CASaV Update – September 2024

Welcome to September’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.

Diary dates

(details of all events below in Newsletter section)

Act Local

Tuesday 17th September 19.30 Whole Group Annual Meeting, the Globe Community Library, Stokesley
NB Please note that unfortunately the planned Osmotherley Nut Fest on Friday 6th September is cancelled due to illness
Monday 9th – Monday 22nd September Stokesley Fair Trade Fortnight
Tuesday 10th September 13.30 – 15.00 Yatton House Community Garden working party, Great Ayton
Now until 16 September North Yorkshire Council ‘Let’s Talk Rubbish’ survey
Thursday 19th September Food Group Meeting 19.00 by zoom (link below)
Nature Group meeting, the Globe Community Library, Stokesley: date to be confirmed
Saturday 21st September 10.00 – 12.00 Repair Cafe, Swainby Village Hall, High Street, Swainby
Tuesday 8th October 19.00 CASaV Waste Group meeting by zoom (link below) NB no meeting in September
Apple pressing dates in September / October to be confirmed

Think Global (details below)

#Secondhand September – Oxfam campaign for planet friendly shopping
2 – 6th September Zero Waste Week (see Waste Group section)
7-8th September RHS Harlow Carr: Festival of Flavours – celebration of home growing and seasonal cooking
Can agriculture and solar panels work together? Understanding agrivoltaics
Just published: the Soil Association FREE Digital Organic Living Guide

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

#Secondhand September – Oxfam campaign for planet friendly shopping

Second Hand September is a moment for all of us to come together to choose a more planet-friendly way to shop. There was a time when what we wore meant something. It said something about us and our community. But what does it mean today? A throwaway culture? Planet wrecking waste? This September, take a stance against the impact of fast fashion by shopping second hand. Reclaim what style stands for. Dress for the world you want to see.

Explore slow fashion, sustainable fashion and ethical fashion, shop and donate second hand and help create a fairer world.

oxfam.org.uk/get-involved/second-hand-september/

Agrivoltaics: can farming and solar panels work together?

It is well established that we need to move away from using fossil fuels for energy production and use renewables as our long term sources of energy not only for energy security but more importantly to reduce the impact of climate breakdown. Alongside wind turbines, tidal and river turbines, solar (voltaic) panels are a key energy source. Siting the solar panels has become a issue for complex discussion. Although using domestic and commercial rooftops is now commonplace, using land with potential for agriculture as solar farms is heavily debated.

In 2022 Greenpeace published information on how farming and solar panels can work together farming-and-solar-panels-can-work-together and in 2023 the first Global Agrivoltaic conference took place, highlighting how agricultural production, such as crop or livestock production or pollinator habitats can successfully take place underneath or adjacent to solar panels. You can see the proceedings of this conference here

The Council for the Preservation of Rural England (CPRE), although highly supportive of renewable energy and of solar panels on buildings, expresses concern about the use of countryside for solar farms cpre solar-energy-the-countryside

What are your thoughts?

Soil Association: Organic Living Guide just published

The Soil Association has created this Organic Living Guide to celebrate all things organic, and provide you with tips for living a life in harmony with nature. The FREE digital guide is packed with top tips and advice from our team of experts at the Soil Association. It also includes features from special guests who have shaped the organic movement.

Inside this guide you will find: advice for choosing animal products which work with nature, not against it, how to buy, plant and harvest in tune with the seasons, tips for avoiding greenwashing and your guide to planting for pollinators.

You can obtain your FREE guide here: organic-living-guide/

7-8th September RHS Harlow Carr, Harrogate

Festival of Flavours

Growing and cooking your own food is not only delicious and healthy but is also good for climate change. Enjoy a relaxed day out at this autumn food event – Festival of Flavours – from 7 to 8 September. Get take-home tips from chefs and local food producers, browse food and drink stalls and take Kitchen Garden tours, while relaxing to live music in the beautiful surroundings.

https://www.rhs.org.uk/gardens/harlow-carr/whats-on/festival-of-flavours

“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 Whole Group Meeting

Tuesday 17th September 19.30-21.00

Globe Community Library, Stokesley

Our next whole group meeting is on Tuesday 17th September, at the newly updated Globe Community Library, Stokesley from 19.30 until 21.00.

All welcome to come and discuss all things climate change and biodiversity loss, updates from the sub groups and planning for future activities

We’re a friendly bunch and we welcome everyone!

Monday 9th – Monday 22nd September

Fair Trade Fortnight (Stokesley and Ayton FairTrade Group)

What is the link between Fair Trade and climate breakdown? The impact of climate breakdown is often experienced more harshly on the most vulnerable global communities. Fairtrade aims to promote sustainable food production and environmental protection through a number of strategies including adhering to the Fairtrade standards and to be certified as a Fairtrade producer, farmers must improve soil and water quality, manage pests, avoid using harmful chemicals, manage waste, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and protect biodiversity. Production wise, Fairtrade supports and incentivises agroecology principles to transition toward more resilient farming practices and implement climate change adaptation plans. Fairtrade is also actively involved and advocates for better climate justice in trade by reviewing legislation that aims to tackle the negative impact of trade practices on the environment. This also includes working with traders and retailers to be accountable for their climate commitments and environmental due diligence.

Stokesley and Ayton FairTrade Group are holding the FairTrade Fortnight 9-22nd September, especially with the support of all our local Co-op stores, in which they’ll have displays, information and a FREE raffle, (though it will be necessary to answer one question about FairTrade!) The group are striving to enable local people to see reasons to choose FairTrade and support FairTrade producers who will be the first to be struggle with Climate Change.

More information on the links between Fair Trade and climate breakdown Fair Trade Climate Issues

Tuesday 10th September 13.30 – 15.00 Yatton House Community Garden Working Party

Yatton House Community Garden working party 10th September 1:30 – 3:00pm

Looking forward to picking french beans and mangetout during the September working party. The garden is now open weekdays unless raining so call in and enjoy sitting in the restful space.

North Yorkshire Council: Let’s Talk Rubbish survey

now until 16th September

NYC collects around 310,000 tonnes of household waste each year from over 300,000 properties. About 45 per cent of this is reused, recycled or composted.

The Let’s Talk Local and Let’s Talk Money feedback to NYC requested that the council should focus on providing the best value for money and tackling climate change. NYC notes that the formation of North Yorkshire Council has brought together seven different ways of collecting household waste and recycling. By reviewing the different recycling collection services, they aim to become more efficient and cost-effective.

NYC currently (until 16th September) has an online survey (can also be completed on paper) asking for YOUR thoughts, wishes and ideas on rubbish collection and recycling.

Make your voice heard! letstalkny survey-rubbish

Saturday 21st September 10.00-12.00 Repair Cafe,

Swainby Village Hall, High Street Swainby

Our monthly Repair Cafe will be on Saturday 21st September 10 – 12 at Swainby Village Hall, High Street, Swainby

As always, our pink T shirted repair volunteers will be eager to fix your household items – clothing & textiles, electrical appliances, wooden furniture, toys & bikes, laptops & mobile phones, blades needing sharpening – as well as give you hands on demonstrations 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.

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.

Apple Pressing coming soon!

CASaV will be running a couple of apple pressing sessions in Faceby this autumn. Dates coming soon. Check our apple pressing website page in early September for details https://climateactionstokesleyandvillages.org/food/apple-pressing/

Meet the CASaV people!

At CASaV we are very fortunate to have a super range of tremendous people from all walks of life who give their time, skills, passion and knowledge, thinking globally and acting locally to help fight climate change and biodiversity loss. Last month we started a new series highlighting the great work our volunteers and project supporters do, this month we continue:

Katy

About a year ago Katy came along to the Stokesley repair cafe because she wanted her faulty toaster fixed. During her visit she noticed there was a sewing section and that was it – she was hooked, in more than one way as she can use a crochet hook!

Katy is a very busy woman! She is the Founder Director of a literacy company called Lexonik. She, along with her Lexonik staff passionately believe ‘nobody should be limited because they can’t read.’

Sewing, knitting, crocheting and cooking have been her hobbies since childhood. She also taught food and nutrition, child development and textiles in Secondary schools before changing her teaching career to specialise in Special Educational Needs. Her literacy work has taken her to California, Florida, Georgia and Middle East. Having the opportunity to travel for work may sound exciting perhaps even glamorous but Katy says “It’s just a very long way to go to the office!”

When she was younger she spent time dressmaking, and loved working with quality fabrics making wedding dresses and bridesmaid dresses but now she prefers smaller projects and crafting. In the last few years she has also learned how to cane chairs, thanks to YouTube videos and has beautifully restored a number of cane seats brought to the Repair Cafe in varying states of disrepair!

She really enjoys being part of the CASaV team and gets great satisfaction from working on damaged often cherished possessions, bringing them back to life. But she also enjoys her CASaV time because, in her words “we basically laugh a lot, chat a lot and mend a lot.” She is also fearless and undaunted by one of the most frequent and biggest challenges faced by the sewing repairers – broken zips!

One type of mend she would like to see more of is turning collars and cuffs on shirts which are otherwise in perfect condition as it makes those favourite shirts as good as new again.

David

David has attended many Repair Cafes as a repairee as well as joining Waste group meetings, attending walks organised by the Nature group and was a key speaker at the CASaV Environment and Farming event. As a local farmer and councillor at North Yorkshire Council he was delighted to be elected as Climate Change member champion. His interest in climate change goes back to 2008 when he travelled extensively overseas while researching a paper titled “The Carbon Footprint of British Agriculture”. Since then he has farmed with climate change in mind and was one of the first farmers in the UK to adopt the practice of mob grazing.

While there were agricultural reasons for putting himself forward for this council role, David notes that it was his occasional forays to CASaV which provided the spark. His travels back in 2008 starting by studying the Peatlands of The Peak District so he greatly enjoyed joining the CASaV trip to Rosedale peat restoration earlier this year.

The member champion role is relatively new in North Yorkshire having been introduced early in the new Council when members declared a climate emergency. David sees his role as working with the Assistant Director of Environment and Executive member who have responsibility for climate change in their portfolios.The role is a cross party one as he will see all 90 members as champions. Already he has taken a request to the Scrutiny Board from a member who believes we should be managing highway verges in a more nature friendly way. David notes that he is looking forward to working with the family of climate action groups in the county and make them feel part of the NYC climate change strategy.

David says he is proud of his fifteen years of service representing local villages on four different Authorities. However it doesn’t always go to plan – when as Chairman of Hambleton District Council he put the case containing the Mayoral Chains on the bonnet of his car while checking the cows after a function. They were later retrieved by a police officer in the middle of the night from Faceby water splash! David notes “To add to my embarrassment this even made the local radio news the following day.”

How about you?

If you are interested in playing a more active role in thinking globally, acting locally to fight climate change and biodiversity loss please visit our website and look at the volunteer opportunities or pop along to one of our meetings – whole group and Food, Nature & Waste sub groups – and have a chat!

