Welcome to July’s Update & notification of our AGM
Every July we have the Climate Action Stokesley & Villages Annual General Meeting, an opportunity to review all that our organisation has done this past year, look at where we are at in our mission and plan actions for the year ahead. This month is designated ‘Plastic Free July’ when we can focus on ways of reducing plastic pollution and plastic waste. With holidays in mind this month, this update looks at ways we can reduce our carbon footprint whilst enjoying a well earned break.
What’s Going On – news and events
CASaV Annual General Meeting & local carbon footprint data – Tuesday July 7.30 – 9pm
This month’s whole group CASaV meeting will be our AGM on Tuesday 18th July 7.30 – 9pm at The Globe Community Library, North Road, Stokesley. All are welcome to attend and you can also attend via zoom
Meeting ID: 968 4479 7985 Passcode: NetZero.
So that our membership year matches our financial year, all those who paid their £1 membership fee from February 2022 until 30th June 2023 will be entitled to vote at the AGM. The membership year will then run from 1st July until 30th June of the following year.
The short AGM will be followed by an opportunity to explore baseline data at a parish level to help measure the impact of our activity and identify future activity.
We will explore the differences identified in the carbon footprint of several local parishes compared to the national average using the Impact Community Carbon Calculator and look at how the suggestions identified by tool compare with activity in the Stokesley and Villages area to date. There will then be a chance to explore the data for your own parish. This will help with planning how we can act locally to address the climate and nature emergencies we face.
At last month’s whole group meeting we were joined by Sally Bunce, marine veterinary nurse with the Yorkshire Seal Group (https://yorkshireseals.org/) who gave a very well received interactive talk, initially highlighting how we can identify different seal types and threats to their health and then broadening out to look at current threats to our whole local marine environment and what is being done to raise awareness of the issues.
If anyone missed the talk and wants to know more about the current campaign to protect our local marine environment see here https://www.facebook.com/groups/reclaimoursea/ or look for Reclaim our Sea on Twitter.
Plastic Free July 2023
Plastic Free July is an annual global movement, started in Australia in 2011, to encourage people to be aware of the climate impact of single use plastics and plastic pollution and to find alternatives for more sustainable living.
The theme of this 12th Plastic Free July is ‘Small steps make a big difference’ and the image above gives us 31 small steps we can easily take to reduce plastic use.
One of the most effective ways of reducing consumption of single use plastic through unnecessary packaging is to refill your own containers at zero waste local shops such as these:
Earth Unwrapped, Barkers Arcade, Northallerton – refill eco-friendly cleaning, household and bodycare products, fill your own container dried foods etc
What Planet Are You On, Westgate, Guisborough – refill eco-friendly household & bodycare products, fill your own container olive oil, dried food goods etc
https://whatplanetareyouon.tillex.co.uk/
Roots Farmshop & Cafe, East Rounton – refill eco-friendly household & bodycare products, fill your own container frozen foods (they also have a book exchange where you can bring any unwanted books and take away new to you one, further saving waste)
http://www.rootsfarmshop.co.uk/
July’s Repair Cafe – Saturday 15th July Swainby Village Hall 10-12
Our monthly Repair Cafes continue with the July edition at Swainby Village Hall in the High Street, Swainby on Saturday 15th July, 10-12, aimed at reducing waste going to landfill or incineration and also saving the resources and energy of manufacturing new items. Bring along your household items in need of repair – computers, mobile phones, electrical items, clothing & textiles, ceramics & glass, wooden items, all blades in need of sharpening including gardening tools – and our friendly pink T shirted repairers will aim to restore your items to working order or give advice if they can’t. All for free including refreshments, donations to cover costs welcomed.
