February 2012 Newsletter

Generation Food If you missed the Food Programme on Radio 4 last week there was plenty of ideas about local food growing and trading:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b019rd9c/Food_Programme_Generation_Food/

The Food Programme hears from the people coming up with new ideas and fresh thinking about how and where we produce food for the UK's future.From computer programmers creating networks for people trading food locally through to community supported market gardens, Sheila Dillon finds out how a new generation is coming up with radical models for growing, buying and selling food.

Support the Health and Wellbeing Park

Transition Shipston has received the letter bellow from the Shipston Medical Centre asking for our support for the proposed new Health and Wellbeing Park.

I am writing to ask for your support in raising awareness of and securing support for a proposed new Health and Wellbeing park in Shipston.

As you may know, the Health and Wellbeing Park project, led by Warwickshire County Council (WCC), NHS Warwickshire and the South Warwickshire Foundation Trust (SWFT), includes proposals for GP and care services, a community hospital and an Extra Care Housing Scheme, alongside a number of other community services.

Work is now beginning on an Outline Business Case (OBC) to determine whether the project can deliver a financially viable, modern health and care system. The OBC has been jointly commissioned by WCC and the NHS Arden Cluster (comprising NHS Warwickshire and NHS Coventry Primary Care Trusts). They will use the OBC findings to decide whether to proceed to a full business case, which would include site identification and public consultation.

To help ensure the success of the OBC, the support of the local community is vital. The League of Friends of Shipston Hospitals has launched a Pledge of Support, which will be presented to the WCC-led project team in early 2012.

I would be grateful if you would be kind enough to include this information in your next Transition to enable your members to pledge support atwww.shipstonhealthpark.co.uk should they wish to do so.

If you would like further information about the proposals, please call me on 01608 661845.
In the meantime, may I take this opportunity to with you a merry Christmas and happy New Year.
Sent on behalf of Dr Andrew Whiteley, The Medical Centre

Warwickshire Transition Hub

The first meeting of the Warwickshire Transition Hub has been organised for Tuesday 31^st January, 6.30. The groups in Warwickshire now include Leamington, Stratford, Shipston, Nuneaton and Warwick. This meeting is an informal get together in a members house in Warwick but it is intended to hold a Warwickshire Hub public event in the Jepherson Gardens, Leamington at the end of March.
For more information contact Dave Passingham.

Renewable Energy for Shipston Businesses?

In November the government announced the Local Energy Assessment Fund, a £10m fund aimed at encouraging local communities to invest in renewable energy and energy efficiency. Transition Shipston in conjunction with Stour United Businesses and the Town Council put together a bid for around £30k aimed at helping local businesses invest in new energy technologies. This would make local companies more competitive and hopefully create jobs... as well as helping the local economy in general. The Town Council agreed to lead the bid which was submitted on 20^th January. Here is a summary of the proposal...

This proposal to apply for LEAF funding to support an energy assessment of the commercial, industrial and public buildings (this is unlikely to include retail buildings at this stage due to scale and lower potential), to include an Energy Efficiency Survey, Renewable Energy Assessments, and a Community Engagement plan.

It is envisaged that this will be a collaborative application between Transition Shipston, SUBs and the Town Council as the lead organisation. This funding application, if successful, will aim to provide plans for engaging the local community in decision-making and ensuring that the results of their LEAF-funded activities lead to long-term community benefits.

It will include the forming of a Community Energy Company which will raise money from organisations and individuals in the town in order that investments can be made in some or all of the renewable energy installations that have been identified through the renewable energy assessment.

Wind Energy News...

Wind farms hit high of more than 12% of UK electricity demand
RenewableUK praises National Grid's successful management of high levels of wind output

• Wind farms reach high of 12.2% of UK's electricity demand on 28th December
• Strong winds in December allowed UK's wind fleet to meet an average of 5.3% of demand

More... http://www.bwea.com/media/news/articles/pr20120106.html

Top scientist says renewable energy offers best value for money

Developing renewable energy saves £84 per person per year in UK

• Cost of relying on gas and coal nearly £4,700 per person per year
• Meanwhile Government reveals companies investing £2.5 billion in renewable energy projects since April, creating 12,000 jobs.

More... http://www.bwea.com/media/news/articles/pr20111229.html

How much does it cost to make electricity from the wind?

Wind energy is one of the cheapest of the renewable energy technologies. It is competitive with new clean coal fired power stations and cheaper than new nuclear power. The cost of wind energy varies according to many factors. An average for a new onshore wind farm in a good location is 3-4 pence per unit, competitive with new coal (2.5-4.5p) and cheaper than new nuclear (4-7p). Electricity from smaller wind farms can be more expensive. For more information see our factsheet on Wind Energy and the UK's 10% Target.