Issues / ideas from the groups: Nature

This month’s Nature Group meeting will be at the Globe Library In Stokesley, date to be confirmed

Contact Bridget Holmstrom for information

Last week Becci of the Environment & Climate Osmotherley and Bridget the Nature group lead organised a very popular ‘Bat Night’ in Osmotherley. Rebecca started the evening with a inspiring illustrated talk about these amazing mammals then the group was shown how to use bat detectors and we set off for a fascinating walk around Osmotherley using the detectors to identify at least four different species of bats as they flew around us on their night time hunting forays! The evening was so well enjoyed another is planned to take place in Great Ayton in the coming months, watch out for details.

Ideas from the groups: Food

Next Food Group meeting Thursday September 19th at 7pm by zoom contact Wendy for a link to join

Food Revolution: watch ‘Eating for Tomorrow’ film

The Food Revolution Network is an organisation committed to inspiring and advocating for sustainable and ethical food through education about plant based foods. They have a film by leading environmentalists about the impact of what we eat on the environment and climate ‘Eating For Tomorrow’, narrated by Kate Winslet, available for free viewing via this link: Eating for Tomorrow

Foodshare: surplus food prevented from going to waste and helping those in need

Foodshare is a joint initiative by the Food and Waste groups and is organised by Jenny. EVERY evening at 9pm a Volunteer collects surplus food from the Ayton Coop and Premier supermarket and both Stokesley Coops and takes it to various distribution centres (often in Middlesbrough) such as Nitelight (for homeless) for use/distribution amongst those in need. This is fresh food such as fruit, veg and bread, NOT the tins and dried food that are needed by Food Banks. If you feel this is something with which you could help, please contact Jenny on jennyearle@phoneccop.coop.

September Seasonal eating

Seasonal eating

how-to-eat-seasonally

Fruit and vegetables in season this month include: apples, artichoke, aubergine, beetroot, bilberries, blackberries, broccoli, butternut squash, carrots, celeriac, celery, chard, chestnuts, chillies, chives, cob nuts, coriander, courgettes, cucumber, damsons, elderberries, fennel, french beans, garlic, horseradish, kale, kohlrabi, leeks, lettuce & salad leaves, mangetout, marrow, mint, onions, oregano, pak choi, parsley, pears, peppers, plums, potatoes, pumpkin, radishes, raspberries, redcurrants, rocket, rosemary, runner beans, sage, shallots, sorrel, spring onions, sweetcorn, thyme, tomatoes, turnips, watercress, wild mushrooms

September’s seasonal recipe: Preserved pears for Christmas

Use up a glut of freshly harvested pears with this tasty recipe:

preserved-pears-a-lovely-recipe-an-even-better-gift/

Wendy from the Food Group notes”If you are fortunate enough to have an excess of fruit and all your friends have plenty too, you could preserve some for use in the winter, Freezing is possible, but why not try bottling (Boyes sell Kilner jars) or dehydrating. If you do not have an Aga, dehydrators cost about £45. Dried fruit can be stored in any airtight jar or tin. Storing in these ways uses no electricity.”

Ideas from the groups: Waste

NB No Waste group meeting in September, next meeting Tuesday 8th October 7.00pm CASaV by zoom – contact Simon Gibbon for a link to join

2nd – 6th September Zero Waste Week

Every year, millions of people all around the world commit to reducing their landfill waste for a week during September – saving money, preserving resources and having fun in the process.

It’s simple to take part in Zero Waste Week: Choose an action which will help you reduce your waste, do it every day throughout Zero Waste Week in September and share your experience with others in person or online using the hashtag #ZeroWasteWeek.

More information: zerowasteweek

Good (recycling) news for coffee lovers!

Coffee lovers can now dispose of their used pods in an environmentally friendly way as part of a new service aimed at reducing waste by North Yorkshire Council. They are is working with Podback, a coffee pod recycling service, to offer the containers at our household waste recycling centres (HWRCs). Used coffee pods, as well as tea, milk, and hot chocolate pods, are accepted. The plastic or aluminium pods need to be collected separately, as they are recycled at different facilities. As part of the scheme, pods will be sent to specialist recycling plants and be transformed into new products such as packaging, car components and building products.

Coffee grounds will be treated by anaerobic digestion to create soil improver and renewable energy. The containers are available at all household waste recycling centres in North Yorkshire excluding Leyburn, Settle and Wombleton. More information here

Updates on zero / reduced waste packaging

Sadly another local zero waste store has now closed, the great Earth Unwrapped, Barkers Arcade, Northallerton but there are still lots of local options for shopping with less waste using local greengrocers and market stalls by reusing bags to put your fruit and vegetables in as well as existing zero waste shops.

A number of local shops allow you to refill your own containers to reduce waste:

Roots Farm Shop & Café, East Rounton DL6 2LE;
Fletchers Farm Shop, Woodhouse Farm Great Ayton TS9 6HZSpilman’s Farm Shop, Church Farm, Sessay, ThirskYO7 3NBFive Houses Farm Shop, Crathorne TS15 0AYDL7 8LNSweet Treats (refill section), 59 Market Pl, Thirsk YO7 1TFOff the Scale, 28 Church St, Castleton, YO21 2EQ

Guisborough Refill, Tony Gallagher Hairdressing, 12 Chaloner St, Guisborough TS14 6QD

Slightly further afield, but if you’re in town, pop in to the brilliant Earth Warriors, 76a Skinnergate, Darlington for zero waste and plastic free items.
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/).

Waste group events in August:

August Repair Cafe

August’s Repair Cafe at the Globe, Stokesley was predicted to be a quiet affair with many people on holiday but in fact it turned out to be the busiest Repair Cafe of the year so far! Over 86 items in need of repair were seen by our intrepid pink T-shirted volunteer repairers and the majority were fixed to the delight and gratitude of their owners who were also treated to free Fair Trade cuppas and edible treats.

Bilsdale Show stall & litter picking

The beautiful weather on Saturday 31st August brought hundreds of folk of all ages to the beautifully located Bilsdale Agricultural Show, many of whom engaged with interest with our environment and climate ‘zone’ which included the North Yorkshire Rotters and Surfers Against Sewage alongside our CASaV stand promoting simple but effective ways that everyone can take action on climate change and biodiversity loss. Our volunteers in their bright yellow high vis ‘Act Local’ vests also litter picked around the showground, encouraging everyone to think about recycling and reducing waste.

Issues / ideas from the groups: Environment & Climate Osmotherley (ECO) Group

Environment & Climate Osmotherley (ECO) is now an established part of Climate Action Stokesley & Villages.

ECO is a group of like-minded villagers with shared concerns around our environment & climate change. Their lead, Becci 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.”

Becci is a great source of wildlife expertise delivered a fascinating talk and a bat walk last week, more planned for the future. Date and time will be announced soon on the to the CASaV Facebook page and website.

Contact for more information

Ideas from the groups: Transport

Holiday time? Ideas for lower carbon travel

Moorsbus 2024: now until end of October

Running on weekends and bank holidays from now until the end of October and run by volunteers, the Moorsbus covers so much of the beautiful North York Moors, great walking and carrying bicycles as well. Plan a day out in nature! More information here moorsbus

The Man in Seat 61

Thinking of travelling further afield this summer? Have a look at The Man in Seat 61 website for detailed itineraries of how to travel across Europe and even worldwide without flying. Train travel can be a more rewarding alternative to flying which reduces our contribution to climate change and brings us closer to the countries we visit. This site explains how to travel comfortably & affordably by train or ferry, rediscovering the pleasure, romance & adventure of the journey. More information here: seat61

Signing off

If you have any news or any event / activity you would like promoting on next month’s (October) update please email Kate Gibbon by the end of September

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 whole group CASaV meeting on Tuesday 17th September 19.30 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, Ron Kirk Barry Warrington and Simon Gibbon

CASaV Update – August 2024

Welcome to August’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.

This month we highlight some of the people who bring the love to CASaV

Diary dates

(details of all events below in Newsletter section)

Act Local

Tuesday 20th August 19.30 Whole Group Annual Meeting, the Globe Community Library, Stokesley
Saturday 10th August 10.00 – 12.00 Repair Cafe, the Globe Community Library, Stokesley
Tuesday 13th August 13.30 – 15.00 Yatton House Community Garden working party, Great Ayton
Tuesday 13th August 19.00 CASaV Waste Group meeting by zoom (link below)
Thursday 15th August 15.30 CASaV Nature Group meeting, the Globe Community Library, Stokesley
Friday 30th August 10-12 Market Day Coffee Morning raising funds for the Moorsbus
Saturday 31st August 9.00-17.00 CASaV & recycling stall at the Bilsdale Show
Thursday 19th September Food Group Meeting 19.00 by zoom (link below)

Think Global (details below)

Now until 30th September Bugs Matter, nationwide
Now until 31st October Sunset Bat Survey, nationwide
20-23rd September Great UK Waterblitz (register now)

“Think global”

National and global climate action news and campaigns

Citizen Science: local, national and global environmental monitoring to help fight biodiversity loss

Biodiversity loss is happening at a greater and greater rate. Currently 16% of all species in Great Britain (where sufficient data is available) are threatened with extinction. But you can help address this by becoming a Citizen Scientist.

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:

Sunset bat survey now – 31st October

Did you know that there are eleven different species of bats living in North Yorkshire, according to the North Yorkshire Bat Group north-yorkshire-bats/

The Sunset Survey (running from now – October) organised by the Bat Conservation Trust brings you a perfect opportunity to get together with family/friends and discover bats and other wildlife in your local area. This is ideal for you if you don’t have previous bat surveying experience. Just spend an hour from sunset (or before sunrise) and let us know what you see/hear from your window, balcony, garden or local green space. More information here:

national-bat-monitoring-programme

Bugs Matter now – 30th September 2024

The Bugs Matter citizen science survey is an important initiative measuring insect splats on vehicle number plates as a marker of insect abundance. In previous survey years, with the valuable contributions of citizen scientists across the UK, we have made significant strides in understanding the challenges facing our insect populations.

This year, we need your help, once again, to build on our knowledge and make our impact even greater. Sharing the findings from your journeys will help us understand more about our insect populations, as growing evidence highlights their declines on a global scale.

Your participation in this nature survey is vital for us to monitor population trends, address causes of insect loss, halt and reverse them. It’s really simple to take part, involving cleaning your number plate before you set off on a journey and counting the number of bug splats after the journey, then logging the data online. info here: bugs-matter

Great UK Water Blitz 20 – 23rd September

The Great UK WaterBlitz is a biannual campaign calling on everyone to go out and test the quality of their local freshwater including rivers, streams and lakes. This helps to build a national picture of water quality across the UK.

