvest Market

10:00, War Memorial Green, North End (or in the church in the event of inclement weather)

Come along for the usual wide variety of locally sourced, made or grown produce. On this occasion, there will also be the chance to have a go on the new interactive Energy Display from South Cambridgeshire District Council, with practical advice on hand about how to save energy and make your home warmer and cosier. To book a pitch, please contact Gail Williams on 01763 247715 or at e-mail her. The quarterly Village Markets are organised by the Bassingbourn Living Local group and the Parish Church.

Saturday 14 September: Fulbourn Community Market

14:00-16:30, Fulbourn Centre, Home End, CB21 5BS

Our autumn market promises a full hall bursting with goodies: delicious artisan breads and cakes; fresh local savouries; local fruit, vegetables, produce and Fulbourn-brewed beer; handmade lotions and cosmetics; beautiful arts, crafts and cards; and affordable jewellery. For further info; call 01223 880616 or email us. More details here.

Saturday 14 September: Fulbourn Forum: Warmer homes, lower bills event

14:30-17:00, Fulbourn Centre, Home End, CB21 5BS

Lots of tips to help you keep your house warm and save money. An energy overview – including on the Green Deal – and advice on solar and PV energy; insulation and draught-proofing; external wall insulation; thermal imaging and home energy monitoring; choosing and running a wood-burning stove; plus a Q&A session. We’ll also have the brilliant SCDC interactive ‘Touching Energy’ display, and some Eco-Action games – both fun ways for adults and youngsters to learn energy-saving tips. For further info; call 01223 880616 or email us. More details here.

Sunday 15 September: Save the Arctic Parade in London

12:00-17:00, Meet next to Parliament in Victoria Tower Gardens

On Sunday 15 September, at the moment when the Arctic ice melts to its lowest point of the year, we aim to create a global moment to talk about climate change, and the threat to the region from oil companies like Shell. Our parade will walk through central London, led by Aurora the awe-inspiring, double-decker bus sized bear. We hope the parade will be the largest climate moment London has seen for a long time. Everyone can take part, all you need to do is where white on the day. If you’d like to find out more about the work of Greenpeace to protect the Arctic, please click here to see our animation about Shell’s deal with Russian oil company Gazprom, or here for all the news about our progress over the past months. For more info about this event, see here, and to find out more about the Save the Arctic campaign and sign the petition, go here.

New Ethical Guide to Cambridge - just out!

Cambridge Hub have just finished the new version of the Ethical Guide to Cambridge and it looks great! Check it out here. We'll try to make sure we have some paper copies to give out at our events too. (This alternative link may be easier for some people to access - it can take a little while to load up.)

Cambridge Sustainability Centre: Apple-pressing and Shamanics

Upcoming events at the Cambridge Sustainability Centre include an apple pressing day on 12 October - come along and help pick and press the apples, then take some juice back home with you - and various "Shamanics" courses with Melanie Tomsett on 22nd September, 14th October, and then a year-long course of 12 monthly workshops starting in November. Shamanics is a form of deep spiritual, personal development and healing, based in nature. The Shamanics workshops are a contemporary distillation of Northern Hemisphere (northern European, Amerindian, Hawaiian Kahuna and Doaist) Shaman knowledge that is based in the common truths held with all these traditions but without the dogma or ritual. For more information and to book on these courses and other activities at the Cambridge Sustainability Centre, see their web-site here.

Seeking Volunteer Admin Assistant

From Alana Sinclair at Cambridge Carbon Footprint: Are you looking for office experience? Do you have a keen interest in environmental issues? Could you volunteer your time 3 half days a week for a small, friendly environmental charity in Cambridge? We’re looking for an admin volunteer to help out us out in the Cambridge Carbon Footprint office. All necessary training provided! Click here for more information on the role. To apply please email your CV and a cover letter to Alana Sinclair before 5pm September 12th.

Events for your calendar

We'd love to hear your ideas for future events and projects, and we're also looking for volunteers to help out with various things - so please get in touch if you'd like to get involved!

Anna

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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