How much of the time do wind turbines produce electricity?

A modern wind turbine produces electricity 70-85% of the time, but it generates different outputs dependent on wind speed. Over the course of a year, it will generate about 30% of the theoretical maximum output. This is known as its load factor. The load factor of conventional power stations is on average 50%.

More... http://www.bwea.com/ref/faq.html#cost

Transition Thrive...

last November the Transition Network ran a new 2-day course for Transition initiatives who have been going for some time called “Transition Thrive”. The course was at Totnes – where Transition Towns started and where the offices of the Transition Network are based. I travelled down with James Pavitt from Transition Stratford-on-Avon. There were 24 people from Transition initiatives across the country, from London Boroughs to Chesterfield and from Nottingham to Fishguard.
Just strolling through Totnes you feel that it is a different from most towns. The busy main street must be half a mile long with many small, locally owned shops. Most of the streets are narrow with very little traffic which makes it so much easier to get around. None of the historic buildings had been spoiled by neon lights or plastic façades and the Sunday market square was buzzing with local food stalls. The Co-op supermarket is in a discrete little precinct off the main street. At the drink we had in the first pub we walked into we felt immediately at home... the landlord was a big supporter of the Transition Town!
It was a great weekend for socialising and learn from other Transition Initiatives. Some of the groups had achieved some amazing community projects. Totnes themselves have a community energy company which is going to erect a wind farm which will provide up to half of the town's needs. Most of the groups had thriving community garden projects of one sort or another. One or two were not doing so well – like Transition Belgravia (yes there really is a group there!) which had been thriving and then almost collapsed. The delegates without exception were all full of inventiveness and enthusiasm.
The course was new and they were trying out a method called ‘Appreciative Inquiry’ [sic]. The approach is to be positive (hence ‘appreciative’) by concentrating on things that succeeded. It uses the “5D model; Discovery - reflect upon and share positive stories; Dreams - for the future; Design – how do you realise the dreams; Destiny - how do you deliver your dreams.
The best thing for me about this approach was that there was virtually no lecturing... instead we shuffled into various workshops and activities in where we discussed what we had been doing and in this way learnt from the successes of other groups.
Some of the delegates were expecting more formal training but the transition trainers, Naresh (who was one of the founders of the Transition Movement with Rob Hopkins) and Jenny adapted the course on the hoof to give it slightly more structure. They listened to the delegates and didn't pretend that they had all the answers despite their longer experience and the achievements of Transition Totnes.
Here is just a few of the projects carried out successfully by fellow delegates:
Fossil Fuel pedal power – a project to promote pedal power... ‘Transition Teas’ – social gatherings that anyone can come to with tea/coffee and a subject for discussion... Thermal Imaging; can be done on a basic level or professionally but is excellent at building community... Very brief newsletter email that are just have news headings, each one linking to web page with full details... A ‘Transition Pack’ for newcomers, with details on what we are and what we do and ways to become involved... Comic nights. There are comedians who specialise in Transition style comedy (for example Matt Harvey)... ‘Unplugged’ and or candle-lit entertainment is great at involving new people... Trees, or woodland planting projects are popular with families... A ‘stitch and bitch’ club for sewing
This was the first THRIVE event and therefore not perfect but everyone seemed to enjoy meeting like minded fellow transitioners. It was more of a “facilitation” weekend than a conventional course but the knowledge and ideas from the other delegates made it a great learning experience!
Dave Passingham

December 2011 Newsletter

Beware developers with big budgets...

Ainscough Strategic Land the developer who has an option on the fields along the Campden Road between Norgren and Shipston are holding a public exhibition, at the Townsend Hall in Shipston on Wednesday 30 November (from 9 am to 4 pm) and Thursday 1 December (from 1 pm to 7.30 pm) to show their latest proposals for the land.

Ainscough are good at counting and publicising the numbers in favour of their proposals but have been totally silent about the resounding NO vote from those present at their “consultation” meeting earlier this year. Beware developers with big PR budgets..........

Here are some points to help you as you make your mind up about the development:

1. In other market towns, a supermarket development out-of town has led to independent food shops in the centre of town closing, with a knock-on effect on other local businesses. Shipston’s town centre shops have adapted to local needs, the Co-ops have lowered their prices, and the result is a wide choice of shops with excellent customer service. They are all at risk from this proposed development.

2.There is a proposal to use the land at Pettipher’s garage, Church St for a supermarket and homes. A supermarket in the centre of town would enable Shipston’s local shops and community feeling to survive unthreatened by this out-of-town retail development.

3.The Transition Shipston shopping survey showed it need be no more expensive to shop in the Shipston shops than in Tesco’s in Stratford, even before allowing for the cost of petrol and car use. If we lose these green fields in the hope of more shopping opportunities or lower prices, we can never regain them.