Our rivers and freshwater habitats are at crisis point and we need urgent action. Join us this September to add your data to the fight for healthy freshwater. You can register here now to take part: greatukwaterblitz

“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 Whole Group Meeting

Tuesday 20th August 19.30-21.00

Globe Community Library, Stokesley

Our next whole group meeting is on Tuesday 20th July, at the newly updated Globe Community Library, Stokesley from 19.30 until 21.00.

All welcome to come and help plan a programme of talks and other activities following our AGM last month (see below for links and information).

We’re a friendly bunch and we welcome everyone!

Saturday 10th August 10.00-12.00 Repair Cafe, Stokesley Globe Community Library

Our monthly Repair Cafe will be on Saturday 10th August 10 – 12 at the Globe Community Library, Stokesley.

Our pink T shirted repair volunteers will be eager to fix your household items – clothing & textiles, electrical appliances, wooden furniture, toys & bikes, laptops & mobile phones, blades needing sharpening – as well as give you hands on demonstrations 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.

New repair and reception volunteers always welcome – come along, have a cuppa and a chat or email Simon Gibbon.

Tuesday 13th August 1.30 – 3pm Yatton House Community Garden Working Party

The Yatton House Community Garden is now open most weekdays, weather permitting. Do call in and have a look. There is even now a solar powered water feature to accompany the planting. The next working party will be on Tuesday 13th August, from 1:30 – 3:00 pm.

Saturday 31st August 9.00-17.00 CASaV & recycling stall at the Bilsdale Show

The Waste group are organising a stall at the great Bilsdale Agricultural Show on Saturday 31st August 9.00 – 17.00 advising on ways we can all take to help fight climate change and biodiversity loss alongside supporting the show to encourage recycling to reduce waste going to landfill and incineration.

We are also going to be joined by John and Edith Reeve from local Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) who will be showcasing SAS’s fantastic programme of education and activism not just aimed at cleaning up our seas but also our rivers as these all eventually flow into the sea – more information here: SAS sewage and water quality

Thank you to all who have already volunteered to help run the stall. It should be a great day out for all ages and interests and if you visit the show, please pop by and say hello to us on the CASaV stall!

Meet the CASaV people!

Phil ‘Blades’

Meet Phil, the sustainable alternative to Jay Blades at our monthly Repair Cafés.

Phil got involved via his brother who volunteers at a Repair Café in the south of England.

Phil can sharpen most blades including knives and scissors but particularly enjoys working on

gardening tools including secateurs, shears and lawnmower blades. We are a nation of gardeners and he is usually in high demand, over two years he has saved many hundreds of Repair Cafe visitors the cost of replacing equipment and the environmental impact of blunt tool disposal.

Quite a few different things get brought along to the Repair Café but his most memorable was the 2 foot long machete which he wasn’t sure whether to sharpen or hand into the police.

When not bringing new life to blunt blades Phil is an aviation fanatic, he is secretary of ‘Guisborough Model Flying Club’ and also has a share in a light aircraft syndicate. He has even persuaded his good lady wife into joining the Repair Café as a ‘front of house’ volunteer.

Dante

Dante is one of the hard working volunteers at the Foodshare. As with the other Foodshare volunteers, Dante collects surplus food in the evening from stores in Great Ayton and Stokesley and takes it to groups who support vulnerable people locally who cannot afford to buy food. Dante is so committed to this project that he actually volunteers for two nights every week so many families have him to thank for being able to sit down to have a meal each day.

Dante’s most memorable Foodshare collection was picking up twenty four cases of mince pies with fifteen pies in each case (360 mince pies in total!) and struggling to fit them all in the car. Dante notes “It was hilarious, I’d never seen that many mince pies before and it was like something from a comedy sketch”. A happy Christmas for quite a few people thanks to Dante!

Dante is also tremendously fit and active, and is now setting himself mountain hiking challenges and, as in his Foodshare work, he always goes the extra mile.

Setting his sights on the highest peaks in the UK Dante says “My initial idea was to climb every peak three times using different routes until I realised there’s eight routes up Snowdon so in July, last month, I completed all eight routes in four days, doing two routes a day.

So far I’ve hiked up Ben Nevis once but I’m going back in November when there’s snow blizzards and bad weather to complete it twice more. I completed the Yorkshire Three Peaks three times in one week and I plan to do Scafell Pike this year, likely October. I don’t want to follow others just do my own thing and next year I have my focus on Everest base camp”.

Dante says in his spare time he combines his interests in all things food together with adventuring by hunting for Paddington bear and his marmalade sandwiches. A trip to Darkest Peru soon?

Tracey

Tracey’s day job is Service Improvement Officer for North Yorkshire Council but she is also active out of hours supporting CASaV, specifically advising on all things waste and recycling.

Tracey says “Having worked for several years as a Recycling Officer and then a Recycling and Climate Change Officer in North Yorkshire I’ve had several opportunities to work with CASaV either through Recycling Talks, Climate Change events or through the Waste Group’s monthly meetings, as well as arranging for group members to visit recycling and energy from waste projects. I love talking rubbish and in my new role I think it important the Council maintains links with community groups to see what opportunities may arise to help achieve the shared goal of reducing waste and empowering communities.

In my spare time I am busy with a multitude of pets which include cats, a dog, bearded dragon, giant African land snail, giant millipede plus more, my daughter is studying Zoology so mum gets to look after all her hobbies while she’s away!”

Barry

Following the moving on of Jack Turton from the steering group due to other commitments we are delighted to announce that Barry, CASaV Transport lead has stepped up to join the steering group. Barry was active in the formation of CASaV over 5 years ago and took on the responsibility of leading the Transport focus of the whole group in which role he has championed the Endeavour Way, an active travel route as an alternative to private vehicle and public transport between Stokesley and Great Ayton, been active in the development of North Yorkshire Council’s Transport Strategy, organised the ‘Route Ahead to Sustainable Transport’ day event in Stokesley and lobbied NYC on ‘Twenty’s Plenty’ among other sustainable actions local and county wide.

Barry’s skills and interests extend to being a guitar genius and his guitar group entertained visitors to the transport event in Stokesley.

Anne

Anne has been involved in CASaV, specifically the Nature group, since the very beginning. As a botanist with extensive experience across the globe she has brought her skills and knowledge on natural history to our group through the seasonal nature and wild flower walks and talks she regularly leads locally.

Anne says “My original research was with the British Antarctic Survey mapping the two flowering plants of the Antarctic, unfortunately at a distance, from records, as females were not allowed to work there in those days! I did work in situ on forestry projects in Zambia and later in Northern India, while more mundanely I ran a gardening club and took children on nature walks while at a bush camp in the Congo! And grew vegetables in the sand of the Sahara dessert with camel manure and water while living in Mauritania!

Now I work on maintenance of my old Forest Garden at Natures World (one of the oldest in existence in the UK, now 30 years old) as well as a wildlife area there. I am Chairman of Great Ayton Wildlife association, weekly talks during the winter months. I help with the Brighten Up Great Ayton and Yatton House Community Garden groups Tidy up Great Ayton and Ayton. I am involved with Esk Valley ‘Community Earth Project’, the ARK, ( acts of restorative kindness to nature) and I write regularly for the ‘Esk Valley News’ . I am a member of the North York Moors Association, go on their walks and write regularly for their ‘Voice’ magazine. I belong to a Great Ayton Churches Together Group and am helping to give advice for some local churchyards to be managed in a more wildlife friendly way. A rather sensitive subject!

How about you?

You need to talk about climate change

Book of the month: A Gift for Conversation

One of the biggest impacts we can each have on climate change is to have conversations about climate change. None of us can solve climate change alone, and while we are continually exposed to climate change denial and delay, there is not the pressure from everybody on industry and governments to stop damaging the climate and instead act with the urgency necessary. Real conversations about climate change and what we can do about it help to counter the drip feed of denial and delay.

Conversations about climate change are challenging as none of us knows everything in this complex area, so Dr Louis Keal has written a short book for people to give other people you would like to have a climate conversation with “A Gift for Conversation: Let’s discuss climate change: Why it matters. What to do about it.” In this spirit of giving, the book is available to read or listen to on our website, reading or listening to it will help you have conversations about climate change. The book addresses in a clear way what we need to be able to talk to other people about how climate change is happening now, how we caused it, how we’re sure we caused it, how climate change is bad and how there is still time to act to avoid a terrible future.

Please have a look at the book on our website (or buy a paper copy) and let us know about your climate change conversations.

Gift for Conversation

Recent events

There were several events in late June and July including:

CASaV AGM

The CASaV AGM took place at Howard’s Court, courtesy of Caroline Kitching and members enjoyed a shared picnic before having a tour of the tree planting areas.

The annual report is here

The financial report is here

Poetry Walk at the Great Ayton Floodplain Meadow

Whilst on the CASaV organised walk round Great Ayton floodplain meadow at the end of June, listening to a selection of poems by Margaret Mawston, the participants contributed their thoughts to compose the following poem in the style of Margaret Mawston:

“A walk around Great Ayton Floodplain Meadow June 2024

How can people have such contempt for the countryside when,

we see beauty all around us at any time of the year.

Give yourself time to enjoy something – a plant or a bird song you’ve not noticed before. Give yourself time for companionship in enjoying the scenery and plant life.

Listen to the tranquil birdsong, although is the chiff chaffing of the Chiffchaff tranquil? Once heard you will hear it all summer.

Moving on, a profusion of feathery wafts of heady scent from the Meadow Sweet and high grasses –calm scents surround

Crested Dogs Tails and Timothy jostling each other to get to the sun, fleeing from the Himalayan Balsam.

Spear Thistles stand proud next to the gift of Creeping Thistle – food for butterflies, bees and birds.

Under lichen covered branches we talk about the importance of ‘weeds’ and times past, memories unfurled.

How can people have such contempt for the countryside?”

Find out more here Floodplain meadow

‘A Good Heart’ at the river Swale

Some members of CASaV went to hear Feargal Sharkey, in his capacity of vice chair of River Action UK, support Save our Swale group in their work to stop the ongoing pollution of the River Swale caused by Yorkshire Water. The event was well attended and it was good to have such a high profile ambassador in the campaign to have clean river water in the UK.

Feargal Sharkey highlights water pollution during Richmond rally | The Northern Echo

More about Save Our Swale on their Facebook page: SaveOurSwale/

More about River Action UK: riveractionuk.com/

Issues / ideas from the groups: Nature

This month’s Nature Group meeting is at 15.30, Thursday 15th August at the Globe Library In Stokesley. Please join us there.

Contact Bridget Holmstrom for information

Help a hedgehog

There is substantial evidence that biodiversity in this country is at an all time low. One of the many species that is suffering is the hedgehog particularly in rural areas. We hope to have a talk in the coming months from a local expert but in the meantime here is some information on how to help hedgehogs in your garden.

www.wildlifetrusts.org/what-do-if-you-find-wild-animal/help-hedgehog

Together with the ECO (Environment Climate Osmotherley) group, a fascinating ‘Bat Night’ is planned! Details below.

