Transition Town Tooting

Author: Transition Town Tooting

  • ReSparkle! Celebrating Creativity and Christmas crafts at Tooting Library

    TTT have been ReSparkling with Tooting Library since 2012 – it’s always a magical event upstairs in the beautiful children’s library. 

    Indoors last Saturday the library was full of colour, light and energy as it became darker, wetter and stormier outside. 

    It’s a free and simple event: for two hours we offered 5 activity tables, with eight of us helping.  

    Why is it so fun and rewarding?

    We think it’s because:
    1. There are familiar faces and new families every year – diverse, multilingual, positive, keen to experiment.
    2. Creating a special occasion together is a good feeling 

    3. The Library is such an excellent trusted community social hub in the buzzy retail heart of Tooting. Everyone is welcome, nothing is for sale, everyone can work at their own pace and  materials and goodwill are shared freely.
    4. Children, parents and carers are discovering and making together – all generations trying out very different activities, getting familiar (again?) with using glue, scissors, staplers, velcro.
    All these activities and more can be repeated at home.

    5. Everyone creates using simple materials – making beautiful decorations and presents out of everyday things and scrap saved from waste.  
    6. There’s always new ideas – new activities, new facilitators from TTT, creative solutions from participants (turning the drinks cartons inside out to show off the silvery liner was very neat!)

    There’s more photos by Bryony, Chuck & Annie to look at online – please click here. And there’s more of just Bryony’s beautiful photos of ReSparkle online here – thank you Bryony!

    ReSparkle! exactly six years ago on Dec 15th 2012

    We value our long-lasting partnership with Tooting Library very much and want to say thanks to the Library team for hosting us so many times since 2012.

    Many thanks to our TTT team of fab facilitators: Annie, Bryony, Elly, Jane, Jeni, Nicola, Resina & Chuck.
    We’re looking forward to December 2019 – please put ReSparkle in your diary!

  • A Magical Festive Feast

    St Marks United Reformed Church in Balham festooned with vine leaves, fairy lights and candles, offered the perfect backdrop for a magical festive evening at TTT’s Christmas Dinner last night. The invite to “Norah’s Magical Feast” promised a festive culinary celebration and what a feast it proved to be!  Norah won the overall Top Tooting Cook competition at Tooting Foodival in September scoring not only for the taste and look of all her entries to three categories, but also for her exceptional use of locally sourced ingredients including fruit, vegetables, eggs and honey.

    In true MasterChef style, Norah delighted the guests with a sumptuous three course meal starting with a platter of sharing plates of courgette and haloumi fritters and three different kinds of homemade vegetable dips. Generous mains of roast salmon, lamb shank or a winter vegetable tagine followed. Dessert was a splendid affair of sticky fig pudding with salted caramel & coconut topping, roasted fruits with black cherry sorbet or a selection of artisan sheep & goats cheeses served with a variety of chutneys and oatcakes.

    Aided by her assistants Dani and Chris, Norah gave us a Christmas dinner to remember for years to come. If you want to sample the delights of Norah’s Kitchen please get in touch with her here. 
    Thanks to Bryony Williams #findmeintooting for her photos.

  • Restart Party & Toy Mending this Saturday

    Our next Restart Party in Tooting is at Mushkil Aasaan this coming Saturday 8th December, 13.30-16.30.  At this event, as ever, you can bring in broken electronics and see if our team of volunteer fixers can give them a new lease of life or at least identify the problem.  The ethos behind our Restart parties is to keep items out of landfill by repairing and re-using.  It’s an antidote to the throw away culture that can sometimes prevail.


    Mending Toys Too!
    Just in time for Christmas this event also includes toy mending.  Why buy yet more new stuff when we could help you to repair some old things that you or your family love?  Dig those cherished broken items out of the bottom of the cupboard and bring them along.  What better gift than a surprise repair for the kids?  Our Supermen (and Superwomen) fixers will do our best to make them good as new!
     Image result for picture of broken toys

    And our usual reminder …
    Restart Parties are a community self-repair space where you take responsibility for your own gadgets and data, so please don’t forget to take any back-ups beforehand, if relevant – and if possible arrive during the first two hours to allow time for fixing!  More info about the Restart Project here

  • Mushkil Aasaan Needs Our Support!

    Mushkil Aasaan could be under threat because the Council has withdrawn its contract to provide social care to vulnerable people in our local community.

    Of course the Council has a right to seek the best deal for constituents, but in this instance one wonders whether commercial expedience is trumping common sense in the Council’s offer of the contract to non-specialist providers, who may lack MA’s local experience, knowledge and cultural sensitivity.

    Local people are getting together to try to get the Council to change its mind. 


    The flyer above explains how to get involved in either the public meeting at Mushkil Aasaan on Monday or at the Council meeting on Wednesday of next week.

    You can follow latest development on the Mushkil Action twitter feed and website.

    From TTT’s perspective we are incredibly grateful to Mushkil Aasaan director Naseem Aboobaker for her offer of free meeting space in the hall over the last 10 years, and provision of a space for Tooting Community Garden in the grounds of 5 North Drive for the last 7 years.  Many reading this will have been to Foodival, Restarts, Gardening sessions or other meetings all of which have been faciliated by Naseem’s kindness and community spirit.

    Now Naseem requests that the Council reinstate Mushkil Aasaan’s contract and status as a Specialist Provider and TTT strongly supports this.  Do get involved if you can over the next days.  Naseem and Mushkil Aasaan have been a great help to TTT;  let’s see how we can offer support in return at this stressful time.

  • ReSparkle! with TTT at Tooting Library, 2pm to 4 pm on Saturday 15th December 2018

    All welcome to join TTT’s free Christmas crafts workshop at Tooting Library, creating beautiful presents and decorations to take home.