Upcycling Design competition
To celebrate National Upcycling Day Anne Mannix organised an Upcycling Design Poster Competition which was circulated to local schools and youth groups. At the closing date on June 24th over 40 exciting and creative entries were received, judging is now taking place and winners will be announced shortly! All the entries will be displayed initially at July’s Repair Cafe at Swainby thereafter at the Globe, Stokesley and the Discovery Centre, Great Ayton, dates to follow. At Carlton School one entrant went the extra mile and created their design for real!
Holidaying with a lower carbon footprint
Travelling to and from a holiday is often responsible for at least 70 per cent of the carbon emissions of the entire trip. Most forms of transport burn fossil fuels that emit carbon dioxide, which contributes to climate change, so the most effective way to be a greener traveller is to reduce those emissions caused by travelling to and from your holiday destination.
The easiest way to achieve to this is to reduce how far you travel and/or and to travel in a way that burns less fossil fuels using lower carbon modes of transport; or by not travelling in a vehicle at all, choosing instead to travel on foot, by bike or under sail.
Ideas for sustainable holidays and travel can be found here:
https://www.greentraveller.co.uk/post/low-carbon-holidays-travel-guide
https://friendsoftheearth.uk/climate/ethical-travel-nofly-holiday-ideas
July is butterfly month – join the Big Butterfly Count
The Big Butterfly Count is a nationwide citizen science survey aimed at helping us assess the health of our environment. It was launched in 2010 and has rapidly become the world’s biggest survey of butterflies. Over 64,000 citizen scientists took part in 2022, submitting 96,257 counts of butterflies and day-flying moths from across the UK.
The Big Butterfly Count 2023 takes place between 14th July and 6th August. You can take part by registering on the website below after which you will be provided with a guide to UK butterflies, then you choose one day between 14th July and 6th August and observe your own chosen area for 15 minutes, recording any butterfly species to find.
Further information here: https://bigbutterflycount.butterfly-conservation.org/
Great Big Green Week – a review of CASaV events
Last month our different subgroups organised a number of CASAV events for Great Big Green Week.
Repair Cafe, Stokesley
On June 10th the Globe at Stokesley was host to the monthly Repair Cafe. This was well attended with many items being restored to full working order and avoiding going to landfill including a Victorian wall hanging and the construction of one ‘new’ pair of trousers from two badly worn and and unusable pairs! Phil ‘Blades’ was kept busy with dozens of gardening tools to sharpen.
Gardening for wildlife – talk, tour & refreshments
Also on June 10th Helen Herring gave two fascinating talks – afternoon and evening – and tours of her garden (including her pond with rare newts) highlighting the importance of gardening for wildlife. Greatly appreciative attendees came from far and wide and also enjoyed vegan ‘sustainable’ refreshments.
Walks on the wild side
Large numbers of environmental enthusiasts, young and not so young enjoyed a series of nature walks, learning more about the importance of our local flora and fauna and how to value and protect it.
June 11th Wildflower meadow walk at Great Ayton, led by local expert botanist, Martin Allen.
Organised jointly by Brighten Up Great Ayton and CASaV.
June 11th Wildflower walk at Cod Beck, led by local expert botanist Helen Herring.
June 14th Wildflower walk, Bankfoot, Ingelby Greenhow, led by local expert botanist Anne Press.
Updates from the groups
Transport
Let’s Talk Transport – NYC survey ends 17th July
North Yorkshire Council are asking people living, working, and travelling in North Yorkshire to share information about how they travel and the issues that they face. You can fill in an online survey here Have Your Say Today – Let’s Talk Transport Survey
https://letstalkny.commonplace.is/en-GB/proposals/transport/step1
This follows on from the feedback in last year’s consultations where people said public transport is a priority. The Local Transport Plan sets out the strategic transport aims for the region over the next few years. It will allow the council to continue to bid for funding to deliver the infrastructure we need to better connect residents, unlock economic growth, and promote sustainability. The survey closes on 17 July 2023.