Good news for endangered peatbogs

UK peat bogs are an essential landscape for carbon capture but sadly they have declined by up to 94% in the last century. Earlier this year the Nature group organised a fascinating tour of peat bogs under restoration on the North York Moors led by the local Yorkshire Peat Partnership

RSPB & the Co-op are working together to restore other areas of this vital resource in response to the nature and climate crises.  The new partnership forms part of Co-op’s Climate Plan commitments to fund UK natural restoration and funding has been generated by sales of Co-op compostable carrier bags.

You can read more about this here

Ideas from the groups: Food

Next Food Group meeting Thursday September 19th at 7pm by zoom contact Wendy for a link to join

August’s Food Group Meeting & shared supper

We had a delightful evening in Jenny’s garden, joined by the Foodshare Volunteers. It was a shared supper and what a feast of interesting dishes we had. All veggie/vegan and delicious. And plenty of interesting conversation as well!

Food Revolution: watch ‘Eating for Tomorrow’ film

Foodshare: surplus food prevented from going to waste and helping those in need

August Seasonal eating

Seasonal eating

how-to-eat-seasonally

Heat-loving crops like tomatoes, cucumbers and chillies are in their prime now. Look for locally grown aubergines and peppers, which are usually imported to the UK.

Fruit and vegetables to harvest or buy locally now:

Aubergines, Beetroot, Blackberries, Blueberries, Broccoli, Cabbage, Cauliflower, Carrots, CeleryChard, Courgettes and summer squash, Cucumbers, Fennel, French beans, Lettuce and other salad leaves, Peas and mangetout, Peppers and chillies, Plums, Potatoes, Raspberries, Runner beans, Spring onions, Sweetcorn, Tomatoes

Vegetables to sow and plant now:

Lettuce, Pak choi, Parsley, Rocket, Spinach

This month’s seasonal recipe: Fresh tomato salsa

Use up a glut of fresh tomatoes with this tasty dip:

ultimate-tomato-salsa

Ideas from the groups: Waste

This month’s Waste group meeting Tuesday 13th August 7.00pm CASaV by zoom – contact Simon Gibbon for a link to join,

Spotlight on textile waste

Fast fashion has had a big impact on how we create, buy, wear, and dispose of clothes as individuals and businesses. Clothes production and consumption levels have significantly increased over the past few decades, driven by demand, availability, low costs, and a throwaway culture. It’s also led to unstylish levels of waste.

Every year across the world we produce 92 million tonnes of textile waste. Unless big changes happen and improve how we make, use, and dispose of clothes, it’s estimated that by 2030 we’ll create 134 million tonnes of textile waste globally. And the global fashion industry is responsible for 10% of all greenhouse gas emissions.

As autumn approaches, particularly with the new school year in mind, think before you follow the rush to buy ‘new season’ clothing.

1. The most sustainable clothing are the items you already own. Have a look through your wardrobe and rediscover your existing clothes. If they need a button sewing on, a zip replacing or a seam strengthening remember to pop along to our monthly Repair Cafes.

In Stokesley Feet First, 53 High St, Stokesley can bring new life to your worn out footwear.

Or use your creativity to transform your existing clothes into something new. Look here for idea: upcycling-clothes-ideas

2. Preloved, vintage, second hand. Someone else’s unwanted item is your ‘new to you’ clothing. As well as charity and vintage shops also look at preloved on ebay and Vinted. Ask at your children’s school for second hand uniforms for example Stokesley School maintains a stock of second-hand uniform which is available for parents/carers upon request. The school encourages all parents/carers to donate any outgrown or unwanted uniform items to the school if they are able. For other schools, have a look here: uniformd.co.uk/schools

Some local charity clothes shops:

Teesside Hospice Shop, 1 Bridge Road, Stokesley & 125 Hight Street, Great Ayton
Mind, 12, Bridge Road, Stokesley
Herriott Hospice Homecare, 8 High Street, Stokesley
Cancer Research, 38, High Street, Stokesley
Age UK, 51 High Street, Stokesley

3. Swap your unwanted clothes for vouchers

Don’t consign your unwanted clothes to landfill or incineration – H&M, M&S. Schuh, John Lewis, River Island and New Look all have schemes that let you swap your unwanted clothes for vouchers and they’ll find new uses for your surplus items.

4. Buy sustainable

If you really have to buy new, consider purchasing from the most sustainable UK brands you can find, some ideas here:

slow-and-sustainable-clothing-directory

Updates on zero / reduced waste packaging

Sadly another local zero waste store is closing, the great Earth Unwrapped, Barkers Arcade, Northallerton but there are still lots of local options for shopping with less waste using local greengrocers and market stalls by reusing bags to put your fruit and vegetables in as well as existing zero waste shops.

A number of local shops allow you to refill your own containers to reduce waste:

Guisborough Refill, Tony Gallagher Hairdressing, 12 Chaloner St, Guisborough TS14 6QD

Issues / ideas from the groups: Environment & Climate Osmotherley (ECO) Group

Environment & Climate Osmotherley (ECO) is now an established part of Climate Action Stokesley & Villages.

ECO 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.”

Rebecca is a great source of wildlife expertise and is planning a fascinating talk and a bat walk, weather conditions permitting. Date and time will be announced soon on the to the CASaV Facebook page and website.

Contact for more information

Ideas from the groups: Transport

Holiday time? Ideas for lower carbon travel

Moorsbus 2024: now until end of October

The Man in Seat 61

Signing off

If you have any news or any event / activity you would like promoting on next month’s (August) update please email Kate Gibbon by the end of August

Hope to see you at the whole group CASaV meeting on Tuesday 20th August 19.30 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, Ron Kirk Barry Warrington and Simon Gibbon

CASaV group meeting – Tuesday 20th August

Our next whole group meeting is on Tuesday 20th July, at the newly updated Globe Community Library, Stokesley from 19.30 until 21.00.

All welcome to come and help plan a programme of talks and other activities following our AGM last month.

We’re a friendly bunch and we welcome everyone!

CASaV Update – July 2024

Welcome to July’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.

The Big Butterfly Count is this month

Diary dates

(details of all events below in Newsletter section)

Tuesday 16th July 7.30-9pm Whole group Annual General Meeting & shared picnic supper, Howard’s Court, Great Ayton TS9 6RL
Saturday 6th & Sunday 7th July 10-4 Roots Celebration of Nature Exhibition, East Rounton Village Hall
Tuesday 9th July 1.30 – 3pm Yatton House Community Garden working party
Tuesday 9th July 7.00pm CASaV Waste group meeting by zoom (link below)
Friday 12th July – Sunday 4th August Big Butterfly Count, nationwide
21st July 1.30pm Restore Nature Now March in York organised by Extinction Rebellion York, starting at St Helens Square and ending near the Millennium Bridge, York
Saturday 20th July 10am – 12 noon Repair Cafe, Swainby Village Hall
Thursday 1st August 6.30pm CASaV Food Group meeting, shared potluck supper, Great Ayton (details below)
Thursday 15th August 3.30pm Nature Group meeting, the Globe Library, Stokesley (NB No Nature Group meeting in July)

“Think global”

National and global climate action news and campaigns

General election July 4th:

You’re just in time to Vote Climate

Climate Action Stokesley & Villages aims to be politically non aligned and we are delighted to be supported by voters from a range of ideologies who put the climate and biodiversity above their political allegiances. This coming election this week, 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.

Climate Action Stokesley & Villages has been active in gathering candidates views on these important matters including helping arrange hustings. More information here: general-election-2024/

Richmond and Northallerton Prospective Parliamentary Candidates Views of Nature and the Environmental

CASaV contacted all the candidates for our constituency Richmond and Northallerton, that we had contact details for, inviting them “to send us a statement of, say, between 200 and 500 words setting out your views and priorities on some of those key environmental challenges that lie ahead, such as nature restoration, biodiversity loss, river pollution, active travel, climate change resilience, energy infrastructure, energy efficiency, sustainable agricultural methods, net zero targets, competing land uses (growing food, generating energy and protecting nature), public transport and funding mitigation and adaption – both in your constituency and more widely across the country. Please don’t feel you need to cover all these – perhaps just a few! It would be great to hear about your own personal and professional views on climate change and protecting the natural environment and how high you prioritise tackling the climate and nature emergencies.”

So far we have received responses from Daniel Callaghan, Kevin Foster and Tom Wilson. Their responses have been uploaded to the North Yorkshire Climate Coalition’s website. We thank them for taking the time to send us a statement.

Daniel Callaghan (nyclimatecoalition.org)

Kevin Foster (nyclimatecoalition.org)

Tom Wilson (nyclimatecoalition.org)

If we receive any more statements they will be added to the North Yorkshire Climate Coalition website North Yorkshire General Election Candidates (nyclimatecoalition.org) and we will also link these to our general election web page, where you can also watch recordings of the local hustings https://climateactionstokesleyandvillages.org/general-election-2024/

National

Following on from last month’s newsletter where Friends of the Earth’s and Greenpeace’s approaches to enabling people to be friends of the earth and vote for the climate were covered, Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace have now carried out a joint assessment of the main parties manifestos in summary:

Labour’s plans for climate and nature have scored 4 times higher than the Conservatives, marking a big difference between the two biggest parties.
But – and this is a big BUT – Labour still haven’t promised anywhere near the level of funding we need to stem the climate and nature crises. If they win they’ll need to invest bigger in our future.
The Green Party scored a near perfect 39 out of 40, with the Lib Dems second on 31.5.

More info here https://friendsoftheearth.uk/system-change/general-election-2024-manifestos-final-scores
Please read FoE’s and Greenpeace’s ranking of the different manifestos to guide how you vote. No matter who wins, groups such as CASaV will still need to hold the new government to account to deliver the improvements we need to minimise climate change and increase protection and restoration of nature.

21st July 1.30pm Restore Nature Now March in York organised by Extinction Rebellion York

Following the hugely successful Restore Nature Now march in London in June attended by over 100,000 people Extinction Rebellion has organised a more local march in York. Starting at St Helens Square at 1.30pm there will be a march by a range of local nature and environmentalist organisations ending near the Millennium Bridge, York where there will be speeches. Check Extinction Rebellion York Group’s social media for more information.

Citizen Science: local, national and global environmental monitoring

Some Citizen Science environmental information gathering you can take part in now:

The Big Butterfly Count 12th July – 4th August

The Big Butterfly Count begins on Friday 12th July 2024 and will run until Sunday 4th August.

This is a nationwide citizen science survey organised by Butterfly Conservation aimed at helping to 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 2024 reopens on 1st July ready for the main event between 12th July and 4th August.

Why this matters: Butterflies are not only beautiful, they are vital parts of the ecosystem as both pollinators and components of the food chain. However, they are under threat. Numbers of butterflies and moths in the UK have decreased significantly since the 1970s. This is a warning that cannot be ignored.

