Transition Town Tooting

Author: Transition Town Tooting

  • Community Responses to the Energy Crisis

    We hosted this meeting with the Furzedown Low Carbon Zone on Wednesday 27th November.

    Giles from http://www.thinkingworks.co.uk/ gave an interactive talk sponsored by the Citizens’ Advice Bureau.
    He focused on understanding our own energy supply bills, on the grants and support schemes currently available, and who is eligible, on the energy efficiency challenges in Furzedown’s housing stock, and on being aware of the energy consumption of many household items – all in a very practical 45 minutes.
    Of course we still had questions – and Giles directed us to many places to find out much more detail.

    Secondly, we briefly outlined the potential for a community energy generation scheme, and agreed to meet again in January 2014 to discuss this in more depth.
    We realised we are ‘surrounded’ by local energy generation experiments and potential good advice – with schemes developed or en route in Brixton, Streatham, Kingston, and Wandsworth.

    Andy, Headteacher at Eardley School, described the final stages of the installation at half term of £10,000 worth of energy efficiency measures in the school. The funds for these steps came via the FLCZ project which ran locally earlier in 2014, where local college students engaged with aspects of sustainability within their courses.
    (Have a look at our project video here).

    To get involved or learn more, please contact Graham Petersen by email – we look forward to being in touch.
    And thanks to Naked Loaf for making the delicious snacks in the same few days that they were painting floors and signs ready to open their new bakery and deli in Moyser Road.

  • BATCA Heroes Award for Gatton School & Tooting Community Garden

    The Gatton School Community Garden project won a team award at the BATCA Community Heroes event held this evening at Jasmin’s nightclub in Tooting. Congratulations to nominees Chuck and Deputy Head Hoosen Randaree pictured above with Head Teacher Rifat Batool and their awards. 
    Many thanks to everyone involved, especially the children!
    Some numbers about the project to date, since March 2013:

    • Around 180 children have taken part, rain or shine
    • There have been over 20 day sessions, each made up of 2 separate hours for different age groups
    • For each hour, 2 or 3 School staff come along in support – that’s around 100 ‘staff hours’
    • Over 20 TTT volunteers have helped to host the sessions, contributing over 150 ‘volunteer hours’
    • Plus the time, energy and enthusiasm in planning, preparation and follow-up from all…  

    Some of the impact of this outdoor learning on the children, and on adults?

    • Children experience and learn about some new things, in new ways, in a safe and supported setting
    • Children do these new things together alongside their classmates, with School staff, and volunteers
    • Individual children may show new or different skills and behaviours: concentration, problem-solving, creativity
    • The adults explore the practice of outdoor learning

    And a particular thank you – We could not be doing this project without the support of the owners of the Tooting Community Garden land: Mushkil Aasaan, which provides community care to Asian families in need.

  • Late November: Six ‘new beginnings’

    Even though the year is moving into winter, there’s six ‘new beginnings’ to share with you below.
    We hope to see you at these events – all welcome to come along and maybe try something new..

    1 On Tuesday 26th November we are starting to plan for the 2014 Tooting Foodival.
    Do join us and suggest some new ideas, or become a new participant for next year.
    We’re meeting at The Selkirk, 60 Selkirk Rd, Tooting Broadway from 1900 to 2100 (details on Events Calendar opposite).

    2 On Wednesday 27th November there is a SMArT Meet and Make workshop at Sprout in Moyser Road, Furzedown from 1830 to 2030. All welcome (details in the Events Calendar). The meeting will also start to look forward to the Christmas making and craft event on December 7th at Mushkil Aasaan – details to follow.

    3 Also on Wednesday 27th November, along with the Furzedown Low Carbon Zone, we are co-hosting ‘Community Responses to the Energy Crisis’ at the Furzedown project from 1930. The meeting will help participants make sense of saving energy and reducing costs now, and we will start to explore developing a local renewable energy project.  Plus refreshments from Naked Loaf…please come along. See the complete flyer here

    4 Naked Loaf made creative use of the bread flour we grew in the Tooting Community Garden this summer to make sourdough starter for dozens of delicious loaves at the Tooting Foodival in September. The new beginning for Naked Loaf is the exciting opening of their new organic bakery and deli at 70 Moyser Road, Furzedown, SW16 6SQ. They are finishing the decorating now and expecting to be fully open from Thursday 28th November, all day from 8:00 am. Best go and visit soon and try some of the great produce!