4. Ainscough talk about creating jobs. But the local retailers reckon they employ about 230 people. These shops have supply chains and estimate another 100+ jobs could be at risk. So there could actually be a net loss of local jobs.

5. 50 more houses will need more places in schools, surgery etc. After doubling in size, Shipston’s facilities are already overstretched.

6. There will be increased traffic in and around the town and along the dangerous Campden Road and its crossroads at the Fosseway A 429.

7. The Shipston Medical Centre has its own proposal to build a hospital, surgery and care home together on a different site. The Ainscough proposal for a care home could make this more difficult.

Contact: Helen Winnifrith helenwin@tiscali.co.uk

Solar Power Comes to Stratford Hospital

The government recently announced that they propose to cut the feed-in-tariff for solar power by around 50%. Despite this, Community Energy Warwickshire (CEW) decided to press on with a share offer with the aim of raising at least £100,000 by 21 November to enable them to install as many solar panels as possible before the tariff deadline. CEW has now raised over £90,000 and work will start shortly to install solar panels at Stratford Hospital.

CEW has now received firm prices for the installation of solar panels after 12 December which are substantially lower than current prices. This means that – despite reductions in Feed-in Tariff rates - the original project to install panels on Warwick Hospital is still financially viable. Barbara Cooper of CEW says, “we intend to go ahead with the installation of solar panels at Warwick Hospital as soon as possible and need just £25,000 more to enable us to install the maximum capacity of 50 kilowatts. So if you or someone you know have been thinking about investing but haven’t quite got round to it - now is the time!”

A share purchase application form can be found on the CEW website www.cew.coop.

For more information contact info@cew.coop or by contacting Barbara Cooper on 01789 290736.

Shipston Energy Study

At the beginning of November Transition Shipston presented the completed Shipston Energy Study, that we have been working on for 9 months, to the Town Council. The Town Council had given a grant of £300 to pay for energy consultant Bernard Perkins to verify the finished study. After discussion it was decided that a committee made up of Town Council members ,local businesses and the Transition Shipston group should be set up initially to hold a energy workshop which would discuss further community initiatives to improve energy efficiency and investigate alternative forms of sustainable energy. Tim Lunel from Low Carbon Hook Norton, who is also chief Executive of e National Energy Foundation, has already offered to speak at such a workshop. Hook Norton won a £450000 grant in 2010 to reduce their carbon emissions as a community... hopefully Shipston will be able to learn from their experiences.
Here are some of the conclusions of the Study:
Energy demand will grow 43% by 2050 with current trends if we do not become more energy efficient. Approximately 60% of the energy used by Shipston is in the form of petroleum based fuel, i.e. petrol and diesel. Any emissions reduction strategy must address transport. If Shipston is to become less reliant on external supplies of energy it will need to reduce the energy demand by at least a half and take all the sustainable energy opportunities available.`
The home energy requirement could be easily reduced by 50% as the housing stock still has much potential for energy efficiency measures. Most of this can be achieved with low cost energy efficiency measures and a certain amount of behaviour change. Similarly, industrial and commercial properties have the potential to halve their energy demand with low cost measures.
The most difficult area for reductions is in transport which consumes 53% of the total energy.
In order for this to be reduced not only will cars have to become more efficient but the need to travel long distances for employment, services and shopping needs to be reduced.
Currently less than 1% of Shipston’s energy comes from renewable sources but it is calculated that if only one tenth of the wind energy could be utilised with all the other renewable resources, such as solar, hydro and biomass energy, Shipston could move a long way to meeting its emissions reduction targets. Detailed estimates of the resources are included in the study.
Contact Dave Passingham, davepassingham@hotmail.com for more information

Permaculture Courses

“Design a Sustainable Future”

The word Permaculture comes from “permanent”, “agriculture” and “culture”. It is about living lightly on the planet, in harmony with nature and making sure that we can sustain human activities for many generations to come.
Transition Town Leamington's Permaculture courses in the East Lodge, Jephson Gardens:
The weekend introduction course will be run twice, the first session starting in January, the second in February. The full design course will be one weekend a month for 6 months starting in March.
Please contact Juliet Carter on juliet@buildingarts.co.uk or 01926 421467 to reserve your place and for more details.

Transition Film Night

7.30Wednesday 7thDecember, Function Room, White Bear Pub, Shipston

“BANANAS”

A third of the production price of the average banana is used simply to cover the cost of pesticides. In this film, personal injury lawyer Juan Dominguez represents over 10,000 Nicaraguan plantation workers affected by a pesticide called Nemagon. Dole Food and Dow Chemicals are on trial - and both have tried to use the law to stop screenings.