Butterfly declines are also an early warning for other wildlife losses. Butterflies are key biodiversity indicators for scientists as they react very quickly to changes in their environment. Therefore, if their numbers are falling, then nature is in trouble. So tracking numbers of butterflies is crucial in the fight to conserve our natural world. That’s why taking part in this massive citizen science enterprise is of great importance not just for our butterflies but for the wider environment and biodiversity in general.

See here for more information on how to take part bigbutterflycount.butterfly-conservation.org/

Sunset bat survey now – October

Did you know that there are eleven different species of bats living in North Yorkshire, according to the North Yorkshire Bat Group north-yorkshire-bats/

Bugs Matter now – September 2024

Your participation in this nature survey is vital for us to monitor population trends, address causes of insect loss, halt and reverse them.

info here: bugs-matter

Other projects

Kew Gardens has a list of 10 different projects you can take part in here:

kew.org/science/engage/get-involved/citizen-science

“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 Annual General Meeting & shared picnic supper Tuesday 16th July 7.30-9pm Howard’s Court, East Angrove, Stokesley Rd, Great Ayton TS9 6RL

Our next whole group meeting is our Annual General Meeting (and shared light supper) on Tuesday 16th July, at the beautiful outdoor (indoor if inclement weather) location of Howard’s Court, East Angrove, Stokesley Road, Great Ayton TS9 6RL 7:30 – 9:00 pm.

A report on our activities along with our accounts will be sent to CASaV members in advance of the meeting and will also be available at the AGM. The steering group were elected in July 2022 for a 3-year period, as per our constitution, so there will be no elections this year. However, as Jack Turton is now away at university, he has decided to step down leaving a vacancy. If you are interested in becoming a steering group member then please get in touch. The steering group meets at least once a quarter, usually via Zoom, and business between meetings is via email or phone.

All welcome to come and find out about what we have been up to in the last year and discuss plans for the coming year.

This will be a relaxed and convivial evening, after hearing and discussing our annual report we will enjoy a shared light supper (bring whatever picnic food you like) with the opportunity to see the progress of the many hundreds of trees the group has planted here over recent years.

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 usually discuss casav-group-meeting-18th-june-2024/

Saturday 6th & Sunday 7th July 10-4 Roots Celebration of Nature Exhibition, East Rounton Village Hall

Feel more connected to the wonders of nature and the changing seasons at The Roots: Celebration of Nature Exhibition which will feature:

A vibrant Makers Market
Live craft demonstrations
Engaging nature activities
And much more!

Come connect with the natural world through art, making, and discovery. Follow the facebook page for updates as they announce additional activities and attractions. Adult entry is £2 and children are FREE.

Tuesday 9th July 1.30 – 3pm Yatton House Community Garden Working Party

There is a monthly working party in the Yatton House Community Garden on Tuesday 9th July (2nd Tuesday of the month) from 1:30 – 3:00 pm. Jobs for July in the community garden include taking docks, thistles and nettles out of the grass area and weeding round the fruit bushes and paths. French beans, mangetout, rainbow chard and nasturtium seeds are starting to come up so will need thinning.

Saturday 20th July 10am – 12 noon Repair Cafe,

Swainby Village Hall

Our monthly Repair Cafe will be at Swainby Village Hall on Saturday 20th July 10-12

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.

Last month’s events

There were several events last month including a range of activities during Great Big Green Week; we feature three events here:

Mend in Public event June 8th

The world’s first Mend in Public Day took place in May and we were only slightly later with our Mend in Public event on June 8th. Alongside our June Repair Cafe, Jane Mercer and Joanna Whitwell took to Stokesley High Street with needles and genius sewing skills to show busy Saturday shoppers how to mend their torn and damaged clothes. Dozens of shoppers stopped, chatted and were inspired by the ‘Street Stitchers’ who encouraged them to ‘Stitch It, Don’t Ditch It’. The idea behind the event is to stitch in protest against disposable fashion and to stand as a beacon of change in a world inundated with fashion waste. Further ‘Mend in Public’ days are planned, details in following updates. You can join in too and by participating, you’ll be part of a global creative action resisting the cycle of excess through repair and reuse.

Restore (local) Nature Walk 22nd June

Members of the Nature group walked from Stokesley to Great Ayton in support of the Restore Nature Now march led by Chris Packham being held in London on the 22nd June. We removed non native Himalayan Balsam (see feature on non native species below in Nature Group section) and removed litter. We were sorry to miss the London march, which you can see here, but good to do something to help restore nature in our own neck of the woods.

Wildflower and Poetry Walk, 30th June Great Ayton

CASaV organised and led a walk round Great Ayton’s floodplain meadow on Sunday 30^th June. The group stopped every now and again to learn about the wildflowers that could be seen, how the meadow is being managed to increase biodiversity and hear poems written by Margaret Mawston. Poems were read by representatives of the groups involved in funding and managing the floodplain meadow: Cllr Ron Kirk, Chair of Great Ayton Parish Council; Carol and Peter Morgan; Trustees of the Margaret K Mawston Environmental Trust; Bridget Holmstrom, Climate Action Stokesley and Villages; and Caryn Loftus, Brighten Up Great Ayton group (and Climate Action Stokesley and Villages). The opportunity was also taken to pull up some Himalyan Balsam.

A new poem will be written, in the style of Margaret Mawston, using words and phrases collected whilst sat on the picnic benches funded by her Trust.

Find out more about the floodplain meadow https://climateactionstokesleyandvillages.org/nature/floodplain-meadow/

Issues / ideas from the groups: Environment & Climate Osmotherley (ECO) Group

Environment & Climate Osmotherley (ECO) is now an established part of Climate Action Stokesley & Villages. ECO organised a very successful Pre-Election Climate & Nature Meeting on June 14th. All the main parties were invited and the general election candidates from the Green party and the Labour party attended with a representative from the Liberal Democrats. The panel answered questions from the audience and local environmental groups and you can see a recording of the event here: https://climateactionstokesleyandvillages.org/general-election-2024/youtube-livestream/

Contact for more information

Issues / ideas from the groups: Nature

Next month’s Nature Group meeting is at 15.30, Thursday 15th August (no meeting in July) at the Globe Library In Stokesley. Please join us there.

Contact Bridget Holmstrom for information

Extinction Rebellion York is holding a Restore Nature Now march in York on July 21^st at 1.30pm starting at St Helens Square and ending near the Millennium Bridge

Coming up later in the summer / early autumn 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.

Invasive Non Native Species Concerns

Invasive non native species are capable of causing extinctions of native plants and animals, reducing biodiversity, competing with native organisms for limited resources, and altering habitats. The Wildlife and Countryside Link warned recent flooding and warming temperatures had increased the risk of these “problem species” already in the UK growing and spreading.

This includes plants such as Japanese knotweed, which can cause structural damage, giant hogweed, with sap that can cause burns to skin and Himalayan balsam, which out-competes native species and increases flood risks as well as animal species such as the Asian Hornet.

Asian Hornet

Asian Hornets were inadvertently brought to France in 2004 and have spread rapidly into adjoining countries including the UK. The hornet preys on a wide range of insects including honeybees, and disrupts the ecological role they provide. In the UK it is consuming large numbers of bees, including the well-known European honey bee and many lesser-known solitary and colonial bee species. Nature conservation organisations are concerned about the impacts of Asian Hornets on bees and other insects, as these pollinating species are an essential component of well-functioning ecosystems.

Conservation groups and the government urges everyone to be vigilant for Asian Hornets and to report any suspected sightings to the relevant authorities. The Asian Hornet can be easily distinguished from the native European Hornet, a species that poses no threat to UK ecosystems or bees.  The British Bee Keepers Association provide information on how to identify the Asian Hornet and how to report it if seen so it can be dealt with including an handy app /identify-report-asian-hornet

Himalayan Balsam

Himalayan balsam (Impatiens glandulifera) is a relative of the busy Lizzie, but reaches well over head height, and is a major weed problem, especially on riverbanks and waste land, but can also invade gardens. It grows rapidly and spreads quickly, smothering other vegetation as it goes.

Himalayan balsam is considered an invasive non-native plant and is listed on Schedule 9. Under the provisions made within Schedule 9 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, it is an offence to plant or cause Himalayan balsam (Impatiens glandulifera) to grow in the wild.

The main method of non chemical control, and usually the most appropriate, is pulling or cutting the plants before they flower and set seed. Conservation authorities regularly organise ‘balsam bashing’ work parties to clear the weed from marshland and riverbanks.

Ideas from the groups: Food

Next Food Group meeting Thursday 1 August, 6.30pm at Jenny’s. Social evening with shared potluck supper. Please contact Jenny to let her know you are coming & for address, contact Wendy for other group information

July Seasonal eating

Seasonal eating

how-to-eat-seasonally

July is a bumper month for local seasonal produce including artichoke, aubergine, basil, beetroot, bilberries, blackcurrants, blueberries, broad beans, broccoli, carrots, chard, chervil, chillies, cherries, chives, coriander, courgettes, dill, elderflower, fennel, french beans, garlic, gooseberries, greengages, jersey royal new potatoes, kohlrabi, lettuce & salad leaves, mangetout, mint, nasturtium, new potatoes, onions, oregano, pak choi, parsley, peas, radishes, rocket, rosemary, runner beans, sage, samphire, shallots, sorrel, spinach, spring onions, strawberries, tarragon, thyme, tomatoes, turnips, watercress and wild nettles!

This month’s seasonal recipe: Gooseberry Gin

recipes/gooseberry-gin

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 Tuesday 9th July 7.00pm CASaV by zoom – contact Simon Gibbon for a link to join, (previous notes)

Plastic free July

Plastic Free July^® is a global movement that helps millions of people be part of the solution to plastic pollution – so we can have cleaner streets, oceans, and beautiful communities. Plastic Free July provides resources and ideas to help you (and millions of others around the world) reduce single-use plastic waste everyday at home, work, school, and even at your local café.

More information here: plasticfreejuly

Locally, you can shop with less waste using local greengrocers and market stalls by reusing bags to put your fruit and vegetables in.
A number of local shops allow you to refill your own containers to reduce waste:
Roots Farm Shop & Café, East Rounton DL6 2LE;Fletchers Farm Shop, Woodhouse Farm Great Ayton TS9 6HZSpilman’s Farm Shop, Church Farm, Sessay, ThirskYO7 3NBFive Houses Farm Shop, Crathorne TS15 0AYEarth Unwrapped, Barkers Arcade, Northallerton DL7 8LNSweet Treats (refill section), 59 Market Pl, Thirsk YO7 1TFOff the Scale, 28 Church St, Castleton, YO21 2EQ

Guisborough Refill, Tony Gallagher Hairdressing, 12 Chaloner St, Guisborough TS14 6QD
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/).