    We’ve been inviting everyone to ReSparkle! since 2012, and it’s always a magical event.

     

    When? Saturday 15th December from 2:00pm to 4:00pm
    Where? 75 Mitcham Road SW17 9PD
    We’ll be upstairs in the lovely children’s library.  
    Free, drop-in and for all ages.

    All materials provided – and everything we’ll use to make beautiful creations is waste that’s being saved from going to scrap.
    “Reduce…Re-purpose…ReSparkle!”

    Thanks loads to our partners at Tooting Library – if you have any queries, please phone the Library on 0208 767 0543. NB children under 8 must always be accompanied by a responsible adult.

    Come and join the fun – please spread the word and tell your friends. Click here to read or download the poster.

  • Time for New Leaders – Could It Be You?

    Transition Town Tooting is looking for new leaders ready for the AGM in February 2019 as the current leadership team will have completed their two year terms and we will be voting in new role holders. Do you fancy getting involved?

    If you do you could be joining an evolving and collaborative team making change in how we live, where we live, in light of climate change. There’s a spirit of celebration and creativity in everything we do, be it south London’s biggest sustainable food festival, urban growing in the community garden, carbon reduction workshops or neighbourhood planning. We open up spaces for local people to connect with each other, imagine possibilities and make positive changes for the community and the environment.


    We have evolved a system where 2 people share being chair of the group for a two year period and both of these spots are up for grabs in 2019.  We are also interested in hearing from anyone who would like to try their hand at being Treasurer or Secretary and help shape and re-imagine our activities and impact over the next two years.

    You’ll be joining a great team of volunteers and core members who coordinate projects. There are also other ways to volunteer with us from just attending events, leading a specific event or perhaps you would like to try being the newsletter Editor.  

    For more information about these roles click here.  

    We would love to hear from anyone who is interested.  Even if you are not sure but want to find out more do please CONTACT US and we will be happy to answer any questions you may have, or alternatively come along to the next meeting on Tuesday 13th November at the Antelope in Tooting to find out more about these opportunities.

  • TTT’s next series of Carbon Conversations is postponed until early 2019 – in time for New Year’s resolutions!

    We’re postponing our new series of Carbon Conversations until the New Year.
    Tonight’s first session is cancelled, as are the following 5 meetings. The series of meetings needs a critical mass of local people to join in so we have rich and diverse discussions – we are nearly there but not quite for the series due to start this evening. So we will find new dates early in 2019 with that existing participant group, and encourage more people to sign up and join them. Let us know if you are interested!
    Very early New Year’s resolutions, anyone?
    All the info on the six free meetings organised by TTT’s Ben Cuddon in a recent blog post here. Just ignore the dates.

    The facilitated workshops enable individuals to explore the areas of our lives where we can reduce our own carbon emissions: travel, food, domestic energy, consumption and waste.
    During the six weekly sessions you’ll discuss in a supportive atmosphere all the practicalities of making your own ‘low-carbon lifestyle’ changes. Making these changes is never one size fits all. 

    A quote from a past participant:  
    “The beauty of Carbon Conversations is the 
    optimism, creativity and shared ideas” 

  • Pumpkin Party Sunday October 28th

    Come and join our autumn festivities in Tooting Community Garden!

    Pumpkin Party Poster 2018
    click for pdf poster

    Following on from our normal open gardening session (11am-1pm) this Sunday, we will be celebrating all things pumpkin – you can carve your own creations into the pumpkins, help make some fresh pumpkin soup and learn how to make delicious damper bread over a fire. All activities are free and suitable for children and adults. And once you’ve enjoyed our campfire feast, you’ll be able to head to the annual pumpkin parade on Tooting common!

    We look forward to seeing you!
    Sunday 28th October, 1-3pm 
    Tooting Community Garden, 5 North Drive, London SW16 1RL

  • We are POSTPONING our Saturday Oct 20th ‘Local Stories of Sustainability Success’ event

    We’re postponing this community event in Tooting until a later date.

    We’ve had a number of messages that people would like to participate in our event but also wish to join the Brexit vote-related People’s Vote March for the Future on Saturday 20th.

    We want our Local Stories of Sustainability Success speakers to have the largest possible audience, and we’ll get together to find a good date and share that asap. Event info here.

    Thanks everyone for your support and flexibility, especially the fab four speakers!

    Carbon Conversations, due to follow ‘Local Stories..’, will still go ahead starting on November 1st. All the info on this super free series of 6 discussions and action planning on our blog here.
    To sign up or ask questions contact Ben Cuddon by email here.  
    All welcome to join!

  • Restart Sewstart Reupholster Party!

    The Fixed It List

    This afternoon’s Restart & Sewstart event saw a lot of smiling faces both on the Fixed It List and in the hall.  Thanks to everyone who helped out and attended!

    While fixers battled to fix seemingly broken radios, lamps, toasters and phones, Shaz and her able helpers reupholstered a sofa that had been dumped in the street.  Check out the time lapse video of the work!

    Phew, that’s better!

    At our events we aim to keep electrical or electronic items out of landfil by repairing them, and also mend and alter old clothing to give it a new lease of life. If you are just curious or would like to learn new skills come along to one of our Restart Parties

    Our next Restart Party in Tooting is at Mushkil Aasaan on
    8th December 13.30 – 16.30
    and will include toy-mending as well – watch this space!

    Restart Parties are a community self-repair space where you take responsibility for your own gadgets and data, so please don’t forget to take any back-ups beforehand, if relevant – and if possible arrive during the first two hours to allow time for fixing!   More info about Restart including details of regular skillshares at www.therestartproject.org

    Don’t forget more upcoming dates for you diary:
    Local Stories of Sustainability Success is on Saturday October 20th and the start of a new series of Carbon Conversations on November 1st.