Newsletters20110606

Hi Everyone

Lots of interesting events this week and next! The two Sunday events – farming trip and summer social – sound really good for this time of year! I also hope to see some of you at the Eco Renovations Question Time event this Friday evening – a great opportunity to meet some of the home-owners from Open Eco Homes 2011 and ask experts about eco refurbishment. (There are still spaces on some of the home tours later in the month, but places are going fast, so book soon!)

CONTENTS

Transition News and Events

  •   Wednesday 08 June: Heart & Soul Gathering
  •   Thursday 09 June: Cafe night: find out about couchsurfing!
  •   Thursday 09 June: Cherry Hinton Group: New Members Social Event
  •   11th-12th June: Food group stall at Town and Country Fair
  •   Sunday 12 June: Farming group trip to Open Farm Sunday
  •   Wednesday 15 June: Food Group Meeting
  •   Sunday 19 June: Summer Social: Nature walk and picnic
  •   Cooperative Communication Skills - resources and photos
  •   Calendar of events

Other News and Events

  •   Wednesday 08 June: “In Transition” – Histon film screening and discussion
  •   Friday 10th June: Eco-renovation Question Time (+ launch of Open Eco Homes)
  •   Sunday 12 June: Open Farm Sunday at Coton Reserve
  •   Friday 17 June - Sunday 19 June: The Real Farm Festival
  • Saturday 18 June, Sunday 26: Open Eco Homes 2011
  •   Sunday 19 June: Plant swap in Trumpington

Transition News and Events

Wednesday 08 June: Heart & Soul Gathering

19:15-21:00, Friend's Meeting House Jesus Lane

The monthly Heart & Soul Group offers a space to explore our emotional responses to peak oil and climate change and to support ourselves and one another through the transition. The group will be a safe and supportive place to share our “heart & soul” responses. There will also be tea and cake and the opportunity to get to know to one another. Donations to cover room hire are welcome.

Thursday 09 June: Cafe night: find out about couchsurfing!

19:30-22:00, 22 Jesus Lane

At our next cafe night, we hope there'll be a chance to find out about couchsurfing, which is a great way to connect with people from other places and cultures without needing to travel (or alternatively, it's a way of travelling cheaply and meeting people who live and work in the places you visit...). Basically you offer your couch (or spare bed) to people travelling to Cambridge, or you look for couches/spare beds in the places you are going to visit. See their web-site for how it works. Wesley Stanford will come along with some other local couchsurfers to share their experiences. The cafe will open from 7:30pm, with the couchsurfing discussion starting at 8. There'll be tea, cakes and biscuits! As this still needs to be confirmed, please check our website on the day before coming specially! All welcome, free.

Thursday 09 June: Cherry Hinton Group: New Members Social Event

20:00-20:00, 22 Leyburn Close, Cherry Hinton, CB1 9XR

Come and see the film "In Transition", a great introduction to the Transition Movement.   A selection of local wines, apple juices and various snacks will available to sample.    Free event, although any donations towards expenses would be welcome.  Contact Jerry for more info.

11th-12th June: Food group stall at Town and Country Fair

10:00-17:00, Parkers Piece

The Town and Country Fair is on Parker's Piece this weekend, and the food group will be having a stall there. There'll also be some general information about Transition, including the Energy group's latest information sheets about renewable energies for the home. We will be giving away free vegetable plants to would-be vegetable growers, so if you have any spare plants, please bring them along - thanks!

Sunday 12 June: Farming group trip to Open Farm Sunday

14:00-17:00, College Farm, Duxford

Open Farm Sunday is a day when thousands of farms across the country open their gates and let you have a nosey at what they're up to. We're planning a trip to College Farms, Duxford. The farm produces potatoes, onions and other vegetables for major supermarkets as well as local shops and box schemes. The farm is a mixture of LEAF-accredited and organic land. If interested email Helen, since we will arrange group transport to the site. More details here.

Wednesday 15 June: Food Group Meeting

19:00-21:00, United Reform Church, Cherry Hinton Road, Cambridge CB1 7AJ.

Please use the Hartington Grove entrance.

This is the fortnightly food group meeting. All welcome.

