June & July 2008

Volunteers from the TTW steering group helped out at the Funky Teapot Eco cafe at the Secret Garden summer concerts and raised money to pay for May's film screenings. We also collected contacts for the mailing list and gave out info about the Transition movement. Go team! We collected up the wonderful comments (- whiskey still anyone?) and ideas from the informal session following May's film screenings and pondered on them!:

Questions:

  • What skills have the group got and how could we use them?
  • Is the conservation area for Wolverton a barrier to sustainability?
  • Who is the conservation area for? Residents or the “big people on the hill”?
  • How to communicate these issues to a diverse community?
  • Post-Peak Oil jobs – what will they be?
  • What does re-localisation mean?

Suggestions immediately relevant: Information/Resources-related

  • Good film to watch: “History of Oil” (free to watch online; I [no name provided] also have a copy)
  • Good investment book, if you want to make some money on peak oil: “The Oil Factor”
  • Some information about alternatives to oil: nuclear fission (as opposed to fusion), solar (is the price of this coming down?). Arguments in the movies are quite one-sided → an informed decision about peak oil

Action suggestions

  • Could do with website/forum to exchange ideas
  • Create a resource library
  • Compile book of recipes using locally sources ingredients; cooking competitions and demonstrations based around this.
  • Directory of local providers
  • Open space session on what is a transition town. What could we do?
  • Lobby the “powers that be” to get their commitment …

Workshops - skills

  • Cycle awareness workshop (ideas from AVDC/BCC “form a new partnership?”)
  • Low Impact Living Initiative workshop on cob building or oven for BBQ (useful building to have on allotment?)
  • Talk from Redfield Community Centre on community living and sustainability, plus WWOOF (volunteering)
  • Attend master composter courses (provided by AVDC and Bucks C. Council)!! FREE - + CERTIFICATE TOO + take knowledge to local schools …
  • Permaculture workshops
  • Offer practical courses here in Wolverton so people don’t have to use their cars to access them
  • Lessons in cooking, gardening, clothes-making, bike maintenance!
  • Better biking workshops offered by AVDC/BCC (subsidised workshop) (Meet new people)

Workshops - hobbies

  • African music workshop (form partnerships with Islamic and other faiths ~ ONE FAITH). Music is common to all, so is FOOD. Food glorious food!!
  • Bring your own drum to drumming workshop
  • Share your hobbies workshop (inclusive)

Events suggestions

  • Organised walks with return journey on the waterways!!
  • Open garden (small scale) events
  • Art exhibition
  • Recycled scrap art exhibition

Longer-term action suggestions

  • Approach the Letnet organisation – bartering
  • Roof-top garden with café and bookshop
  • TTW take on allotment, add raised beds amd sublet 1 – 2 raised beds per person unable to take on whole plot

Other: General

  • Promote café culture
  • Emphasise the benefits of volunteering and mentoring for the Princes Trust
  • Put the “natural” curriculum into schools
  • Convert all local centres in MK to urban agriculture centres
  • Get youth involved
  • Get local shops involved
  • Workshop in the Secret Garden
  • Promote smiling
  • Bring back the horse
  • Visit and form partnerships wherever you can
  • Find people’s strengths and talents and exchange services. Pro bono.
  • Love animals – be a healthy vegetarian
  • Socialism is common sense

Lifestyle-related

  • Laughter yoga workshops
  • Reflexology for all
  • Know the names of at least ten of your neighbours
  • Group therapy
  • Learn about medicinal uses of herbs
  • Make use of spare gardens to grow stuff
  • Clothes swap
  • Shared co-op food purchasing
  • Learn practical skills from older members of the community (eg knitting, weaving, spinning, etc)
  • Sharing of resources – swapping unwanted furniture etc
  • Car sharing
  • A community still – Wolverton Whisky for the hard workers
  • Worms; make your own wormeries
  • Beehives
  • Car club
  • Resource and expertise sharing (internet site?)

Related to the Market

  • Expand Wolverton Market – local growers etc
  • French farmers market them day
  • Italian farmers market theme day

Food-related

  • Family days
  • BBQ
  • Cooking and eating together
  • Picnic at the urban farm site (cross-generational is good) – invite schools, Scouts, Brownies, get publicity MK Citizen