Ideas from the groups: Transport

Holiday time? Ideas for lower carbon travel

Moorsbus 2024

Starting on June 29th and running on weekends and bank holidays throughout the summer and run by volunteers, the Moorsbus covers so much of the beautiful North York Moors, great walking and carrying bicycles as well. Plan a day out in nature! More information here moorsbus

The Man in Seat 61

Signing off

If you have any news or any event / activity you would like promoting on next month’s (August) update please email Kate Gibbon by the end of July

Hope to see you at the CASaV AGM and shared picnic supper on Tuesday 16th July at Howard’s Court, Great Ayton

Kate Gibbon,

on behalf of the Climate Action Stokesley and Villages Steering Group Steering group:

Bridget Holmstrom, Caryn Loftus, Ron Kirk and Simon Gibbon

CASaV AGM – Tuesday 16th July

Our next whole group meeting is our Annual General Meeting (and shared light supper) on Tuesday 16th July, at the beautiful outdoor (indoor if inclement weather) location of Howard Court, East Angrove, Stokesley Road, Great Ayton TS9 6RL 7:30 – 9:00 pm.

A report on our activities along with our accounts will be sent to CASaV members in advance of the meeting and will also be available at the AGM.

All welcome to come and find out about what we have been up to in the last year and discuss plans for the coming year.

We’re a friendly bunch and we welcome everyone!

CASaV monthly meeting – 18th June 2024

Climate Action Stokesley and Villages group met 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 had a discussion about the coming general election and how to make the climate and nature our candidates’s priority.

Attendees: Caryn, Bridget, Anne, Wendy, David, Simon, Mike, Derek, Eileen, Helen, Maxine, Spenser

Apologies: Kate, Pete, Anne, Ron, Jenny

Great Big Green Week – Review

Community Earth Festival: Anne Prest – conducted tour of ancient churchyard in Ingleby Greenhow which is being allowed to bloom, Kildale church is also considering going the same way. Fantastic huge lime trees in replanted ancient woodland nearby.

Saturday 8th June: successful Repair Cafe in the Globe with extra interest raised with ‘Mend in Public‘ event on the bench outside the fish and chip shop on Stokesley High Street.

Saturday 8th June Anne Herd took people on a tour of her cut flower business Songbird in Ingleby Greenhow – 7 people came on the Flower Field Tour.

Saturday 8th June: CASaV stall at the Village Fair, Great Ayton – Mr Sunak attended but did not engage, managed to get a few new members plus talked with head of local infant school and methodist minister.

Saturday 8th – Saturday 15th June Environment / Climate Action Displays on nature, plastics, energy and CASaV group at the Globe Stokesley, Discovery Centre Great Ayton, Hub Hutton Rudby and Labman Seamer.

Wednesday 12th June 6.30pm Local Energy Advice Demonstrator (LEAD) Presentation was well attended at the Discovery Centre, Great Ayton.

Friday 14th June CASaV Information Stall including LEAD promotion, Stokesley Market, cancelled due to election.

Energy

LEAD project now underway quietly NYC happy with progress, will be more visible once election is over.

Environment/Nature

Living Leven: invasive species, Himalayan Balsam – if found pre-flower – easy to pull up, can also be managed if mixed within hardy perenials, seeds last about 7 years – so any removal reduces reservoir. Need statement from Rivers Trust on what to do when you spot it to give to both public and local councils. Also have presence of Giant Hogweed and Japanese Knotweed.

No Mow May and beyond: Hutton Rudby – lots of flowers, different areas being treated differently, despite this there has been limited kickback; No Mow May was highlighted on Springwatch, hopefully this will help to secure further public support; However need to let things grow as cutting back in June means some insect species then don’t have food.

Restore Nature Now walk – 22nd June: Lots of NGOs marching in London in support of Nature; CASaV RestoreNatureWalk – Stokesley to Great Ayton meet 2pm Coop in Stokesley to walk for afternoon tea in Great Ayton.

Great Ayton Floodplain Meadow walk – 30th June: Highlight progress made with a regime grass cutting once a year, poetry wildflower walk – 5 poems along the way.

Food

Farm to Fork Summit: will the actions be carried forward.

Working with Quorn: cookery demonstration planned

Transport

Moorsbus: Delayed to July but will run until October

Esk Valley Railway timetable: Running longer trains, so more chance for seats

Waste

Repair Cafes: first Richmond Repair and Repurpose Cafe was a success on 9th June, second Middlesbrough Repair Cafe will be held on 22nd June and our next Repair Cafe will be on 20th July in Swainby.

Zero Carbon

General election: CASaV page on General election 2024 plus recording of joint Climate and Nature Hustings held in Osmotherley Village Hall on June 14 attended by Labour and Green candidates and Liberal Democrat election agent, active debate with over 40 in the hall and 10 more online, recording has been watched by 50 more.

NY Climate Coalition website update re election North Yorkshire General Election Candidates (https://nyclimatecoalition.org) and NYCC letter to candidates – send single letter for Richmond & Northallerton on behalf of all constituency climate groups.

Climate and Nature Bill open letter Richmond and Northallerton General Election 2024 (https://zerohour.uk); Climate Coalition email to candidates – https://peopleclimatenature.org/email-your-candidates

Friends of the Earth https://groups.friendsoftheearth.uk/elections/resisting-threats-climate-action-and-justice; Not just money also need appropriate regulation, planning and education support.

Wildlife Trust Hustings on YouTube now and recording is here – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vgusjWwsKQ.

CASaV AGM – 16th July

Where: Howard Court – Just outside Great Ayton; Opportunity to visit the trees that CASaV planted; pooled supper; venue provide glasses / cutlery; Musical chairs part way through so people get to talk to each other. Starting at 7:30pm.

Steering group members: Jack Turton has left for university so we are looking for new members.

Opportunity to look into a number of initiatives which have stalled: EV chargers, 20mph, Cycleway.

Future events: Station Cafe – perhaps do a speaker event; local People Planet Pint event?

CASaV Update – June 2024

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

“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

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’!

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

Seasonal eating

how-to-eat-seasonally

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

homemade-elderflower-cordial

Elderflower wine

elderflower-wine

Elderflower fritters

elderflower-fritters-honey

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

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

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

Free home energy plan

Discover how you can save energy, make your home more comfortable and reduce your environmental impact with a free home energy plan. An event is being held on Tuesday 28th May from 7pm – 8.30pm in Stokesley Town Hall to meet a team of experts, learn about energy-saving strategies, and take the first step towards a more sustainable future for your household.

If you can’t make the event you can find out more on the Local Energy Advice Demonstrator (LEAD) project webpage.

The event is being run by North Yorkshire Council with support from Climate Action Stokesley and Villages group.

Similar events are being planned for Great Ayton and Potto areas.

CASaV Update – May 2024

Welcome to May’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.

Diary dates

(event details below)

Tuesday 21st May 7.30-9pm Whole group meeting, the Globe, Stokesley
1st – 31st May ‘No Mow May’
Saturday 6th – Sunday 12th May National Hedgerow Week
Tuesday 14th May 1.30-3pm Yatton House Community Garden Working Party, Great Ayton
Tuesday 14th May 7.00pm Waste group meeting by zoom (details below)
Thursday 16th May 3.30pm Nature group meeting, the Globe, Stokesley
Saturday 18th May 10.00-12.00 May Repair Cafe, Bike Health Checks & #Mend It May, Swainby Village Hall
Wednesday 22nd May 6.00-7.30pm ‘The Energy Source Challenge in Rural Britain’ Talk, Chapelgarth, Great Broughton
Tuesday 28th May 6.30pm Local Energy Advice Demonstrator (LEAD) Presentation, Stokesley Town Hall
Thursday 30th May 7.00pm Food group meeting by zoom (details below)
Monday 3rd June 7.30pm ‘A Rubbish Talk’, Osmotherley Village Hall

Coming Soon:

Great Big Green Week 8th – 16th June

Great Big Green Week 2024

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 Environment / Climate Action Displays at the Globe Stokesley, the Discovery Centre Great Ayton, the Hub Hutton Rudby, Labman Seamer
Wednesday 12th June 6.30pm Local Energy Advice Demonstrator (LEAD) Presentation, Discovery Centre, Great Ayton
Friday 14th June 9-12 CASaV Information Stall including LEAD promotion, Stokesley Market

Later in June:

Saturday 22nd June 12.00 Restore Nature Now Gathering, Central London

More information here restorenaturenow

Currently we have over 500 people who have joined our Facebook group and nearly 400 people have signed up to our regular emails which is brilliant as this tells us that a lot of local people are interested in what we stand for and what we do as a group. We aim to arrange a wide range of local events and activities each month to inform anyone and everyone about the impact of climate breakdown and diversity loss and importantly engage people in ways that they can individually and as a community act to bring about change.

We have a strong core of active members who arrange these events and activities alongside promoting and communicating how we think globally and act locally but we need more to join us! Please get in touch if you have an interest in being active in supporting our aims if you have:

Organisational skills – join one of our subgroups to help plan events

Repair / people / event skills – volunteering at our Repair Cafes – we welcome fixers of anything and everything plus people who like people and have event running skills

Media / communication skills – help us promote what we do through all forms of communication – online and face to face at our events such as our market stalls and Repair Cafes

Care about food waste and / or want to help those in food poverty – join our rota for collecting surplus food and distributing to those in need

Creative skills – help us design our leaflets and promotional materials

Networking skills – help us reach out to local community groups including schools and businesses to spread our aims

“Think global”

National and global climate action news and campaigns

1st – 31st May ‘No Mow May’

Why do we need No Mow May?

According to the environmental charity Plantlife we’ve lost approximately 97% of flower-rich meadows since the 1930’s and with them gone are vital food needed by pollinators, like bees and butterflies.

But your lawn can help! A healthy lawn with some long grass and wildflowers benefits wildlife, tackles pollution and can even lock away carbon below ground. With over 20 million gardens in the UK, even the smallest grassy patches add up to a significant proportion of our land which, if managed properly, can deliver enormous gains for nature, communities and the climate.

This is why Plantlife calls for people to get involved with #NoMowMay every year, and let wild plants get a head start on the summer.

Best of all, to reap these benefits all you have to do is not mow your lawn in May and beyond!

How to take part

Register your lawn or green space. Click here – this helps us to better understand the total number and size of lawns the UK is letting grow for nature.
Do nothing and let your lawn grow this May… and beyond.

CASaV members have also been active in Hutton Rudby, Stokesley and Great Ayton liaising with the town councils to facilitate some areas of land managed by the councils to remain unmowed this year.

In previous years biodiversity in the unmown council managed areas has significantly increased, for example in 2022, following only cutting the Great Ayton floodplain meadow once in late summer of 2021, it was amazing how many wild flowers flowered that year. Having surveyed the meadow over that summer 136 different species of plants were identified by local expert botanist Martin Allen.