    5 The ‘Big Build’ with Gatton School in the Community Garden is beginning to take shape, building on the children’s enthusiasm and energy.
    There’ll be a celebration at the end of term to mark the rainwater catchment completion.

    6 Not quite a sign of spring, but the broad beans planted a few weeks ago are beginning to show through – a very encouraging sight as the weather turns colder.
    Do come and join us in the Community Garden every Sunday from 1100-1300.





    For more info on any of these ‘new beginnings’, contact us on email at transitiontowntooting@gmail.com

  • Update 2: Gatton School Garden Sessions

    This week’s garden sessions with Gatton School saw two very different events.  60 Year 1 children went on a “Bear Hunt” set out by their teachers around the site, while a more regular group of 15 Year 6 children helped clear up autumn leaves, tidy up some beds for compost and continued with the Big Build rain water harvester project.  The eight upright posts for the Big Build structure have now been set in concrete, some of it mixed by the students.  Thanks to all this week’s volunteers who helped out with these activities.

    A bear is discovered
    Concrete mixing and post setting

  • Zero Carbon for The Shadow Cabinet

    TTT likes to mix the global with the local where possible and in the last week, working with the Centre for Alternative Technology (CAT), we have sent a copy of CAT’s Zero Carbon Britain report, via our helpful local MP Sadiq Khan, to every member of the shadow cabinet.  The parcels were tied up with colourful Tooting ribbon that Lucy picked up at Reshma’s saree shop, which closed last month after 39 years of trading at Tooting Bec.

    The report draws on CAT’s 40 years of experience to offer technically viable scenarios for a future with zero carbon while also creating employment, increasing wellbeing and having a positive impact on the economy.

    We are grateful to CAT and Sadiq for enabling us to disseminate these important ideas to potential future policy makers.  Follow the links above to read more about CAT and the report.

  • Update 1: the Big Build with Gatton School in the Community Garden

    One of the outdoor learning projects we are carrying out with Gatton School’s Year Six class is helping to build our combined rainwater catchment, shelter, suntrap, & garden bower in the Community Garden, between now and Christmas.
    Every week we’ll make progress, and share it here.
    Last week we cleared the site and dug the post holes.
    Yesterday the children raised the first upright roof support.

     
    The children mixed cement and gravel to make concrete – and mixed it again and again in several piles.
    Cement has a high carbon footprint: we are using as little as we can. Almost all the timber we need is recycled from materials found on site. We’ll be buying new fixings, and balancing that with mixing the concrete by hand – and saving water in the future.

    Many hands support the post
    Handprint in the concrete

    Taking turns with other garden activities, many hands held the timber upright , concrete was rammed in around the post, and handprints were added as a finishing touch.




    The challenge fitted well into the hour’s session and left a great feeling of achievement – I heard a girl say ‘That was brilliant’ to her friend, and one of the teachers say ‘I wish we’d done this when I was at school’.

    Sketch of how it will look

    More news next week – and do get in contact by email if you would like any more information.   

  • New TTT email of news and activities Nov 6th 13

    Our latest email has been sent out to subscribers – we hope it’s an enjoyable read (yes there is a lot there!). If you don’t receive it and would like to read a copy, please click here. 
    Helena and Poppy: you wrote in and asked to be added to the list. I wrote back to you on 2 December, and now I have deleted your emails by mistake – sorry – could you write in again!
    If you would like to be sent your very own in future, do email us on transitiontowntooting@gmail.com.
    For the diary: we’ve made a date correction: the SMArT Christmas making event is on 7th December, at Mushkil Aasaan – not the 11th. Details to follow, and all welcome!

