Transition Towns WIKI

There is a googlegroup email for the Transition Somerset Network:

transition-somerset@googlegroups.com

Mendip

Transition Shepton

We hold meetings once a month, with talks or films, or to plan what we are going to do next.

We recently launched our Food sub-group, which has started a communal allotment. In the light of current concerns about the carbon footprint of food production, we have chosen an organic system which gets its fertility from green manure and from compost that comes from the allotment itself. You really have to see it!"

Contact: Contact: Rod Skinner on 01749 347690 or Chantal Allison on 01749 344805 email link

Googlegroup

Transition Glastonbury

Transition Glastonbury is a group of local people who've come together to create a better future for our town and surrounding area. We believe we're starting to experience the twin challenges of climate change and the end of cheap oil - and that neither of these are going to go away anytime soon.

But we don't want to focus on the problem: we want to focus on the solution. So we ask you to imagine a "holiday brochure to the future". Let's imagine we're 30 years in the future. How would we like to be living? Simpler lives? More time for our children? Less financial pressure? More fresh food all year round? A greater sense of rootedness where we live? If your answer to any of these is yes, you might want to join us. We believe that strengthening our local community is the way forwards: it's easier than trying to go it alone, and more effective than waiting for the government.

You don't have to share any particular beliefs in order to take part. We welcome anyone who wants to see a better future for Glastonbury. Many people want to know the facts about issues like peak oil and climate change, so we organise events where you can meet people and discuss and learn - but we also know that a lot of people want to get going and ACT! So we have many local groups and room for more; each is autonomous and runs its own projects. Currently, there are groups around Food, Energy, Transport, Low-Impact Buildings, Heart and Soul, Awareness Raising, Reasources and Health.

Contact: Jane Sanders 01458 833382 or email link

website

ecomotion profile page

Pilton Goes Green groupincluding the villages of Croscombe, Dinder and North Wooton

This group has been going for about two years.Its not an official Transition group but very happy to be aligned to the Transition movement. Their aim is to encourage people to develop greener lifestyles. They have been focusing on awareness raising through events. Currently they are planning an evening event focusing on food which will be sometime this summer and a Green fair which is taking place on October 11th.

Contact: David Osbourne email link

Sustainable Frome - Town in Transition

Sustainable Frome is a practical and ethical network of individuals and groups working towards creating a vibrant and sustainable community. Special interest groups include: Transport, Land and Food, Spirituality, Greener buildings, Energy, and Waste. Projects include a new car club, the development of an electric car, weekly allotment demonstration (Dig with Des), and also Make and Mend every week.

There is a regular meeting every first Thursday of the month at the Masonic Hall, North Parade, Frome at 7pm, with local food to share, followed by a meeting and often a talk or activity. This is attended by around 70 people of all ages. A full programme of events can be found on the website, including a Green Fair and an evening event with Rob Hopkins in July 2009. See website for more details.

Contact: Annabelle Macfadyen 01373 466399 email link

Alex Malcolm: 01373 462158 Website

Transition Wells

Did you know? Wells is Already a City in Transition!

We have done our best to plan regular monthly meetings that will provide anyone and everyone who is interested in Transition a chance to get together. Please feel free to spread the word, come along to the meetings yourself and bring as many friends as you can! All meetings are planned for the 3 rd Thursday in the month, and are held at the Wells Museum meeting room. Entry by donation (£3 per person will do nicely!) to cover room hire, tea and coffee and sometimes even homemade cake!

Contact: Kim Robinson 01749 689037 email link

Newsletter mailing list:email link

Phil Rodgers 01749 673793 pm

Sustainable Street

Sustainable Street is in its infancy, having only had one meeting so far, and a stand at the Greener Lifestyles event in Glastonbury on April 4th 2009. 'Time4Street', a time bank/skills exchange, is currently enrolling people and should be starting soon. County Councillor Jim Mochnacz has kindly contributed £500 from his Somerset County Council Local Initiative Budget towards trying to raise awareness of Sustainable Street. We plan to use some of the funding to show relevant films like 'The Power of the Community' and 'The End of Suburbia' to interested Street residents.

A thermal imager, currently on loan from Somerset County Council, shows heat loss from buildings so people can visually understand how they can help reduce their heating bills. The majority of Clark's Village shops have responded very positively to seeing their heat loss by closing their doors, which is of benefit to shoppers, staff and also saves them money. A number of residents have also taken up the offer to have their houses assessed for heat loss.