October 2011 Newsletter

Transition Diary

Craft Making for the Victorian Evening

at 7.30pm Tuesday Oct 25^th , Geri’s House, Stretton-on-Fosse

With a ‘Bring and Share’ meal and brain-storming session.

Transition Film Night

Monday 7^th November at 7.30, Function Room, White Bear Pub, Shipston

Transition Shipston Open Meeting

7.30 Monday 21^st November, White Bear Pub, Shipston

Fairtrade - fair enough!

Locally sourced goods are great – but what about products that we can’t get locally? Bananas and other fruit, coffee and coco beans for chocolate are in short supply locally – but give an opportunity for responsible purchasing. By purchasing a Fairtrade Product, you help to hard working individuals to make a decent and dignified livelihood – and develop their full potential. This is achieved through ensuring those who actually produce the crops get a fair and reasonable price in return for their hard work. In most cases, this means that the profits go direct to the producers rather than some one in the supply chain getting an unfair share.

A small group in Shipston have been working towards achieving Fairtrade Status for the Town. This has involved~:

• Gaining Council recognition for Fairtrade,
• Having a suitable range of Fairtrade products in the Town for purchasing
• Having Fairtrade products served by local employers, churches and other community organisations
• Involvement with the media
• A plan to grow the understanding of Fairtrade in the Town.

Mrs Piercy and the Primary School have spear-headed this initiative, with support from Cllr Phillip Vial from the Town Council and Paul Chapman from Shipston Churches Together – but there is room for more!

What can you do?

• Resolve to purchase Fairtrade where possible. (That chocolate always tastes so much better when it is Fairtrade!
• Why not look at http://www.fairtrade.org.uk/ - to see other great Fairtrade products that are available.
• Join the Steering Group to help develop the Fairtrade message.

Paul Chapman

Shipston Churches Together –07976 688 887

Mrs Piercy can be reached at the Primary School – on 01608 661266

Cllr Vial can be reached via the details on the Town Council Website.

Green Homes Day, Hook Norton

On Sunday 18^th September 2011 Hook Norton Village held a green homes day, seven Homes in all opened their doors to the public, to show what they had done to make their homes more fuel efficient and Eco. Hook Norton village started a Low Carbon group, and last year they were one of the 22 similar groups out of 500 applicants who received a payment from a government fund. Hook Norton Low Carbon were awarded £400,000. This money is to be spent providing at least 40 homes, the local school and the village brewery with eco measures. These range from insulation to double glazing, as well as two Smart cars for villagers to use. Hook Norton Low Carbon invite villagers to apply for interest free loans. The idea behind this being that the money could go much farther lent to more people this way, then it can be lent again.

I went along on Sunday morning and saw four of the seven houses taking part, starting with Beanacre Cottage, a thatched 18^th Century cottage. As well as being well insulated and the heating provided by a Wood Pellet Boiler, the bit I was particularly interested in was that they also has a rainwater harvesting system. The guttering from the roof runs into an underground reservoir, the water from that is used for the washing machine, flush toilets and outside taps.

The Barn, Hare Cottage, was next, again they had heavily insulated this barn which is very near to the cottage, which is an office and extra accommodation for visitors. Here they had used a fairly new material called hempcrete as the insulation on the walls. The windows were mainly secondary glazed instead of double glazed as this is a listed building. Most of their hot water from May till September, is produced on the roof by solar thermal panels. The barn is heated by fan assisted radiators made by a company called Jaga, this large room can heat up in about 30 minutes, and again makes use of water heated by the thermal panels.

From there it was only a couple of doors away to the next house, Glyndwr House, although built in the 17^th century, it has 1960s and 1990s extensions.

Here insulation has again featured heavily, and photovoltaic panels, 12 of them, have been fitted to the roof of the nearby garage.

The last house I visited was 2 The Green this is a mid-terraced 18^th Century cottage that is grade 2 listed. They too had done a lot of insulating in the main part of the house, also there is a dining room extension into the garden, this area has been heavily insulated under the floor and in the walls and roof.

This visit was well worth while as it has given me new ideas of what I can do at home. As always with these projects the most cost effective place you can spend money is on insulating.

Pam Bennett

Energy Champions:  Casting your minds back to the snow in December (I know we'd all rather push that to the back of our minds!), was your house one of the ones where the snow melted faster than others? If so, it could be that you are losing a lot of heat from inside. If you would like a volunteer 'Energy Champion' to come and help you consider how you might better insulate your home, please get in touch with Geri Hunting on 01608 662848.
'Energy Champions' are members of Transition Shipston who have done some training in identifying how you might improve the insulation in your home. There is no charge for a visit from us and we work alongside 'Act on Energy' who can advise on how to get grants to do any subsequent work. Again, there is no charge for the advice they give. Many people are eligible to have insulation work done free of charge so it's worth finding out!