“When I visited in July there were bees on the thistle flowers, hoverflies on the white hogweed, with butterflies flitting in between, and when I walked through the long grass small clouds of a white micro-moth took to the air – this year has been a big pollinator success story for the Floodplain Meadow.” Martin Allen

Visit our website Floodplain meadow – Climate Action Stokesley and Villages to find out more about the work to manage the floodplain meadow to increase biodiversity.

For more information have a look at our Darlington and Stockton Times Climate Column The environmental benefits of taking part in No Mow May article

Saturday 6th – Sunday 12th May National Hedgerow Week

Hedgerows are the often-unsung heroes of the British countryside, yet they form the UK’s largest wildlife habitat, are a major part of our landscape and cultural heritage, and are crucial to halting biodiversity decline and tackling climate change.

Hedge Talks is a series of webinars run by the environmental charity Hedgelink celebrating all that our unsung hedgerow heroes do for us and the environment. They have collected some of the brightest minds in the world of hedges to speak about everything hedgerow!

Also National Hedgerow Week coincides with National Plant Health Week. We all need to do our bit to support hedgerow health, and sometimes that just involves knowing what to look for, and then letting others know! Observatree hosts lots of handy guides and if you do discover any pests and diseases, report them using Forest Research’s Tree Alert

“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 21st May 7.30-9pm

Our next whole group meeting will be on Tuesday 21st May, 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 effect of recent weather on food production in the UK and the possible/probable consequences on food prices and food security.planning as well as activities for Great Big Green Week. All welcome!

This is the link to last month’s meeting’s minutes to give a flavour of what we discuss https://climateactionstokesleyandvillages.org/2024/04/03/casav-monthly-meeting-tuesday-16th-april-2024/

Tuesday 14th May, 1:30-3:00pm Gardening working party, Yatton House Community Garden, Great Ayton

There will be a working party on Tuesday 14th May from 1:30-3:00 pm in the Yatton House Community Garden, Guisborough Road, Great Ayton. This is the session rescheduled after inclement weather in April. We will be planting out a selection of perennial vegetable plants. The plants were provided by CASaV members by splitting plants they have in their gardens/allotments. All welcome to come and help with the planting or to have a look around.

Saturday 18th May 10-12 noon Repair Cafe, Bike Health Checks plus free #Mend It May skills workshops, Swainby Village Hall

Our monthly Repair Cafe will be at Swainby Village Hall on Saturday 18th May 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 sharing their skills in darning and visible mending as part of Mend It May, an anti fast fashion initiative encouraging us all to dress sustainably by taking care of our existing clothing and mend rips and tears to extend the life of our wardrobe. Bring along any item of clothing – socks, jumpers, jeans, shirts – and learn creative repair skills. You will be encouraged to post pictures of your creations to social media to spread the word!

Sadly Sustrans couldn’t make it to our April Repair Cafe, but Bicycle Health Expert Andy from Sustrans is joining us to provide free bicycle ‘health checks’ – a thorough check over of your bike to check it’s road worthiness plus small repairs and advice where needed.

May is also BigFix month an initiative that Recycle Devon started a decade ago as a single day and is now a national month. So May’s Repair Cafe will be reporting its repairs to BigFix to add to the national total of repairs carried out in BigFix month – https://www.recycledevon.org/blog/the-big-fix-2024/

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.

Wednesday 22nd May 18.00-19.30 ‘The Energy Source Challenge in Rural Britain’ Talk, Chapelgarth, Great Broughton

Part of the Global Tees Short Talks three fascinating illustrated talks on the ‘Energy Source Challenge in Rural Britain’ will take place at the beautiful surroundings of the Writers Retreat, Chapel Garth in Great Broughton.

Chaired by Dr Marcella Sutcliffe, talks will be given by Professor Aimee Ambrose on Decarbonising Off Grid Homes, Dr Rokia Raslan on The Challenge to Decarbonise and Emily Dowd on Methane Leaks detected from Outer Space.A number of members of CASaV have been interviewed by Prof Ambrose’s team as part of her project on improving understanding of how to decarbonise off grid homes funded by Northern Power Grid and Northern Gas Network. So hopefully we will get some early insights into what the team have learned as part of this ongoing project. https://www.shu.ac.uk/centre-regional-economic-social-research/projects/all-projects/decarbonisation-solutions-for-off-grid-communities

All welcome to this free event with donations welcomed towards Actions Around Bethlehem Children (ABCD) Charity. More information here chapelgarth

Tuesday 28th May 6.30pm Local Energy Advice Demonstrator (LEAD) Presentation, Stokesley Town Hall

LEAD is a £1.2M scheme to stimulate demand for energy efficiency measures in homes across North Yorkshire. The funding has been received from the Department of Energy Security and NET Zero and the UK Shared Prosperity Fund and will be focusing around retrofitting homes to reduce energy consumption. The project will be piloted in seven neighbourhoods around Stokesley and other towns across North Yorkshire.

Led by North Yorkshire Council, the scheme will be focused on specific streets, villages and neighbourhoods where studies have highlighted priority areas and where interest in tackling climate change through retrofitted schemes has been shown. Households in these pilot areas will be offered a free ‘whole house plan’ – a survey of their homes with advice on what would be needed to make them more energy efficient such as new windows and doors, or cavity wall and loft insulation.

A SERIES OF FREE PRESENTATIONS ABOUT THIS PROJECT HAS BEEN ORGANISED STARTING ON MONDAY 28TH MAY AT 6.30PM IN STOKESLEY TOWN HALL. FURTHER PRESENTATIONS WILL BE ON WEDNESDAY 12TH JUNE 6.30PM AT THE DISCOVERY CENTRE, GREAT AYTON AND ALSO AT POTTO VILLAGE HALL DATE TBC AS WELL AS AN INFORMATION STALL AT STOKESLEY MARKET ON 14TH JUNE.

ALL WELCOME.

CASaV is actively involved in facilitating this project led by Mark Lewis, one of our CASaV members interested in Energy.

If you are interested in having an audit of your house, please contact us and we will send you information now.

Monday 3rd June 7.30pm ‘A Rubbish Talk’, Osmotherley Village Hall

Issues / ideas from the groups: Environment & Climate Osmotherley (ECO) Group

Contact for more information

Issues / ideas from the groups: Nature

This month’s Nature Group meeting is at 15.30, Thursday 23rd May at the Globe Library In Stokesley. Please join us there.

Contact Bridget Holmstrom for information

Yorkshire Peat Partnership needs your help!

Did you know that northern Yorkshire’s peatlands currently store 27,410,845 tonnes of carbon?

York Peat Partnership covers an operational area containing 92,946 ha hectares of blanket bog, of which the majority is sadly damaged and leaking carbon back to the atmosphere. 27% of England’s blanket bog is in North Yorkshire, making this a landscape deserving of protection.

Yorkshire Peat Partnership (YPP) is looking for volunteers to help monitor the peat moorlands as part of their restoration work. If anyone is interested in finding out more please contact Bridget Holmstrom.

There are a couple of different opportunities.

Nature for Climate (NFC) monitoring campaigns (July-August + October-November – various sites in the North Yorkshire Moors/Yorkshire Dales)

Vegetation monitoring will be carried out during July/August this year on a number of the restoration sites in the North York Moors – the dates/invitations for these days will come out via email later this year to those who contact YPP.

Volunteers can sign up to any days they are available to help and the day will involve visiting plots to conduct vegetation surveys with assistance with a YPP member of staff.

Dipwell monitoring campaign will also be carried out during October-November this year, each of our sites will be visited every 2 weeks during the 12 week period to collect dipwell data with volunteers.

The emails will be sent later in the year to ask if any volunteers can assist on the dates they plan to visit sites.

2. Eyes on the Bog monitoring plots (2-4 times a year on assigned plots usually 1 location)

The long term monitoring programme will be rolled out across the North York Moors and this is where volunteers are responsible for monitoring their own plots 2-4 times a year and sending YPP the data. YPP will arrange plots to be installed on sites accessible for the volunteers and provide training/support/equipment.

If interested, contact YPP (see above) who will be sending a save the date invitation out in the next week or so. This event is not essential to attend for volunteers and other training days in the North York Moors will be arranged once it is confirmed which sites they will be installing plots.

Ideas from the groups: Food

This month’s Food Group meeting is on Thursday 23rd May 19.00

by zoom – contact Wendy for a link to join

May 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. In May’s section we will look at what foods are in season right now together with a seasonal recipe.

Right now the following are freshly in season: asparagus, basil, broccoli, carrots, chervil, chives, coriander, dill, jersey royal and new potatoes, lettuce and salad leaves, mint, nasturtium, new potatoes, parsley, oregano, peas, radishes, rhubarb, rocket, rosemary, sage, samphire, sorrel, spinach, spring onions, tarragon, watercress, wild nettles, wild garlic

Growing Your Own: May tips

Home-grown food does not need to be transported from source to market. This reduces air pollution as planes, ships, trucks and cars are not used to bring the food to your plate. It’s also been shown that growing your own leads to less food waste and you can ensure that it is grown without artificial fertilisers, pesticdes and herbicdes. This year, why not try one new vegetable, such as salsify sometimes called the vegetable oyster! Grows like a parsnip. Or Golden beetroot or Romanesco calabrese (produces the beautiful green heads you only occasionally see in a greengrocer. Mathematicians may notice the fractal design of the florets!)

Recipe of the month: Asparagus & new potato frittata

Recipe here

More information here:

Seasonal eating

how-to-eat-seasonally

Foodshare: Now Premier Food Store as well as the Co-ops

New volunteers are always welcome, please contact.

Ideas from the groups: Waste

This month’s Waste group meeting Wednesday 14th May 7.00pm by zoom – contact Simon Gibbon for a link to join, (previous notes)

Not-so-local Repair Cafes – Middlesbrough (11th May)

The Stokesley and Villages Repair Cafe (next one 18th May Swainby Village Hall) has been helping other areas to start repair cafes. Saltburn Repair Cafe held its second cafe on 6th April in the Community Hall (Facebook) and another will take place on Saturday July 6th and Middlesbrough Friends of the Earth has plans for its first repair cafe on 11th May in the Friends Meeting House on Cambridge Road – (Facebook). If you know people in Saltburn or Middlesbrough suggest they volunteer to get these off the ground, so much to repair so little time, so more hands make lighter work. The contacts are Rob Tucker to volunteer for Middlesbrough (also volunteer meeting at 7pm on 18th April at Meeting House) or Rowan to volunteer for Saltburn.

Reduce – Reuse – Recycle: current local actions you can take to prevent / reduce waste

Whether household waste goes to landfill or incineration climate damaging carbon gases are produced. Here are some current local options for reducing waste at source and for reusing / recycling your unwanted or waste items that will not only cut carbon emissions but in some cases benefit those in our local community. It’s a big win / win.