  • Outdoor Learning with Gatton School in the Community Garden in Nov & Dec 2013

    Gatton School, located near Tooting Broadway, have been coming to the Community Garden every week since March as part of their Outdoor Learning programme. At the moment we have Year One and Year Six staff and children taking part, alongside TTT volunteers.
    Between now and the end of term in December, we are running two projects: the Big Build, and Bug Hotels (we seem to be in a construction frame of mind, good for these winter weeks).

    The plan takes shape


    The Big Build is a set of weekly steps that will construct a rain-water harvesting roof (and that will also provide shelter for activities in 2014…so it is win-win!). TTT’s resident civil engineer, Richard, has developed the steps. As in all projects success depends on having a good plan (and knowing when you need to modify it) and people who want it to succeed (TTT volunteers and the children). Oh…and some decent weather. The school is linking the project with learning objectives for the children, and there’ll be a great sense of practical achievement all round when it’s all done.

    And like all projects the pre-work is important. First we have to clear the site..here is a report on yesterday’s first step:


    “This week we have started our rainwater catchment project with year 6 of Gatton School. The project, born from the necessity at the garden for stored rainwater has become a 7 week project with the children. Our aim is to teach the kids about making foundations, setting timbers straight in our wobbly garden, re-using timber and sheet material, learning about capturing rainwater – and creating a shelter, within which we shall celebrate our combined efforts in their last week of term.
    Compost looking for a heap

    However, this week was not as glamorous as all that. We cleared the remainder of the compost area, cut back the long grass around the build, sorted and stacked the useful on site materials and broke down the remainder of the black hoarding that used to run across the width of the site. Foundations next…what fun!”



    The second project is Bug Hotels. This project will use recycled materials to provide shelter for the beneficial insects and other creatures that live in the Garden. In fact with dozens of children involved, the Community Garden’s mini-beasts are going to be very well housed. Again, this project can link with activities in school, and useful preparation can be done at school if we are rained off.

    Palatial overwintering site

    Small and simple accommodation










    We know that above all these projects are about offering two valuable experiences: enjoying time oudoors, and learning new things in a creative way, together. Even if project plans get stretched, it’s great to have the opportunity- plus cooperation between the school and TTT -so we can all experiment. We’ll let you know how we progress!

  • Foodcycle Tooting

    TTT Co-chair, Belinda Sosinowicz blogs her first experiences of the new Foodcycle venture starting this month in Tooting.

    According to Foodcycle (2013) an estimated 400,000 tonnes of useable surplus food can be saved from UK supermarkets each year [1], or in other words, 400,000 tonnes of food is wasted by supermarkets that could otherwise be used.

    To be doing something practical about this fits with our transition values which aim to tackle the big issues of climate change, peak oil, sustainability and scarce resources at a local level.  So recently I found myself being drawn into finding out how I could do more to address the issue of food wastage at my local level by joining Foodcycle.

    Foodcycle is a UK charity that combines volunteers, surplus food and spare kitchen spaces to create tasty, nutritious meals for people at risk of food poverty and social isolation. They run 14 Hubs across the country: volunteer-powered community projects serving nutritious meals for people at risk. Working with community partners they provide communal meals in a warm and welcoming environment to older people, mental health service users, homeless people, low-income families, asylum seekers and refugees, and the long-term unemployed. Since May they have reclaimed over 74, 000kg of surplus food from food retailers.


    As well as this, the project values the fundamental belief that connecting people and communities together improves our wellbeing. Evidence confirms that social connecting is strongly linked to subjective well-being, which relates robustly to happiness and life satisfaction, both directly and through their impact on health and wellbeing. (Helliwell & Puttman 2004) [2] It is also possible to shift our more materialistic values towards pro- environmental and sustainability values; for both people on the receiving end and those giving up their time to volunteer through more pro- social activities. These types of interventions draw on people’s “sense of self” (Crompton & Kasser, 2010) [3], informed by “Intrinsic and self- transcendent” values, particularly universalism, benevolence and community (collectivism) which enhances the welfare of the in-group and the wellbeing of the individual  (Kasser and Brown, 2012). Kjell (2011) [4], concurs with these theories suggesting that greater emphasis should be placed on how humans connect with each other and nature if we are to adopt sustainable cultures. These correlate with bigger- than self-problems and corresponding behaviours such as pro environmental behaviours (Crompton, 2010) [5].