Shipston Harvest Fayre

Market Place was packed with stalls and people on 26^th September for the Harvest Fayre. At the request of the Town's shops and traders we left High Street open for parking. This proved to be a great success as people who live outside the town were still able to pop in to do their normal shopping – and hopefully then were attracted to the Fayre. Most of the shops that were open increased their sales because of the extra visitors.

The Fayre clashed with the Stratford Food festival but it still attracted many small producers and providers from around Shipston. One great success was the Scouts and Guides stall – they had collected fruit from Armscote Manor orchard (thanks to Sarah Williams for this). David Wright the Scout Leader said “We raised £143.87, after expenses and we had very few apples or pears left at the end and we have used these as part of our program on healthy eating and also drinks. If there is a similar event next year I am sure we would like to be involved again”

Queen's Avenue Playarea Action Group had a stall to promote their ideas for a new playground and orchard. Polly Taylor the organiser said “I was SO pleased with all the visitors we had on our stand, must have had at least 150. We had 78 positive feedback forms (1 negative) and some great competition entries from the children. Everyone loved it and we even had 1 or 2 offers of committee support.”

The Stour Grown scheme was launched at the fayre, to celebrate and promote recognition of products and produce from the Sour Valley area as well as encourage residents and visitors to buy them. For more information visit www.stourgrown.co.uk

Dave Passingham

Midcounties Co-op meets the Midlands Transition Networking

On Saturday 24th , 14 Transition Town groups including Transition Shipston met at The Midcounties Co-operative offices in Warwick. The meeting was initiated by the Co-op with the aim of exploring areas of common interest and common goals

Mike Pickering, their Corporate Social Responsibility Manager welcomed everyone and said there are around 20 official Transition initiatives within the Midcounties Co-operative trading area and a similar number of mullers (in early stages of a Transition group). The Midcounties Co-operative trading presence is widespread throughout the region with over 500 sites. The majority of trading locations have a Retail presence - either as a Food Store (supermarket) or smaller Convenience store.

The morning workshops came up with many practical ideas including:

Co-op Land leasing... Awareness raising and increased communication of issues to Co-op members... On the ground support from Co-op staff... Display space near the checkouts... Funding to each of the groups in the region... Bulk purchase groups... Access to Midcounties Co-operative skills/shared costs eg marketing and insurance for events

Another session discussed possible future strategies. Some of these involved the Transition groups helping the Co-op with promotions in small ways such producing a booklets on transition aspects/themes – linked to Co-op brand. Others would be very useful to transition like accessing Co-operative Members list/ for the distribution of Transition circulars and holding a Transition session at the Co-op AGM. More longer term ideas included anaerobic digestion schemes on Co-operative Farms linked with the local communities, Co-op staff training by local Transition groups and seasonal food events with Transition. We discussed the key shared goals of Energy Descent and community resilience including community resilience as well as business resilience.

In conclusion everyone agreed that there are many synergies between the organisations and both parties could become more effective by working together. For the Midcounties Co-operative working with Transition groups is a way to differentiate itself from other supermarkets. However, there is a possible drawbacks of public perception of bias in the collaboration.

Dave Passingham

Update - Already Mid-Counties are including a stand at their member half yearly meetings taking place this month promoting Transition and in their bi-annual share of profits mailer which goes out towards the end of November to all members who have earned member dividend (this is around 100,000 members), Co-op members will receive a short note promoting Transition and sign posting members to the Transition network website

Shape the future development of our community?

Stratford-on-Avon District Council is preparing its Core Strategy – the planning document which will guide the development of the district for the next 15-20 years. Final public consultation on the latest draft of the Core Strategy is expected to take place early in 2012. The consultation period is likely to be quite short – just six weeks – so we need to be prepared if we are to respond to the draft proposals.

The Transition Stratford Steering Group would like to organise a group of supporters to prepare a response to the Core Strategy consultation and have invited Transition Shipston to join them. We envisage a couple of meetings before Christmas, when members of the consultation group will familiarise themselves with the proposals made during Core Strategy process to date and will discuss the principles on which a low-carbon and resilient district might be based. The group would then meet a couple of times when the draft Core Strategy had been published in order to prepare a draft response.

The Steering Group expects the work of preparing a response to the Core Strategy consultation to be finished by next April.

So if you are interested in or knowledgeable about planning, or you are interested in how Stratford-on-Avon District might be made more sustainable, then get in touch with Roger Matthews at roger.matthews@phonecoop.coop in the first instance. The Steering Group is looking for a volunteer to lead the group working on the Core Strategy, so let Roger know if you would interested in taking on that role.