Shop local – less travel, less packaging

Food at your local farm shop, farmers market or small high street shop is usually locally grown or reared so less carbon emissions and often sold without the layers of plastic packaging so reducing waste. You can usually choose the exact quantity you want so less food waste too. We have some good farm shops nearby including:

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

Shop in bulk – costs less & less packaging too!

You can also reduce packaging by buying in bulk, particularly through organisations like Zero Waste Bulk Foods. Very simply, you order the food you want then they send food in reusable bags. Once you’ve decanted your food from them, simply return them via pre-paid post. They then take them to a local dry cleaner who washes them to a food safe standard, ready for the next customer.

https://zerowastebulkfoods.co.uk/

Agonising about waste? Waste Agony Aunt is here for you!

Kate from the Waste subgroup is always delighted to receive your queries about how you can reduce / reuse / repurpose / recycle (almost!) any item. Here are some queries she’s received recently:

Q “I’ve been having a garden shed sort out and I’ve got loads of plastic plant pots I can’t use”

A “All Strikes Garden Centres have a reuse / recycling facility”

Klondyke & Strikes Garden Centres say: We are providing our customers with a pot recycling facility through all our garden centres. This will make it easier than ever to reduce unnecessary plastic waste in the garden and prevent further plastic waste ending up in landfill. We can take all shapes, sizes and colours of pot or tray, as long as they’re plastic and not polystyrene. Please wash them before you bring them to us. We will also be offering to recycle your used plastic compost bags.

Q “I’ve got a drawer full of old pens – how can they be recycled?”

A “Rymans have a pen recycling facility”

Rymans offer pen recycling in all of their stores, nearest Northallerton and Darlington. They’ve collected over 1,900,000 pens which they convert into charity donations.

Also ink and toner cartridge recycling is available in all stores and they provide customers with a 50p discount for each cartridge returned (discount is only available when making a subsequent purchase of ink / toner in store on the day of making the return and is for a maximum of 5 cartridges per transaction).

Under the Waste Battery Regulations, they offer a take-back scheme for all portable waste batteries. Recycling boxes can be found in all of their stores, alternatively, you can find your local waste portable battery recycling facility at http://www.recyclenow.co.uk. Most supermarkets and shops that sell batteries will have collection bins for used batteries, and some town halls, libraries or schools may also set up collection points.

Q “I’ve got an old pallet and want ideas how to use it in the garden”

A “Try upcycling a pallet into a herb garden”

How to do it here

Issues / ideas from the groups: Transport

Development of Local Transport Strategy

Barry Warrington, CASaV lead for Transport summarises the Development of the Local Transport Strategy:

During 2023 North Yorkshire County Council initiated a consultative process under the banner of ‘Let’s Talk Transport’. This was in response to the fact that in 2022 the Dept for Transport announced that they expected all local transport authorities to have in place a fit for purpose Local Transport Plan (LTP) which sets out a strategic vision and a case for investment in transport in their area. (Although the government as yet has not provided any guidance as to the nature of such a strategy.)

This consultative exercise has involved an online survey and paper based survey activity, numerous public meetings. Almost 5000 people responded. Subsequently a stakeholder questionnaire was issued to over 700 groups including businesses, charities and interest groups. A total of 100 responses were received. The Council then set in train a process for organisations who had expressed an interest in a more detailed discussion. This is in addition to ongoing liaison with key partners and stakeholders. CASaV have contributed to this process in the form of a document covering 20’s Plenty, Active Travel, Bicycle Bus, Wheels to Work, Public Transport, Charging Points.

In addition Barry Warrington Transport Lead for CASV attended a Zoom meeting on the 20th Oct with related organisation from throughout the County. The meeting attended by the Assistant Director for the Environment and Paul Haslam the lead Councillor for Climate Change provided little more than an insight into the consultative process and an account of the situation to date. It was not a meeting to have any real discussion of possible ‘deliverable’.

An update was provided in a report published by North Yorkshire Council on the 18th December entitled ‘Update on the Development of the New Local Transport Plan – approval to publish public engagement findings’ – 18th December 2023 Update / 4th February 2024 Update.

In terms of Climate Change this document indicated that proposed changes and development were required to take into account ‘How will this proposal impact on the environment’ and that ‘One of the requirements of the new LTP process is to develop a quantitative carbon reduction plan’ ‘One of the governments three policy objectives for the LTP is to reduce impact of transport on the environment’

Read Barry’s full report here: local-transport-strategy-consultative-process/

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 May.

Hope to see you at the CASaV whole group gathering on Tuesday 18th May 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

CASaV monthly meeting – 21st May 2024

Our May whole group meeting was on Tuesday 21st May, 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 had a discussion about the effect of recent weather on food production in the UK and the possible/probable consequences on food prices and food security planning.

Next month we are looking for help for Great Big Green Week.

Attendees: Anne, Ron, Mark, Pete, Jenny, Mike, Helen, Caryn, Derek, David, Wendy, Simon, Graham, Fred

Apologies: Kate, Rebecca

Group Updates

Energy

Wednesday 22nd May 6.00-7.30pm ‘The Energy Source Challenge in Rural Britain’ Talk,
Chapelgarth, Great Broughton
HUG2
Mike’s mother
Survey
Technical survey
Pay for replacement of night storage heater
5 night storage heaters – quote £10,000
Only £4,000 from grant
Electrics needed upgrading
YES
LEAD project
Friday 24 th May, stall on Stokesley Market
9am – 1pm
Mark away
Align should be there
Should be there with all their stuff
Anybody able to help
Tuesday 28th May 6.30pm Local Energy Advice Demonstrator (LEAD) Presentation,
Stokesley Town Hall
Mark present
Resources
For Powerpoints
Help from 6pm
Other partners will present
Help
Caryn
Pete
Helen
Mark
Bridget
David’s heat pump case study?
What happens if you haven’t got a EPC certificate
300 home surveys plus train up retrofit practioners
Impartial advice as to what is best to do
Project now launched
Letters gone out for 28th May event
Mark will follow up on people outside the included areas
Great Ayton 12th June 6.30pm
Help
Mark
Ron
David
Environment/nature
Living Leven
Meeting held
Helen able to attend part of it
Spencer and Derek attended
New person Ian – specifically on River Leven
1 year of fact finding / community engagement to produce document with plans for actions
Alison Douglas EA – citizen science
Water quality
WQ kits
Training
Regular testing
Phosphate, cond, temp, pH, ammonia
Biodiversity
Whole of catchment
River fly survey
Mud spotter survey tool – sediment runoff
Map of good and bad on river
Test above and below the sewage station
NWL saying more polluted than previously reported
NWL under pressure to clean up their act
Money between 2025 – 2030 for citizen science and extra staff to liase with farms
Increase bills
Judy
Powerpoint
Living Leven 2024-2030
Packages of work
March 2025 deadline identification of sites for major works by River Trust and parish councils
Money to make wildlife corridor from Ormesby Hall to Roseberry Topping
Farmers and Esk Valley Railway interested in being involved
Funding submissions
5 themes – mitigation, land managment soil health, industrial contamination, effluent from temporary accomodation, septic tanks, wet land creation, hedgerows, water monitor, clean up events, Leven wayside footpath
Broken down to sites where they will do physical works / surveys / farm management changes / natural flow management / minimise sedimentation
Invasive species
Plan for systematic approach
No Mow May
3 areas in Stokesley
Bumble bees energy system is very fragile – what happens in June
Esk Valley Commuinity – ARK to nature
Great Ayton flood plain meadow only cut in September
Hutton Rudby has a plan for a small area – complaints about dandelions blowing around
Monitor lots of things feeding on dandelions
Biodiversity net gain – legal duty to increase on public land
Leeds relaxed mowing schedule
Bugs Matter
40% reduction in Swifts in 10 years
Lots of weed killing in Great Ayton / Stokesley
Dales River Trust / EA – wildlife corridor from Cod Beck to the Swale
Discussion on the effect of recent weather on food production in the UK and the possible/probable consequences on food prices and food security planning.
Most rainfall in last 18months since records began
1800mm fallen
Food prices increase on top of 25% likely to be 22%
Reduced yields due to temp below 40degrees everywhere
Food security – open letter into D&S this is an issue and what are you going to do about it
We are in climate crisis
Not looking at mitigation – basically adapt to it
Will effect not just the south also the north
Woke – I can remember periods of rain
George Monbiot – meets an extremist
How do we talk to these people
Spencer’s direct experience – 40 acres
Winter wheat – contractors went in 24 hours before another field – one field 5 acres missing due to puddled rain – other field has lost 20 acres – 1st field germinated, otherwise grain rots
Look out of train windows East Coast mainline all stuble fields, nobody has managed to get in and plant it
Prices will be that much higher next year
Rishi should look down from his helicopter and see stuble fields
Google satellite images at different times of year
Will Smith?
Food prices will go up not just due to this but also Ukraine
Currently wheat up from £160 to £200 per tonne
US and Canada predicted to have a good harvest
Food
Thursday 30 th May 7.00pm Food group meeting by Zoom
Working with Quorn
2 people from Quorn at Food summit in Middlesbrough
Would like to do something with us
Charity stall doesn’t work
Cookery demonstration?
After CASaV event
Stokesley Show
6 vats around the world just in case of famine
How much land does Quorn take up
CO2 90% less than beef, 60% less than chicken
Better for health
Radio which is the best milk
More or less?
statistics one
Sliced Bread
Alternative milks
Transport
20mph
Problems with take up
EV charging point
Waste
Monday 3rd June 7.30pm ‘A Rubbish Talk’, Osmotherley Village Hall
Our Waste Our Resource – A waste strategy for England
Only £1 of aluminium reclcying from Fred per year
Zero carbon
NY Climate Coalition – new Climate Action Co-ordinator
NYCC will have a coordinator for 2 days a week – Ed Lee
More organised face
Interaction with mayor etc.
Hope to get permanent funding
NYCC either charity or CIC
Reach other groups currently not connected
NY Mayoral election
Spoke to David Skaif, Felicty, Keith, Paul
FoE hustings event
Carl Les/Greg White
Climate Strategy
No real reason as to why metrics were missing
Departmental climate pathways are still awaited
Not remit of head of department but of a sub-ordinate
Big Green Week (8 th -16 th June)
Publicity, materials and organisation for following events:
 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
Jenny, Caryn, message to people in Great Ayton
 Saturday 8th – Saturday 15th June Environment / Climate Action Displays at the Globe Stokesley, the Discovery Centre Great Ayton, the Hub Hutton Rudby, Labman Seamer
o
 Wednesday 12th June 6.30pm Local Energy Advice Demonstrator (LEAD) Presentation, Discovery Centre, Great Ayton
o
 Friday 14th June 9-12 CASaV Information Stall including LEAD promotion, Stokesley Market
Dispaly moving around – Helen
3rd Tuesday 18th June
Communication Next Time