Contact: Janet Pipes 01458 442311 email link

Taunton Deane

Transition Wellington

TT Wellington is currently in the 'forming' stage. We are in the process of setting up a core group, having had one film showing. We are hoping to do more consciousness raising in the next couple of months and then move on to some community activity.

Contact: Holly Regan-Jones 01823 660161 email link Website link

Transition Althelney

Transition Athelney emerged out of "Save It" North Curry and a similar group in Stoke St Gregory. The name derives from the ecclesiastical benefice covering this rural area, also incorporating Lyng and Burrowbridge. It lies roughly midway between Taunton and Langport.

In May 2009 Transition Athelney is approaching an important threshold, with work underway on a constitution, a website coming together, a logo designed and formal affiliation to the Transition Network within sight. Meanwhile, four action groups have been under way since Autumn 2008, with films, discussions and awareness-raising activities.

The action groups are food & agriculture, household energy, woodland and education. The first three have each adopted one scheme to date: garden sharing, tree planting, and a scheme to make monitoring energy use accessible to all. Education interweaves with everything and has included an 'eco treasure hunt' for young children and their parents, a peak oil and climate change book and film library, and arranging talks to local groups and societies to deepen our links and outreach.

Transition Athelney enjoys a fruitful connection with the Taunton and Langport initiatives and aims to contribute to Somerset in Transition. We anticipate critical discussions in the future about shifting relationships between town and country.

Contacts: Adrian Tait email link or Brian Jeanes email

Transition Taunton

We have been going for just over a year now. In that time, we have held a number of screenings of films at the Brewhouse Theatre; started what has now become a regular themed drop-in event, coupled with monthly talks; and held a really great World Cafe discussion event at the Genesis Centre, Somerset College, to which over 100 people came. Our mailing list now has over 200 names of people keen to stay in touch with things Transitiony.

It can take a while to get things going somewhere the size of Taunton – and the size can often feel overwhelming. How on earth can we do things to inspire and impact on over 60,000 people? The best thing was just to get on with what individuals had the energy and time to make happen.

At the moment we are: holding a 'low food miles' event for a mass Family Picnic in May; launching a "source local cook local" community recipe project intended to promote local suppliers and get people cooking with seasonal ingredients; starting a "grow your own" group, particularly to get people without gardens realising what you can still achieve; doing some practical "guerrilla gardening"; planning an arts-based event in July, with Somerset College, The Brewhouse and Somerset Film and Video for young people to find creative ways to share their own voices on Transition issues; just starting to work with our Local Authority to find practical projects we can do in partnership together; holding a "Transition Camp" in June for our members, to nurture the Heart and Soul bit, and learn some woodland management skills by working on a friend's land for the weekend; continuing to hold fortnightly drop-ins and monthly talks

Contact: Victoria Watson 01823 259324 email link Website

4 parishes initiative

The Four Parishes Community Transition initiative is affiliated to both Wellington and Ten Parishes Transition and also comes within the Taunton Dean Transition area! But we are very much our own group. The Four Parishes covers Ashbrittle, Stawley, Bathelton and Kittisford – communities that are keen to get on and do something rather than spend time in meetings. We are happy to be loosely connected to all the other local Transition Groups if useful to them and us – and we keep in touch. For example Taunton Transition Core Group are coming to our area for a working weekend in June. We have not registered as Mulling but probably are.

Contact: Katie Venner email link

Wivelisconbe 10 Parishes Transition Group

Ten Parishes near Wiveliscombe in Somerset UK are participating in the Transition Towns initiative. Join our group to find out what we are doing to address climate change and peak oil, and have fun as a resilient community.

Contact: Deborah J Thorpe 01823 401567 email link Web link

South Somerset

Transition Bruton

Transition Bruton comprises a small group of Bruton folk who are placing a focus on how to live more sustainably, with particular interest in what can done at a very local level. It strongly supports initiatives such as shopping locally and encouraging local food production. The aim is to encompass many broader issues including waste, transport, education and energy and to find ways of living more cost-effectively, which is especially relevant in the current economic downturn. One of their key projects this year is to start a Bruton Community Garden project and they are currently investigating potential land. They also hope to get schools and local people involved in local conservation projects.

