Welcome to June’s Update from Climate Action Stokesley & Villages
Thank you for your role in taking urgent action globally and locally on climate breakdown and biodiversity loss.
Wildflowers in the floodplain meadow, Great Ayton
Diary dates
(details of all events below in Newsletter section)
Tuesday 18th June 7.30-9pm Whole group meeting, the Globe, Stokesley
Great Big Green Week dates 8th – 16th June
- Saturday 8th June 10-12 Repair Cafe & ‘Mend in Public’ event, the Globe & town centre, Stokesley
- Saturday 8th June 9.30 & 11.30 Flower Field Tour, Ingelby Greenhow
- Saturday 8th June 1.00-4.00pm CASaV stall at the Village Fair, Great Ayton
- Saturday 8th – Saturday 15th June Interactive Environment / Climate Action Displays at the Globe Stokesley, the Discovery Centre Great Ayton, the Hub Hutton Rudby, Labman Seamer
Other June / July diary dates
- Monday 3rd June “A Rubbish Talk”, Osmotherley Village Hall
- Tuesday 11th June 7.00pm CASaV Waste group meeting by zoom (link below)
- Saturday 15th – Sunday 16th June Great Yorkshire Creature Count
- Sunday June 16th World Refill Day
- Saturday June 22nd Restore Nature Now march, central London
- Thursday June 20th 3.30pm CASaV Nature Group meeting, Stokesley
- Thursday June 20th 6.30pm CASaV Food Group meeting, Great Ayton
- Sunday 30th June Wildflower and Poetry Walk, Great Ayton
- Saturday 6th & Sunday 7th July 10-4 Roots Celebration of Nature Exhibition, East Rounton
- Tuesday 17th July 7.30pm CASaV AGM, venue tbc
Newsletter
Our online newsletter / magazine focuses on our group’s values and purpose, summed up by our motto ‘Think global, act local’, beginning with global / national / county issues including ways in which you can influence policy, followed by local news and activities you can participate in that develop our relationship with the environment and fight climate change and biodiversity loss.
“Think global”
National and global climate action news and campaigns
General election July 4th: Vote Climate
Climate Action Stokesley & Villages aims to be politically non aligned and we are delighted to be supported by voters of a range of ideologies who put the climate and biodiversity above their political allegiances. The coming election, more than those before, is an opportunity to cast your vote according to which party is promising to do the best by our environment by having clear actions to reduce climate change and biodiversity loss.
There are different organisations which aim to help the voters be aware of all parties views and actions already taken in support of or against reducing climate change and diversity loss.
Friends of the Earth
FOE report that they have carried out a rapid assessment of where the Conservative, Labour, Liberal Democrat and Green parties stand currently on climate, energy, nature and the environment, and where they’re strongest and weakest. Parties have been scored out of 10 on the 10 biggest green challenges for the next government, and FOE will be using this to encourage the parties to strengthen the areas where policy is weak or lacking, and even to firm up areas where they’re currently strong.
More info here friendsoftheearth.uk/system-change
Greenpeace
Greenpeace aims to sign up as many individuals as possible to be ‘Climate Voters’, with a focus on places that could decide the next election. Climate Voters commit to prioritise climate change – both now and when they cast their vote. The overall aim is to highlight to politicians of all parties the weight of numbers of people speaking up for climate action, in order to urge the politicians to take the issue seriously.
More info here: greenpeace.org.uk/take-action/project-climate-vote/
Vote Climate
This organisation reports that, leading up to the general election, based on expert analysis, they will rank the political parties’ manifestos according to which, if fully implemented over 5 years, will lead to the greatest long-term reduction in UK climate emissions. Vote Climate will then tell individuals who have joined their organisation which party to vote for to have the strongest influence on the climate policies of the next government.
More info here voteclimate
Saturday 22nd June Restore Nature march & rally, central London 12 noon onwards
Our rivers and sea are being poisoned by increasing amounts of pollution, wildlife numbers continue to decrease with 1 in 6 British species at risk of extinction, and floods and droughts are becoming more extreme as we see the escalating effects of the climate emergency.