Transition Shipston Film Night

to 9.30 Monday 7^th November, White Bear Pub, Shipston

Free Entry - but a small donation welcome

FEVER:

1. INDIGENOUS PEOPLES AND CLIMATE CHANGE:
Indigenous communities discuss the climate crisis from their unique perspectives. These two shorts explore the organisational tools and strategies they are employing to protect their cultures, territories and rights, and how indigenous people are increasing their resilience to climate change by strengthening their traditional knowledge and systems...Indonesia, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Philippines. Dir. Serge Marti and Gemma Sethsmith / 45min /
http://www.lifemosaic.net/en/home.php

2. AMADOR HERNÁNDEZ, CHIAPAS - STARVED OF MEDICAL SERVICES FOR REDD+

The region of Amador Hernández is threatened by plans to implement REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation). Villagers are concerned by the threat of displacement justified by the supposed protection of the jungle. A Global Justice Ecology Project production. Dir. Jeff Conant / 10min / Tzeltal / Mexico/USA

http://climate-connections.org/2011/07/26/action-alert-and-video-amador-hernandez-chiapas-%e2%80%93-starved-of-medical-services-for-redd/

September Newsletter

Shipston Eco Tower & Shipston’s Harvest Fayre
Shipston is celebrating in a spectacular way this harvest. Transition Shipston is putting on a big Harvest Fayre on September 25^th. The old centre of the town will be closed to traffic for a bonanza day celebrating local food and produce, with live music from three local groups of musicians. There will be stalls of organic meat and vegetables, honey, special chocolates and soap, local milk, nuts, free recycled daffodil bulbs, caricature drawing, a place to offload or collect glass jars for making jams and chutneys, and local charities will be raising money at their own stalls. Many of Shipston’s independent shops will be open for their usual range of excellent, often locally sourced produce, and the cafes and pubs will be open for their usual delicious refreshments.

One of the star attractions will be a smoothie-bike. Pam Bennett explains: “We’ve converted an old bike plus a liquidizer, so that you can put in your fruit (locally grown of course!) and pedal away to make your own zero-energy smoothie - fun for energetic kids as well as adults.' An even more unusual creation will be the unveiling of Shipston’s Eco Tower. This has been made for the Transition Group with funding from APE UK, the Brailes-based charity. The Eco Tower is made from recycled oil drums and illustrates our society’s dependence on oil-based products but as the tower spirals upwards more sustainable objects are attached to the tower until at the top is placed a solar panel . Dave Passingham, of the Transition group, said... “The Eco Tower will be the centre piece of the Harvest Fayre. People attending the Fayre will be invited to hang objects which symbolise a more sustainable future on the tower. After this the tower will be based at Shipston High School for the children in the Eco-club to base their activities around.

Apple Competition for under 10s:

Transition Shipston is organising a window display competition as a special activity for children under 10 during the Harvest Fayre. The idea is to ask Shipston’s independent shops to place somewhere in their window display an apple with a number on it. The children will be given a list of the shops taking part and will be asked to write the number of the apple next to the name of the shop. For example, if Clarke’s Electrical Shop has an apple marked 11, they would write 11 next to the name Clarke’s Electrical shop.
These are the prizes:
A voucher for £10 donated by Toffee Apple, to be spent in that shop
A basket of sweets donated by Lavender Basket
A child’s dinosaur tapestry kit donated by Shipston Needlecraft
...with thanks to all three shops who have given prizes, thanks to Taylors for donating all the apples, and to all the shops who have taken part.
Shipston’s Harvest day celebrations begin at 10 am on Sunday 25^th with Harvest Festival in St Edmund’s Church, to which everyone is very welcome. The church will be raising funds during the day to support CORD’s project to provide solar cookers for refugee camps in Burundi, where shortages of firewood make it very difficult for families to cook what little food they have. Helen Winnifrith said “St Edmund’s church is very much part of Shipston’s daily life and we want to show our gratitude for God’s generous harvest to us locally, by doing something to help support sustainable life for those far away who have so little. It’s great that we can join with the Transition group like this” The Harvest Fayre starts at 11 and continues till 4pm.