Contact: Tia Cusden 01749 813220 or transitionbruton@gmail.com

Castle Cary- Use Less - Share More Group

This is a very new group in the early stages of forming but watch this space! If you would like to get involved contact them at: email link

Chard- Tatworth growing together

The Vision is for the Tatworth community to live sustainbly together in readiness for depleting oil supplies. The emphasis is caring and sharing.

The project was born out of Tatworth and Forton’s Parish Council’s and a group of resident’s commitment to becoming a ‘transition’ community i.e. reducing our dependency on oil and other finite resources and in parallel countering climate change.

Land in the village has, very kindly, been leased for the project. Funded by local authority grants, the project is run by volunteers and regulated by a volunteer Project Manager.

Cultivation and harvesting Seeds can be provided by residents or purchased using transition funds. Crops can be grown from seed by residents on or off the site and are cultivated, harvested and sold at a going rate under the supervision of the project manager. The money raised is then fed back into the Parish Council’s ‘ring fenced’ Transition fund in order to maintain the existing site, fund future crops and develop similar sites around the village. Crops from other local gardens could also be distributed / sold through the scheme. Pesticides, herbicides and non organic fertilizers will not be used on the site.

Social and therapeutic benefits As well as local resident involvement, interest has been expressed by a mental health support group. The project could also provide volunteer work for the unemployed and for local school children. It is also seen as a socialising, sharing centre and it is hoped will provide activities for families. The local police are interested in being involved in encouraging young people with behavioural problems to join the scheme.

Developing of horticultural skills It is hoped that participants will be able to learn and develop horticultural skills on the site, to be used in other areas in the village, through the garden share scheme and elsewhere.

A longer term aim is, sustainably, to collect and process green and kitchen waste from the community in order to provide compost for ongoing crop production.

Contact Andrew Turpin on 01460 220691 or email link Web-site

Ilminster: South Somerset Climate Action Group

Founded in October 2005, South Somerset Climate Action isn't an official Transition initiative but is very happy to be aligned with transitioners.

We have a gardening group and a loose group of energy generation enthusiasts.

We have been meeting approximately monthly for the last three years and have held six major events with up to 160 people –www.southsomersetclimateaction.org.uk

To be on our mailing list send an email to Joe Burlington or call 01460 55323 or drop a line to SSCA 27 East Street, Ilminster TA190AN Website Link

South Petherton

South Petherton has taken the plunge and are now committed to developing a Transition initiative. They are busy with awareness raising and have organised a series of really interesting looking talks. See a selection in the calendar of events or check out their full programme on their website.

Contact: Becky Cotterill email link website

Langport

Transition Langport is based in Langport but covers the surrounding 10 parishes. They have been going since September 2007 and on April 4th 2009 had their 'Great Unleashing'.

They write: "After 18 months of local activity, the existing group came together to organise an event to inspire the local community. Our Great Unleashing was a huge success, with over 35 stalls promoting local informative/inspirational groups, products and businesses, all working to help reduce community impacts on climate change and help build resilience to peak oil. These included (amongst others) local food from organic farms, a plant swap, renewable energy and a solar powered cinema, Sustrans, Free cycle, a horse and cart and cycle powered smoothies!. Micheal Eavis was our special guest and we even had solar powered boat on the River Parrett!"

Action groups: Local Food (setting up a local food co-op), Conservation (hedge laying, fruit and nut tree planting), Health (psychology and the health effects of peak oil), Energy group (community renewables), Transport group (starting soon), Communications group (website and links with local media). We put on regular inspirational films and talks on Transition issues and organise community litter picks. Links with local councils, etc: Cara Naden is on the Langport Town Council and also works as the Renewable Energy Advice Officer for Somerset County Council. We also have members of the group who are teachers, scientists, practitioners, business owners, councillors, artists, parents, farmers...

Plans/visions/wish list: We have so many amazing plans: we hope to build our own bio-methane power station as part of our energy descent plan, and of course local sustainable transport.

Transition Langport would like to thank everyone who supported their Great Unleashing: Rob Hopkins for starting the whole Transition movement, Steve Mewes of Wedmore Green group and Joe Burlington of South Somerset Climate Action who are Somerset's very own pioneers.

