Transition Town Tooting

Category: Other stuff

A place to gather things that have no category!

  • Cycling & Better, Safer Streets

    I was reminded in Amsterdam recently, what a vast difference there is between cycling in the Dutch capital and cycling in London.

    In central Amsterdam, bicycles and feet seem the primary mode of transport followed by trams. Far fewer cars, less pollution, a more pleasant environment and a slimmer looking population from this brief survey. There are many segregated lanes for bicycles, separate bike traffic signals, a generally friendly mixing of bikes and pedestrians and no helmets, not one, in sight.  Cycling is a pleasure not an ordeal.

    Could London ever become this civilised?  Or must every journey involve a running of the gauntlet, sharing tiny spaces with huge vehicles, oblivious, aggressive or on the phone drivers coccooned in their metal boxes, cycle lanes that go nowhere etc?  As a daily cyclist, I can confirm it’s a jungle out there, even on the roads of Tooting and Balham which I use a lot.  You have to keep your wits about you to stay safe.  If only here was as cool and bike/people friendly as Amsterdam!

    So what is going on in our local area?  Campaigner Jon Irwin has several petitions running on his traffik in tooting blog looking for support for trial changes to road layouts in Tooting and wider Wandsworth, and he’d welcome your support – all petitions here.  One idea I particularly like is making a section of the A24 between Tooting Bec and Balham a French style boulevard with segregation for cyclists and pedestrians.  “Balham Boulevard” apparently has some chance of success with interest from Council Transport lead Russell King and even a name check from Boris!  Jon adds: “The campaigns I’ve been running … have been incredibly well received. Do get in touch if you’d like to help out, I can only do this with local support”. Email Jon here

    Meanwhile 20’s Plenty looks to implement a 20mph speed limit where people live.  I recently petitioned a Council meeting requesting this in my street.  Why not do the same for yours?  Already over 12m people live in local authority areas which are adopting this policy – why not round here too?  Despite Wandsworth Council never seeming keen on actually DOING anything in this area (better at talking), it’s up to us as individuals to keep applying pressure.  There is an election next year … politicians do seem to be interested in those.  DT

  • TTT Dec Meet & Christmas Celebration

    TTT has one more meeting this year and it’ll be quite a short one from 7 to 7.30pm at the Antelope in Mitcham Rd on Tuesday 17th Dec. Happily this meet will also double up as a Christmas celebration from 7.30 onwards that could end anywhere in the beloved environs of SW17.  It’s been a busy year with so many different contributions from so many people in a wide variety of different areas.  Thanks everyone for helping TTT go from strength to strength.  Do come along and celebrate, join us for a drink and a chat, followed by an optional sampling of any of the neighbourhood’s culinary delights.  We look forward to seeing you on Tuesday.

  • Festive Meet and Make – this Sat 7th Dec

    A little taster..

    of the kind of mad things…

    you could be making…

    if you come to Festive Meet & Make …

    this Saturday 7th Dec…

    3-7pm at Mushkil Aasaan hall, 222 Upper Tooting Road SW17 7EW (next to Nandos)

    We will also be creating cards, producing pomanders, stirring up sweets and reusing recyclables for wrapping gifts.

    Drop in, no need to book, all free but donation buckets will be on hand for loose change.  Monies raised go to Mushkil Limited charity and TTT funding.

    email jeniannewalker@gmail.com for info

  • Latest monthly TTT email on 4th December ’13

    You can read today’s monthly email to subscribers by clicking here.
    Please email us on transitiontowntooting@gmail.com if you would like to be added to the circulation list.
    We hope to see you at a meeting or event soon!

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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!

  • 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.

  • Work & Play Scrapstore in Tooting

    I made a visit to the recently re-opened Work and Play Scrapstore in Blackshaw Rd this week. Running for over 20 years, the Scrapstore promotes the re-use of resources for environmental and community benefit and has a great collection of card, trimmings, fabric, plastics, carpet pieces and costumes.  The Scrapstore is a registered charity and provides resources to  schools, community groups and local artists – TTT’s art making group SMArT visits regularly.  

    Many thanks to Scrapstore volunteers Alison, Elizabeth, Lucy & Susan (all pictured) for showing me around.  The ethos of the Scrapstore seems a good fit with Transition ideas, and would be a great resource for future events.  

    Meanwhile can anyone out there assist the Scrapstore with donations?  I was given a wishlist of desirable items so please do take any of the following down there on a Tuesday if you are able. dt

    Wishlist:
    finer fabrics, felt, metal bottle tops, coloured card and paper, ribbon, laces, haberdashery, buttons, sewing tape, zips, elastic, knitting wool, plastic offcuts, plastic foam in sheets (2mm thick and up), wine corks, paper cups and plates.

    Find out more at http://workandplayscrapstore.org.uk