Help Needed:

If anyone can help for an hour or two on the day helping to press apples, supervise the bicycle smoothie maker or help with marshalling contact Dave Passingham on 07973 846605
We are also collecting jam jars with lids to give away at the Fayre for making jams and chutneys. Contact Pam Roebuck - pamroebuck@roebar.wanadoo.co.uk
We are collecting unwanted apples to be sold at the Harvest Fayre by the Scouts and Guides. If anyone has spare apples and need the Scouts to help pick them contact Dave Passingham on 07973 846605

Shipston now boasts its own loyalty card scheme

The Shipston Card was launched at the end of August. It works in a similar way to other loyalty cards, except that this one card allows you to collect points in any participating shop, pub, restaurant or business in the town. As soon as you have collected and registered your Shipston Card you can start collecting points. If you present your Shipston Card when you pay for your goods, the points you have earned at each purchase will be added onto your card. Once you have earned enough points, you will be able to redeem them in the business in which they were collected. You don’t have to remember where the different points were earned – the card does all that for you. Kate King, owner of Ivyheart and one of the organisers of the scheme said “All retailers understand that most people can choose where they shop. This is our way of saying thank you for shopping in Shipston and supporting local businesses.” To find out more about the scheme or to collect a card, please visit one of the following participating businesses: Ivy Heart, Lucy Walker Flowers, Taste of the Country, Shipston Therapy Centre, Cookies Mini Mart, The George Hotel, Niche, The Bakery , Rightons, Shipston Leisure Centre, Sheldon's wine cellars.

Ground Source Heat Pumps - Worth Considering!

Ground source heat pumps are helping to cut CO2 and other nasty emissions and help to delay the arrival of Peak Oil.

Typically a 70 - 120 metre length ground loop put down a 5 -6 inch diameter borehole will collect enough heat from the ground for a four bedroom house. Alternatively where there is sufficient land a long collector loop can be buried in a trench of a metre depth or more. The collected heat is used to warm a refrigerant in the heat pump machine until it becomes a vapour. The machine compresses this vapour which makes its temperature increase. The hot vapour is then used to heat the water going to the radiators or underfloor pipework. If properly designed and installed a heat pump system will warm a house throughout even a long severe winter. It will also give all the hot water for washing up, baths and hand washing. In many cases heat pumps are becoming the preferred choice for heating new homes or replacing old boilers. This is because you get about 1kilowatt-hour of heat for every quarter of a kilowatt hour of electricity supplied to the machine.

Energy Saving Trust field trials at 54 sites of operational systems have shown proper sizing, careful design, rigorous attention to all aspects during installation and commissioning are essential to achievement of high performance. There have been cases where this has not happened. The industry is responding by tightening standards and enhancing training. It is also important end-users understand the differences between running a boiler and using a heat pump to heat a property at maximum efficiency. This includes grasping the concepts of thermal mass, response times and minimum cycling and their effects.

Heat pumps are spread throughout the UK from Cornwall to Scotland and can be found in properties ranging from bungalows to accommodate the elderly, hard-to–heat homes, and stately homes, to schools, offices and public buildings. Ideally they are specified in the initial proposals for a new build but frequently they are becoming the preferred option for retrofits.

In all cases the priority should be getting the thermal characteristics of the building itself as high possible mainly by super-insulation, stringent minimalisation of air leakage and correct provision of, (and subsequent use of,) ventilation whether natural or other. Then it is appropriate to choose the heat source.

The Renewable Heat Incentive, about to start for ground source heat pumps, with air source to follow next year, makes a heat pump system financially attractive. Drafted to give an 11% or 12% annual return on the difference between the capital cost of a boiler and the ground source heat pump system, it is to be confirmed possibly this month.

Is it any wonder the government says there could be 2.5 million installations in the UK by 2030?

Paul Brown hearleandbrown@fsmail.net

(Paul is an independent renewable energy consultant)

Other Events:

22nd September (8 am to 12 noon) - Electrical and electronic appliance recycling

Shipston High School is hosting a special skip, on 22nd September (8 am to 12 noon), for electrical and electronic appliance recycling arranged by Stratford District Council with the help of DHL. The event is advertised in local newspapers as well. I hope you will support us by informing your contacts - maybe using your mail list for Transition Shipston.

MADE IN ILMINGTON MARKET

SATURDAY 24 SEPTEMBER

VILLAGE HALL 10AM-3PM

Come and enjoy the talents, tastes and skills of the country!

Home grown goodies, arts and crafts, apple pressing,

Cheese scone bites with coffee/tea

Early bird rates for stall holders: £10 before 10 Sept, £15 thereafter

To book call 01608 682542

ADMISSION FREE!