Moorsbus weekend network 1st July to 28th August
Moorsbus is a network of local bus services organised by a not-for-profit community organisation to provide access to and within the North York Moors. The Moorsbus services operate from 1 July to 28 August 2023 but only on weekends and bank holiday Monday, using low-floor accessible buses. It serves a number of railway stations including York, Malton, Thirsk, Northallerton and Danby. This year there is a £2 cap on all single fares.
For more information see here: https://www.moorsbus.org/
Food Group – monthly zoom meetings, next meeting Monday July 31st at 6pm, please contact if you would like to join
Allotment tour
June’s usual zoom meeting was replaced by a ‘live’ meeting with Wendy showing the group around her allotment in Stokesley. Wendy explained that she had gardened it organically for 27 years and has increasingly followed regenerative principles in more recent years. She
uses a 4 course rotation and while most of the produce is for home consumption she
grows 2 varieties each of tomatoes and climbing French beans and also Stokesley peas
for the Heritage seed library sending back seed to them each year. Much interest had
been shown during the recent Open Gardens event (which raised over £27,000 for
Teesside Hospice).
Stokesley U3A: Food, glorious food, veggie style!
Joan Sargeant has started a new veggie food group with the U3A which will meet on the 3rd Wednesday of each month from 1:30 pm to 2:30 pm in Stokesley Town Hall.
This is a new group is for collaborative folks who are interested in sharing ideas, knowledge, recipes and enthusiasm for veggie style food. Maybe you already follow a vegetarian diet or you would like more ideas or information about it or maybe you’ve never tried it and you would like to give it a go. Whatever the reason, you are most welcome to be part of the group.
The plan is to meet once a month and each month a different member will be asked to prepare a veggie dish for the group to taste while explaining the process of making it and answering any questions about it.
More information here: https://u3asites.org.uk/stokesley/page/129414
Co-op Foodshare
CASaV’s partnership with our local Co-op stores is making sure surplus food does not go to waste but gets to those who need it most and continues under the fantastic leadership of Jenny Earle. Every evening, every week Jenny and her band of volunteers collect surplus from our local Co-op stores in Stokesley and Great Ayton and distribute it to local charities and groups for those most in need.
More volunteers to collect and distribute the surplus food are needed, even if you can only volunteer occasionally this is very useful for back up cover if one of the regular volunteers is unable to collect the food at short notice. Email us if you can spare an hour every now and then.
Choose your own salad leaves
Barbara Beveridge at Battersby Junction provides wonderful organic local veg boxes. She would welcome anyone who would like to volunteer to support her on her small holding at Battersby Junction.
Currently Barbara is offering ‘chose your own’ salad leaves at the Stokesley Farmers and Makers Markets. Bring your own container and get wonderful fresh salad without a plastic container.
For more information email barbara at barbarabeveridge118@gmail.com
Waste Group – monthly zoom meetings, next meeting Tuesday 11th July 7.00pm, please contact if you would like to join
Repair Cafes
Upcoming Repair Cafes will be 15th July at Swainby Village Hall and 12th August at the Globe, Stokesley, both 10-12. Remember, bring your household items in need of repair e.g. electrical appliances, mechanical equipment, furniture, clothing, crockery, laptops, smartphones, etc – to the Repair Cafe and extend the life of your items, learn repair skills, prevent landfill waste and help fight climate change!
As always, a great big green thank you to all of you who continue to make our Repair Cafes such a success – repair experts, reception and refreshment volunteers and of course all of you who bring along your household items in need of repair.
This monthly event alternates between Swainby and Stokesley and continues to be well attended with 100s of household items repaired / returned to functional use which might have otherwise gone to waste in landfill or incineration, saving the owners the cost of buying replacements as well as reducing the environmental impact of using up resources and the energy in manufacturing.
The Repair Cafes gives us a great opportunity to share the climate action message with people who aren’t aware of CASAV and many have signed up to our mailing list, joined us on Facebook and volunteered for future Repair Cafes.
We are always on the lookout for more volunteers so please get in touch if you are interested or want more information.