To counter this, a wide-range of groups, from leading nature charities like the RSPB and the National Trust to environmental activists like Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth, have gathered together to encourage everyone who cares for nature to march through London on Saturday 22 June, with a simple demand to all political parties: Restore Nature Now.
The plan is for groups and individuals to gather at Park Lane, London, W1K, between midday and 1pm on Saturday 22 June 2024. From there the march will take a predetermined route through the city before ending in Parliament Square. There will be family friendly performance art, sculptures, singing and more for added entertainment for our marchers. The march will be wheelchair accessible and BSL interpreted.
The culmination of the march will see a central ‘rally’ in Parliament Square at around 2.30pm with well-known names and faces speaking to marchers about the political and policy changes needed to see to finally turn the tide for the environment and Restore Nature Now.
More information here restorenaturenow
Organisations in Yorkshire such as Yorkshire Wildlife Trust and York Extinction Rebellion are planning to organise coach travel but no details yet. Check on these organisations social media / websites for updates.
Citizen Science: local, national and global environmental monitoring
Citizen Science, also known as Community Science, is a way anyone can help gather scientific information in their local surroundings or the comfort of their own home. Citizen Science initiatives focusing on the environment are becoming more common – such as the loved Big Garden Birdwatch – and with technological innovations increasing the ways in which individuals can participate, projects can even become global in scale, long-term, and engage hundreds of thousands of volunteers. The information Citizen Scientists gather is hugely valuable for furthering our understanding of the impact of climate change on biodiversity for example. People taking part as Citizen Scientists feel closer to nature and get great satisfaction of doing something valuable and purposeful.
Some Citizen Science environmental information gathering you can take part in now:
Great Yorkshire Creature Count 15th – 16th June
info here: GYCC
Bugs Matter May – September 2024
info here: bugs-matter
Great UK Water Blitz 7th – 10th June
info here: freshwater-watch-in-the-uk
Other projects
Kew Gardens also has a list of 10 different projects you could get involved in kew.org/blog/10-ways-get-involved-citizen-science and the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology has even more projects you could get involved in, based around apps – citizen-science/citizen-science-apps
“Act Local”
This month’s local activities and ideas from our focus groups (Nature, Food, Waste, Energy, Transport) to address biodiversity loss and fight climate breakdown
CASaV Monthly Meeting at the Globe Community Library, Stokesley
Tuesday 18th June 7.30-9pm
Our next whole group meeting will be on Tuesday 18th June, in The Globe Community Library, North Road, Stokesley, from 7:30 – 9:00 pm. As well as hearing updates from the various sub-groups we will have a discussion about the coming general election and how to make the climate our candidates’s priority.
We’re a friendly bunch and we welcome everyone!
This is the link to last month’s meeting’s minutes to give a flavour of what we discuss casav-monthly-meeting-21st-may-2024
Also heads up that July’s meeting Tuesday 16th July 7.30pm will be our AGM so put the date in your diary now! Venue to be confirmed.
Great Big Green Week Saturday 8th – Sunday 16th June
The Great Big Green Week is an annual celebration of community action to tackle climate change and protect nature with events and activities across the UK. This year’s theme is making swaps in our behaviour and lifestyles which will address climate change and biodiversity loss.
GBGW link for more info
Locally we are celebrating the week with the following:
Saturday 8th June 10-12 noon Repair Cafe, Bike Health Checks at the Globe Community Library, Stokesley plus “Mend in Public” out and about in Stokesley market area and High Street.
Our monthly Repair Cafe will be at The Globe Community Library, Stokesley on Saturday 8th June 10-12
Alongside our pink T shirted repair volunteers fixing your household items – electrical appliances, wooden furniture, toys & bikes, laptops & mobile phones, blades needing sharpening – the sewing team will also be out and about in Stokesley town centre, around the market area and High Street taking part in ‘Mend in Public’ , a creative initiative showing mending skills to anyone and everyone passing by, to encourage us all to extend the life of things we own by mending them when they get damaged or wear out, saving money from not buying new, saving resources used to make new and also reducing carbon emissions in manufacturing.
Bring along any item of clothing – socks, jumpers, jeans, shirts – and learn creative repair skills from our ‘Menders in Public’!