Sunday 19 June: Summer Social: Nature walk and picnic

11:00-15:00, Coldham's Common, Coldham's Lane entrance

We hope you can come to our summer social! Iain Webb is offering to take us all on a nature walk around Coldham's Common, followed by a bring-and-share picnic lunch (come to walk/lunch or both). Iain works for the wildlife trust and is a founder member of the Transition Cambridge nature group. The walk will start at 11 from the entrance to Coldham's Common on Coldham's Lane, and then we'll meet back there at 1pm to find a nice spot for a picnic lunch (hopefully visible from this entrance). More details to follow!

Cooperative Communication Skills - resources and photos

Here are some photos from Saturday's Cooperative Communication skills workshop, run by Kathryn and Hannah from Seeds for Change. They have produced some great resources on facilitating meetings and consensus decision-making, as well as how to organise good meetings and lots of other useful topics related to community groups. A big thank you to Anne Lally, who's organising the onion crop-share project, and Gemma Sayers from the Food Co-ops project for organising this workshop (and have a look here to see their food coops toolkit).

Calendar of events

-  Thursday 23 June: Transition Cambridge Swish

-  Thursday 23 June: Transition Cafe: Living without plastic

-  Saturday 02 July: Skills-share afternoon

-  Tuesday 05 July: Draught Proofing and Ventilation

-  Thursday 07 July: Transition Cafe: Working on organic farms (WWOOF)

-  Friday 8th - Monday 11th July: Transition Network Annual Conference

Related News and Events

Wednesday 08 June: ‘In Transition’ – Histon film screening and discussion

20:00-20:00, The Stables, St Andrews Church, Histon CB24 9EP (just past King Bill pub, down lane on left)

‘In Transition’ is the first detailed film about the Transition movement filmed by those that know it best, those who are making it happen on the ground. It is positive, solutions focused, viral and fun. There will be drinks, homemade cakes and a discussion afterwards led by Anna McIvor of Transition Cambridge. Free Admission.

More details here.

Friday 10th June: Eco-renovation Question Time (+ launch of Open Eco Homes)

 19:30-22:00, St Luke’s Centre, Victoria Road, CB4 3DZ

For Open Eco Homes, 15 homes in and around Cambridge open their doors to show what can be done to make low energy homes, suiting a wide range of budgets. Homes include old and new, big and small, and are warm and comfortable while economical in energy use.

You need to book your house visits (18th and 26th June) but you can just drop into the launch event. This is to be an Eco Renovation ‘Question time’ with an expert panel including professionals and house owners. Also there will be stalls from Transition Cambridge, CCF, Green House Project, Designed to Breathe (straw bale construction), Ridgeons, Sustainable Parish Energy Partnership and Cambridge Sustainable City. Organised by Cambridge Carbon Footprint. More details here.

Sunday 12 June: Open Farm Sunday at Coton Reserve

11:00-16:00, Coton Countryside Reserve

Opportunity to meet the farmer, Cambridge Past Present and Future staff and volunteers - guided walks and talks with an exhibition in the barn, scarecrow-making and vintage and modern farm machinery on display. Find out about pest control, old crops etc and ask questions on topics you always wanted to know more about. Fun and learning for young and old - enjoy your local countryside! More information.

Friday 17 June - Sunday 19 June: The Real Farm Festival

15:30-19:00, Church Farm, Ardeley, Hertfordshire, SG2 7AH

A farming festival including farming projects, live DJs, performance poets, food and more. See the Real Farm Festival website for more details. Camping or day tickets available.

Sunday 19 June: Plant swap

10:30-11:30, Foster Road Allotments Trading Hut, Trumpington

Come along to swap your spare seedlings, plants and surplus seeds. Expand the range of plants you grow in your garden or allotment and meet other local gardeners.

This is a low-key and friendly event. If you don’t have anything to swap, please come anyway (a donation to the allotment society is welcome for any plants you take). There are generally enough plants for all comers. No admission charge. Everyone welcome! More details here.

Thank goodness for the rain last night – our poor farmers are really suffering from the drought!

All the best – and keep those items coming in!

Bev

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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