Further details here on our website.
Recycling is the process of destroying waste and repurposing it to make something new from it, e.g. scrap metal is melted, processed, and then used to make a new item which is useful but still requires energy which contributes to climate change. Upcycling is more climate friendly in that it uses waste in its current state to create something new, such as a flower vase made from an empty bottle of wine. The benefit of upcycling is that you can give a raw material a second life without spending a lot of money on recycling, and you can also meet a current need with what you make.
Mending matters – workshop with Generation Climate
Kate Gibbon took the repair message to a Climate Action Youth Group, Generation Climate, at Saltburn last month. The young people, who are passionate about climate change and how to act to reduce it, wanted a member of the ‘older generation’ to teach them how to repair their worn out clothes to extend their life, prevent waste and save resources and energy in manufacturing new. The young people enthusiastically became skilful in darning woollen clothing and using visible mending techniques such as sashiko on woven fabric. Socks were darned, torn trousers repaired and a very imaginative ‘gauntlet’ was created!
Kate is happy to offer this mending workshop to any other group – young or otherwise! – just email if interested.
Recycling plastic bottle tops
The plastic in milk bottle tops is often difficult to recycle but is a valuable resource for making into pellets that go into the manufacture of items such as traffic bollards and traffic cones. A local funeral directors, Rea at Stokesley and Great Ayton are now asking for your milk bottle tops for recycling and to raise money for charity – each tonne of tops raises £40 for Marie Curie.
The Refill App
The Refill App (https://www.refill.org.uk/) allows you tap into a global network of places to reduce, reuse and refill containers for drinks, food and household cleaning substances as well as getting free tap water for your reusable bottle. Anne Mannix and other CASAV members have been out and about encouraging local businesses to sign up to the refill scheme and appear on the app and there are now almost 20 locations nearby where you can refill your own containers, saving packaging and costs.
If you know any local businesses which would like to join the scheme, please get in touch.
Nature Group – regular zoom meetings, please contact if you would like to join
The Nature Group were very active in Great Big Green Week producing fascinating displays in the Globe, Stokesley and the Discovery Centre, Great Ayton on how climate change is already putting our natural world at risk. The group also arranged a two very successful Wildlife Gardening sessions where we found out how to accommodate a family garden and space for nature. We also discovered that gardening for wildlife doesn’t mean not doing anything, effort is required! In addition the group organised very well attended walks at Ingelby Bank Foot, the floodplain meadow in Great Ayton and around Cod Beck.
These wildlife walks are always very popular and the Nature Group led by Brigid Holstrom plans to hold more during August, details to follow.
Energy
At this month’s AGM we will be looking at Impact: Community Carbon Calculator. Impact is an estimator of a community’s carbon footprint that works for parishes wards, district councils and unitary authorities. It draws on more than 30 datasets to estimate the total amount of greenhouse gases produced directly and indirectly as a result of everyday human activities in the given locality – heating homes, using electricity, transport, producing and distributing food, disposing of waste, etc.
Impact has been designed to help you and your community to access, analyse and act on your community’s carbon footprint and to give you a better idea of where to target your efforts for the greatest impact in tackling the climate emergency.
You can find out about the carbon footprint of your parish area here:
https://impact-tool.org.uk/footprint/search
Signing off
If you have any news or any event / activity you would like promoting on next month’s (August) update please email Kate at kategibbon@googlemail.com by the end of July.
Kate will also be helping promote activities via Facebook and Instagram so let her know if there is anything that you would like shared via our Facebook group or Instagram page if you are not a Facebook / Instagram user.
Hope to see you at the CASaV whole group AGM on Tuesday 18th July.
Kate Gibbon,
on behalf of the Climate Action Stokesley and Villages Steering Group Steering group:
Bridget Holmstrom, Caryn Loftus, Jack Turton, Ron Kirk and Simn Gibbon
Climate Action Stokesley and Villages 