Bicycle Health Expert Andy from Sustrans is joining us again this month to provide free bicycle ‘health checks’ – a thorough check over of your bike to check it’s road worthiness plus small repairs and advice.
As usual, through coming to the Repair Cafe you can save yourself money, the earth’s resources and prevent climate damaging gases from waste going to incineration or landfill. On average, we manage to fix 70% of items, give advice on possible repair steps for 20% and how best to recycle the 10% that are sadly beyond repair (statistics). But 100% of attendees are offered free refreshments of tea, coffee or juice as well as cakes and biscuits and a great opportunity to chat with friendly, like minded people.
This month’s free refreshments include Fair Trade beverages and home made sweet treats made with Fair Trade ingredients, kindly donated by Stokesley Co-op, facilitated by Eileen Driver.
New repair and reception volunteers always welcome – come along, have a cuppa and a chat or email Simon Gibbon.
Saturday 8th June 9.30 & 11.30 Flower Field Tour, Ingelby Greenhow
Join a guided tour around a field of flowers and enjoy the colours and fragrance! This fantastic event is limited to 10 people only so booking is essential. Please contact songmeadow@yahoo.com to book a place.
Saturday 8th June 1.00-4.00pm CASaV stall at the Village Fair, Great Ayton
CASaV will have a stall at the popular Great Ayton Village fete presenting information on all the environmental initiatives currently supported in the village including the BUG trail, flood meadows development and the community gardens at Yatton House.
Saturday 8th – Saturday 15th June Climate & Biodiversity Action Displays at the Globe Stokesley, the Discovery Centre Great Ayton, the Hub Hutton Rudby, Labman Seamer
Information displays and leaflets on Dark Skies, Reducing Plastic Pollution and Environmental Citizen Science Projects rotate around the venues to reach as many people as possible during the GBGW together with a ‘Pledgehog’ at each venue for people to make their own pledges for the health of the planet will rotate between the venues over Great Big Green Week.
Additional events in June / early July
Monday 3rd June 7.30pm ‘A Rubbish Talk’, Osmotherley Village Hall
Environment & Climate Osmotherley (ECO) Group (see below) have organised ‘A Rubbish Talk’ by Tracey Flint, Recycling Officer at North Yorkshire Council on Monday 3rd June at 7:30 pm in Osmotherley Village Hall. A free event where Tracey will cover household recycling, what you can recycle via your kerbside bins and also via other council recycling facilities as well as how the rest of your waste is used.
Sunday 30th June 2pm Wildflower and Poetry Walk, Waterfall Park, Great Ayton
CASaV are organising a walk round the floodplain meadow in Great Ayton to see the difference that mowing only once a year has made on the biodiversity of the area.
Meet at 2pm in Waterfall Park, just off the High Street in Great Ayton.
“The world has all its beauty still: just take a look around –
The seasons’ changing loveliness; the natural world abounds”
The Margaret K. Mawston Environmental Trust funded work in the meadow so we will share some of Margaret Mawston’s poetry to help explore the area.
Find out more: nature/floodplain-meadow
Saturday 6th & Sunday 7th July 10am – 4pm Roots Celebration of Nature Exhibition, East Rounton Village Hall
Issues / ideas from the groups:
Environment & Climate Osmotherley (ECO) Group
CASaV is delighted to have been joined by Environment & Climate Osmotherley (ECO) which is a group of like-minded villagers with shared concerns around our environment & climate change. Their lead, Rebecca Wright notes “We meet once a month & also have four sub-groups exploring Decarbonisation, Sustainability, Flora & Fauna who meet regularly. We hope to encourage other residents & visitors to our village to adopt a more thoughtful & sustainable approach to our environment, and also work with the relevant local authorities to promote sustainable living.”
Contact for more information
Issues / ideas from the groups: Nature
This month’s Nature Group meeting is at 15.30, Thursday 20th June at the Globe Library In Stokesley. Please join us there.
Contact Bridget Holmstrom for information
The Nature group supported successful ‘No Mow May’ in local parish areas and is planning more activities such as wildflower and nature walks to enable people to feel more connected to nature and by doing so make changes in their lives to protect it. Coming up later in the summer will be a ‘Bat Night’ which will feature an evening talk on these fascinating and endangered mammals and then after sunset a ‘bat hunt’ with bat detectors. Details soon.