Supporting the Village Hall Jubilee Kitchen Appeal

1st/2nd October - 'Training for Transition' - a U.N. accredited course for anyone committed to a peaceful transition to a post-peak oil, sustainable society. It's being run at the new East Lodge Sustainability Centre in Jephson Gardens, Leamington Spa, and is the only Training for Transition scheduled in the Midlands until 2012. The course (which is taught all over the world) doesn't just look at the issues of oil, climate change, and waste, but also our emotional responses to the challenges, and our vision for a better future. It includes plenty of practical exercises, including how to present and how to run exciting events - and is great fun!
Further details on the Transition Network website: http://www.transitionnetwork.org/training/courses/launch
£100-£110 for the two days
To go please contact Ruth Wallsgrove: ruth.wallsgrove@tkjpartners.com

SHIPSTON HARVEST FAYRE

a localcelebration of local food and local produce

Sunday 25th September 2011

Town Centre, Shipston On Stour

11am till 4pm

Local Produce Stalls

+ music, crafts & eco ideas

... and the new "Transition Tower"

Organised by Transition Shipston & Surrounding Areas

Contact Pam Bennett, 01608 685606 pam@pambennett.com

August 2011 Newsletter

Shopping in Shipston – Even Better News

You may remember that in March Transition Shipston members carried out a shopping survey, comparing prices in Stratford Tesco's with prices at Shipston's independent shops and Co-ops. The analysis showed, based on an Internet shopping basket selection, that it need cost no more to shop in Shipston, even before you take into account the high petrol costs of driving to Stratford or Stow or Banbury.

Now there is even better news about shopping in Shipston. Following pressure from local residents, the larger Co-op (previously Somerfields) has lowered its prices to match the price band of the Stratford Tesco's, resulting in 1000s of price cuts over a variety of goods. They now have a shelf sticker saying ‘Family Value’ for all items which have been reduced by 10% or more to help shoppers identify the best value as a result of the reductions. The smaller Co-op is exploring whether it can match these price reductions, and we hope all this will lead to more people shopping locally. This will help keep all the independent shops thriving too, and they offer an amazing variety of food, clothes, hardware, flowers, gifts, craft products which people who live far away often seem to appreciate more than those of us who actually live in this very special market town.

Helen Winnifrith

Stretton Goes Solar

Stretton-on-Fosse Village Hall has installed solar pv panels with the help of village residents. The panels are expected to earning £1400 per year in“Feed in Tariff” - this is the government scheme by which the hall will be paid 43.3 pence per unit of electricity generated. The village hall can also save around £500 per year in electricity bills if it can use the electricity as it is generated.

The 21 Sharp solar panels, which are manufactured in Wrexham, should produce around 3339kW hours of electricity a year and save nearly 2 tonnes of carbon emissions. The system which is rated at 3.89kWp was installed by locally based company The Green Electrician who have an office in Brailes. The surrounding trees could be left untouched because they do not shade the panels from the sun.

The Village Hall was able to raise the £12500 for the panels with an innovative loan scheme. Local residents were invited to loan the Village Hall the money at 2% above inflation. Fifteen residents took up the offer and signed a loan agreement which lasts for the 25 years- that is the period that the government guarantees to pay the Feed-in-Tariff. The investors can however withdraw their money after 5 years if they wish. The Village Hall is still expected to make over£1000 per year on the deal after paying out the interest.

The secretary of the Village Hall Izzi Hazelwood said “We are very pleased to go green with this community scheme. The money raised will be used to make improvements to the facilities of the Hall.”

Healthy Food

Pam Bennett has been doing some publishing work for the The International Raw Food Restaurant Directory, she says: “This is a listing of over 600 restaurants in over 45 countries world wide, who offer a raw food menu. If you are new to raw food, this is a vibrantly new way of eating that consists of mainly, or totally raw foods. It can have amazing health-giving effects, which have been documented. Candida, cancer, diabetes and lupus are amongst those which can be helped.

Please see this link for morehttp://video214.com/play/gT9VoSWgibD4XNdeEObIHQ/s/dark

Do please pass this on to anyone you think could be interested.”

Tree Planting packs

In celebration of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee the Woodland Trust is offering free tree packs of 105 or 420 trees. Transition Shipston and Surrounding Communities is applying for a tree pack and would love to hear from transition members as to possible places to plant them.

Packs we can apply for comprise of Blackthorn, Hawthorn, Hazel Birch, Rowan, Oak, Cherry, Dogwood, Ash, Hornbeam, Hazel, Crab Apple, Elder and Dog Rose. We will apply for 105 trees, but if there is enough response, we will try for 420.

Please get in contact ASAP with your location ideas!

Jenny Lanham, photojourno2003@yahoo.co.uk, Phone: 07855 374471

Fruit Picking

For the last two years Transition Shipston has picked unwanted apples and other fruit from orchards around Shipston then shared them with the High School and others who have pressed them for apple juice and made fruit pies. This year we will be collecting and distributing fruit again. If you can help with picking, or have unwanted fruit please contact us.

Dave Passingham 01608 661816

Request:

‘I was unable to attend the workshop last year on how to prune apple trees. I wonder if anyone in the group knows how to do this and would be interested in passing on their knowledge & assisting me later in the year in exchange for a share in our apples. Sharing in picking the apples during the coming month is also a welcome option – we have one Discovery and one Bramley tree.

Please contact Geri on 01608 662848 if interested.