Regular meetings are held 2nd Tuesday of the month at Great Bow Wharf, Langport 7.30pm and 4th Tuesday of the month - Green Drinks 7.30pm - contact us for venue details. www.transitionlangport.org

Contacts: Cara Naden 07771 561398, Duncan Reece-Smith. Contact either on link text Cara Naden 07771 561398 Wikki Link Website Link

Somerton

Sustainable Somerton is made up of a group of volunteers who live in or near Somerton. Each one of us is giving some spare time to the group because we want to help the people of Somerton take actions that will enable them to live more sustainably and help combat the effects of climate change.

Since forming the group in the summer of 2008 we have achieved the following: held two Energy Efficiency Advice days for local residents; held a waste action/ recycling day in conjunction with Somerset Waste Action Partnership; held three public meetings - the first to launch the group, the second on plastic bags in the environment, the third on micro-generation in the home; started a campaign to reduce disposable plastic bag use by shoppers in the town; produced an "Awareness Raising Plan" for 2009, proposing projects on key sustainability issues aimed at all members of the community; and worked with the town council on the provision of allotments for local people.

If you'd like to join us we'd love to hear from you!

Contact:PHILIP THOMAS : philthomas3@btinternet.com Web-site link

Sedgemoor/North Somerset

Cheddar Valley in Transition

There are a number of groups in the Cheddar Valley encouraging their communities to look at ways of reducing their carbon impact on the environment. The latest of these has started in the last couple of months when a group of people from Cheddar and Draycott have been meeting to consider community projects and take these forward.

Contact: Suzanne Green 01934 744095

SAGE (Sedgemoor Action Group for our Environment)'

SAGE is a small group of committed individuals who work to raise awareness of and encourage environmental action. We work with other conservation agencies and local groups to do this. Examples of events we have organised include Environmental Ernie Day attended by over three hundred children across Sedgemoor. Wildlife Friendly Gardening event held at Sanders Garden World and most recently a Climate Change networking event.

SAGE was originally set up with support from the District Council which provides the secretariat way back in 1998. The group worked alongside the District Council to develop the Local Agenda 21 Action Plan for the District which was published in 2000. In the same year SAGE in partnership with the District Council was awarded £144,000 from the National Lottery Millennium Fund to provide grants to local people wishing to carry out projects that contributed to the objectives in the plan. We were the only Local Agenda 21 Group in the country to receive this funding- something we are very proud of.

Currently, the SAGE Cycle Group is working with the District Council to improve cycle ways in the District.

Due to the small size of our group we do not have a regular timetable of events or programmed meetings but we are always willing to help to promote the work of other groups, participate in events and work in partnership to spread the word!

Contact: Julie Cooper – email link

Highbridge & Burnham: Green World Trust

Greenworld Trust exists to "help people help the planet". Being in Highbridge and Burnham, we've focussed on tidal energy potential and problems, and consider ourselves experts at the cutting edge - there are some extremely interesting new developments - NOT the barrage! We are climate skeptics but otherwise support Transition Towns. Contact: Anne Stallybrass 01278-783003 Website link

Transition Winscombe & Sandford- Life beyond oil

Life Beyond Oil is a part of Winscombe Community Association and is keen to forge links with any and all other groups within the villages - business, recreational, social, political and religious. Peak Oil and Climate Change will significantly affect all of us, and the positive solutions we need will come from many sources. Website link

Contact: Gillian Hill emaillink

Wedmore Green Group

Wedmore Green Group was established in 2006 as an umbrella organisation to co-ordinate, explore and encourage sustainable living as applies to the Isle of Wedmore. We have always focused on action over debate, working within the community, advising and helping rather than preaching. We are not a Transition organization but we share most of the movement's ambitions.

Since our inception we have: set up regular Freecycle days; improved recycling; bulk purchased renewable equipment; encouraged local food and shops through our 'is it local' cookbook; launched a plastic bag free village; had a number of movie nights; been a source of environmental support and advice; planted and developed a community woodland; supported the wedmore in bloom scheme; encouraged the local school initiatives to produce renewable energy; started a 'pass it on books' scheme for environmental books; purchased eco meters for households to check electricity usage; produced renewable energy information sheets; developed a website providing information for the community; made important linkages with other community groups to share information and support; held two litter picking days, collecting almost 50 sacks of recyclables and rubbish; written over 40 articles for the village magazine showing how a life can be more eco-friendly; and spoken at local schools and churches on environmental topics.

In future, we intend helping as many people as possible to lead a greener lifestyle and helping new projects come to fruition.