Ideas from the groups: Food
This month’s Food Group meeting is on Thursday 20th June at 6.30pm and will take place al fresco in Jenny’s lovely garden in Great Ayton (weather permitting!)
contact Wendy for information & address
June Seasonal eating
Eating food in season (local as far as possible) can have substantial positive impact on climate breakdown by reducing high-energy input from artificial heating or lighting needed to produce crops out of the natural growing season.
This month we focus on what is currently growing outside in our hedgerows – elderflowers!
Elderflowers make delicious wine, cordial or fritters. Start by gathering flowers from hedgerows away from roads, for safety and pollution reasons. As with all foraging, only take small amounts and make sure you leave plenty for other people as well as wildlife. Whichever recipe you use, try to ensure not too much stalk is included as the woody part does not have a pleasant taste.
Elderflower cordial
Elderflower wine
Elderflower fritters
The Bus Stop Garden, Stokesley
Did you know there is a petite community garden in Stokesley by the bus stop, tended by Wendy, where people can take any produce that grows. Currently there are lots of herbs growing and three tomato plants have been added (although one has sadly just gone awol).
Foodshare: Now Premier Food Store as well as the Co-ops
Every night, every week Jenny Earle, joint Food Group lead, organises volunteers to collect surplus food from our local Co-op stores as well as the new Premier Food Store in Great Ayton. The food is then distributed locally to those in need, not only reducing food waste which produces carbon gases affecting our climate but also providing a huge benefit to the community.
New volunteers are always welcome, please contact.
Ideas from the groups: Waste
This month’s Waste group meeting Wednesday 7.00pm by zoom – contact Simon Gibbon for a link to join, (previous notes)
Sunday June 16th World Refill Day
Our throwaway culture is polluting our planet and we need to turn off the tap when it comes to single-use plastic. Globally, we use millions of tonnes every year and it’s becoming clear that we can’t recycle our way out of our plastic problem. Plastic is not only polluting our planet, impacting communities around the world, and contributing to the climate crisis, but it’s making its way into our bodies through the air we breathe and the food we eat.
We urgently need to shift from our disposable, single-use culture to a more sustainable, circular future, with reuse & refill at the centre.
World Refill Day is a global campaign to prevent plastic pollution and help people live with less waste. A day of action uniting our global community every year on 16th June, the campaign is designed to create an alternative vision of the future and accelerate the transition away from single-use plastic towards refill & reuse systems.
We have produced an information display of simple ways you can reduce your consumption of single use plastic, including refilling existing containers which will be available to see at the Globe and the Discovery Centre during Great Big Green Week.
More info here world-refill-day.
Locally, you can shop with less waste using local greengrocers and reusing bags to put your fruit and vegetables in. A number of local shops allow you to refill to reduce waste:Roots Farm Shop & Café, East Rounton DL6 2LE;Fletchers Farm Shop, Woodhouse Farm Great Ayton TS9 6HZ;Spilman’s Farm Shop, Church Farm, Sessay, ThirskYO7 3NB; Five Houses Farm Shop, Crathorne TS15 0AY;Earth Unwrapped, Northallerton;Sweet Treats (refill section), Thirsk;Off the Scale, Castleton.
And of course don’t forget your refillable water bottle, which you can find places to refill locally using the Refill app (https://www.refill.org.uk/).
Signing off
If you have any news or any event / activity you would like promoting on next month’s (June) update please email Kate Gibbon by the end of June
Kate also helps promote activities via Facebook and Instagram so let her know if there is anything that you would like shared via our Facebook page and Instagram if you are not a Facebook / Instagram user.
Hope to see you at the CASaV whole group gathering on Tuesday 18th June at the Globe Community Library, Stokesley
Kate Gibbon,
on behalf of the Climate Action Stokesley and Villages Steering Group Steering group:
Bridget Holmstrom, Caryn Loftus, Jack Turton, Ron Kirk and Simon Gibbon
Climate Action Stokesley and Villages 