    So how does this fit in with Transition Tooting? Foodcycle have just started a new hub in Wandsworth, based in Tooting (to start with). Led by Emily Oliver, two hubs are starting up this month to collect surplus food from Sainsbury in Tooting Broadway. I volunteered to be part of this epic project which knits all my values (+ my love of growing, cooking and eating) and those of transition together. So a couple of weeks ago, I found myself making a Chili rhubarb pudding with another transitioner in the United Reform Church in Tooting Broad way, as apart of a team making a starter and main course. This was a bit like ‘ready, steady cook; as after a short introduction to Foodcylce we were given a bag of veggies and herbs and asked to create a 3 course meal for those present! We all then shared the meal together. This gave an us a ‘taste’ of what it might be like to volunteer on the project. It was great fun and also a good chance to meet new people with the same ideas to do something good that connects people in our community, starts to address our massive problem of food wastage, inequality, poor health and poor wellbeing- and supports the vision of building a resilient community. Soon we will start serving up meals every Saturday, to people in our local community at the united Reform Church and Mushkil Aasaan. I will be blogging about the project on TTT web site and http://happytooting.wordpress.com so keep an eye out for our meals and our updates!

    [1] Foodcycle (2013) http://foodcycle.org.uk
    [2] Helliwell, J.F. & Putnam, R.D., (2004). The social context of wellbeing. The Royal Society.
    [3] Crompton, T., & Kasser. T. (2009). Meeting Environmental Challenges: The Role of Human identity. UK: WWF.
    [4] Kjell, O. N. E. (2011). Sustainable Well- Being: A potential Synergy Between Sustainability and Well- Being Research. Review of General Psychology 2011, Vol. 15, No. 3, 255–266 DOI: 10.1037/a0024603
    [5] Crompton, T. (2010). Common Cause. UK: WWF. www.wwf.org.uk/change.

  • Wildlife Gardening Forum: conference 21 Oct 13

    TTT joined this bi-annual conference yesterday at the University Hospital, Coventry. The Wildflife Garden Forum is a voluntary UK-wide group including local and national projects and charities, researchers and academics, local authorities and government agencies. The Forum’s intention is to share evidence and practice about the value of wildlife to gardening (and people) – and vice versa.
    Yesterday’s conference topic was ‘Human Health and Wildlife Gardening’ – please see the agenda here. An excellent range of speakers covered up-to-date research and personal experience of the links between our own health, wellbeing and happiness, and the health and biodiversity of wildlife.
    It’s a topic that’s one of the keys to sustainability in Tooting.
    A very exciting feature of the day was the focus on wildlife and nature’s role across the NHS itself: including softer benefits such as the value of amenity and beauty, and harder evidence including faster recovery times. The University Hospital’s Sustainable Development Manager gave us a tour of some of the easy-to-see elements of working with nature: the Hospital has created a wild space of reeds and young trees, next to a small river newly-populated by otters.

    We have some good new contacts and ideas for taking forward these possibilities in Tooting – in a very different setting from a new-build hospital, but still with plenty of potential.

    Please get in contact with TTT if you would like to join us to explore the links between local wildlife, and our health and wellbeing.

    PS: have a look at our short report from a Forum meeting last year. The Forum is developing its website, in the short term info can be found here.

    And, from last Sunday in the Community Garden – when the sun was out for the exact timings of the session:

    Graham was given this
    birch seedling at the
    Environmental Association for
    Universites and Colleges conference
    several years ago. It’s new home is
    the Community Garden – thanks!
    Four ‘new’ people came along to
    the Garden having heard about us
    at the Foodival. Welcome!
    And we also gathered more leaves
    to experiment with for
    papermaking