Contact person: Stephen Mewes 01934 710530 or 07841 336720 website link

Wedmore Freecycle

Tenons (The Environmental Network of North Somerset)

As a networking group, TENONS aims to encourage people, communities, businesses and organisations in North Somerset to live in accordance with the Principles of Agenda 21, an Action Plan agreed at the Earth Summit Conference held in Rio 1992, and in such a way as not to compromise the ability of future generations of people to meet their own needs. We aim to raise levels of awareness, knowledge and understanding of these Principles, encouraging active participation in their achievement. Web site

West Somerset

Transition Minehead and Alcombe

The group started in late 2008 in Minehead and Alcombe. We also include interested people from surrounding villages who do not yet have their own group. Some of these areas have had active climate change groups for some time. We work closely with Forum 21, who have worked in West Somerset for many years. We helped organise Rob Hopkins' recent visit, and have also taken on annual events, such as seed and plant swaps, which helps to free up Forum 21 for other initiatives. The most recent of these are the community reinvestment website, and the establishment of a car club.

We have about 12 active members and 96 on the mailing list, and we circulate details of our activities to councillors, our MP, local groups and businesses and other Transition groups. We have recently held an Open Forum where supporters contributed to the process of developing our structures as we develop.

Other projects include a training allotment for young families, through a Get Set Grow course with Jane Sweetman from Somerset Community Foods. We also setting up a garden sharing scheme.

We have good contacts with local churches and and we offer support with school eco projects, one of which is an environmentally themed wall hanging. We are working with West Somerset Community College which is hoping to appoint a horticultural teacher with a community remit in the near future.

We are progressing slowly but steadily and often refer to Rob's advice to not rush the process, but develop as resources allow. To find out what is already going on in our community, we invited as many people as possible who have an interest in our project areas (including councillors, Chamber of Trade, teachers) to join our recent Open Forum.

Chairman; Stephen Stuckes: 01643 703285/ 709491 Secretary: Maureen Smith: 01643 709478/07802247761 email link Web-site Link

Forum 21 - Towards a Sustainable West Somerset

Forum 21 is an environmental group in West Somerset dedicated to fighting climate change. Contact:Wendy Stephenson 01643 703 520 web link

Bath and Northeast Somerset (BANES)

Chew Valley

In some areas of Somerset it makes sense for small village communities to team up with other nearby communites to form an umbrella group. This is the case with the Chew Valley group. This is a very recent new initiative that encorporates several differenr green groups such as Transition Wrington, Go Zero and Target 80, and includes people form Chew Stoke,Chew Magna, Blagdon, Wrington, Markesbury, Bishop Sutton and others.

Contacts: Wrington - Phil Neve phil@brilliantfutures.co.uk Target 80 - Denise Perrin dcathperrin@hotmail.com 01275 333867 or 07973 148699 and Ian Roderick mail@dovetail.co.uk

Wellow Futures

Wellow (pop.450) lies 5 miles south of Bath on the old Somerset/Dorset railway. Two of us started Sustainable Wellow 3½ years ago by showing "The End of Suburbia," for which over 80 people squeezed into our village hall. Numbers have been lower since, but we've shown five films, had five talks, (including CAfE from Bristol), and one from Ben Brangwyn, and DVD and book sharing. The community is mostly prosperous and not necessarily interested yet in communal ventures. We have a popular horticultural cum gardening club, a 60-year-old annual village fête, a successful community-run village shop, several bookclubs, wine tasting, art, craft, and local business groups, a band, a youth club and a church community.

In 2008, we mounted a campaign to buy land under threat of development for a community farm. The land was withdrawn, but we are looking for some alternative land. We now have 6 private allotments, but want a communal one. We have communal composting & oil deliveries. Some of our activities include an apple abundance/juicing day, beekeeping, and the village school vegetable plot. We lost our bus to Bath and have initiated a lift sharing scheme. We are in regular contact with Peasedown St John/Shoscombe.

Wellow Futures , as we're now called, is undertaking a house to house survey of village groups - the elderly, self-employed, young families, greenies, newcomers, etc – focusing on the village and its future. Alick Bartholomew, the founder and chairperson, is trying to get the core group to take over.

Alick Bartholomew, 01225 840 889 email: alick@Schauberger-books.org.uk

Somerset-wide networks/groups

Bath & Wells Diocesan Environment Group (DEG) This is not a transition initiative but we thought it was worth a mention here as its a Somerset wide network. Website

Contacts: David Osbourne email link or Brian Kellock email link