Transition Town Tooting

Category: Other stuff

A place to gather things that have no category!

  • ‘After the Foodival’ open meeting 15th October

    TTT Open Meeting Tuesday 15th October – looking forward at TTT and local activities to build on the energy of the Foodival

    Please come along: we have a regular TTT meeting in the upstairs room at The Selkirk in Selkirk Road, SW17 0ES on Tuesday at 7pm. All are welcome. We’ll aim to tap in to the energy raised by, and have a bit of a debrief from, the Foodival – and hear about ongoing opportunities to get involved with existing projects.

    Maybe you have a project idea you’d like to develop with others?  
    If so why not come along and share with the group?

    This meeting will have a structured section as well as time to chat. 
    Please contact us if you are interested in presenting at this meeting: email us here
    Our latest TTT mail out to subscribers was sent on the 11th October: click here to read a copy.
    No TTT post is complete without a photo: so here are 2 from yesterdays’ plant printing session for families at Gatton School’s Big Draw and Cultural Day – thanks for asking us!

    Meanwhile TTT was also at yesterday’s St George’s Hospital Community Open Day, where we dished out a lot of Community Garden seeds and had some good conversations. 
    And how about the medical students dance society?  They should have been on the stage at Foodival – maybe next year, they were great!

  • Save The Wheatsheaf from Tesco

    News this week that the Wheatsheaf, a long standing Tooting Bec pub, right opposite the tube may be closed down and turned into a Tesco supermarket has stirred up some  determined action from local Tootingites!  Like others, TTT are keen to be part of campaigning to ensure that this iconic Tooting landmark does not become part of yet another multinational chain that will invariably suck money out of our local economy.  Not least because there are two other Tescos providing that opportunity within a few hundred yards in either direction!

    Jon Irwin has started a campaign on 38 degrees HERE which has garnered more than 8,000 signatures as I write.  Please sign if you haven’t already.  At our meeting on Tuesday evening the group was keen to support looking into how we can make the Wheatsheaf a community pub, maybe with local people buying shares, along the lines of other similar ventures in London. 

    On Tuesday evening next week, there will be a meeting at the Wheatsheaf to discuss the pub’s future at 7.30 p.m.  TTT and many other interested parties will be in attendance.  Please come along and add your voice to the campaign to Save The Wheatsheaf!  DT

  • Furzedown Low Carbon Zone ‘AGM’ at Furzedown Festival Big Day Out

    On Saturday 15th June from 1200 – 400 the FLCZ will be celebrating its second birthday  at the Furzedown Festival’s Big Day Out. This is located at Furzedown Recreation Ground, Ramsdale Road, Tooting SW17 9BP. 

    Do stop by our stand and take part in our pop-up AGM: which simply means come along and discuss about what we’ve been doing, what we want to do, and how you can become involved as an individual, a family, and a local enterprise.  We’ll have copies of our mini Annual Report available, plus some low-carbon games and energy-saving tips, and we’ll let you know about joining in at the Community Garden.

    Click here to read or download the 2013 FLCZ Report.  We can chat about our most recent project coordinated with South Thames College: ‘Better Choices for a Better Future’. See the video online by clicking here. College students gained practical experience of sustainability in the community – exploring projects at Eardley School and Wink Salon. One student reached the shortlist for The Mayor of London Low Carbon Prize.  

    We hope to see you; and if you would like to get in contact with the FLCZ project, please email Graham at GPetersen@UCU.ORG.UK

  • Magical Day of Stories with Tooting Library May 11th

    The 2nd Day of Stories with Tooting Library was a surprising and experimental day. In the morning and afternoon we were transported from the centre of Tooting to join five storytellers’ worlds of wonder – crossing boundaries of geography and time from Norfolk to the Great Plains, with sound effects from the beautiful (the harmonica) to the funny (blowing custard through straws).

    In the middle of the day we offered two and a half hours of printing from plants (it was difficult to stop), using leaves gathered that morning in Tooting.  Have a look at the slide show below, to see concentration and the work of many hands in action!
    We rolled out ink, selected leaves and coloured paper, folded it all up and rubbed with our hands to transfer the image, feeling the different leaves through the paper.  Some continued with another colour or a different leaf, producing detailed and dramatic results.

    Many thanks to all who came and took part, and to our colleagues from the Library

    We’ll be offering plant printing, and storytelling with Alison Royce, in Tooting on Sunday 9th June, at the ‘Tooting Community Growing’ open day at the Community Garden at 5 North Drive. For more information click here, and all ages very welcome.

  • TTT turns 5

    Keen community gardener and TTT “newbie”, Sel, provides her take on the AGM and 5th birthday party, a couple of weeks ago.  

    Transition Town Tooting turned five on Monday April 29th and was celebrated in the Graveney and Meadow pub by various activists, organisers and volunteers. The seeds of this flourishing movement were planted in 2008 at Lucy’s dinner table and today it has not only branched out into several projects, but has a respectable rapport with the Council, local businesses, schools and of course the people who live in the community who have benefited from what we have hosted.

    I am one of the newer volunteers and this was my first AGM and I have to say was a friendly affair and for anybody who is interested in getting involved in Transition Town Tooting, it was accessible and welcoming. I volunteer with the community garden and like some of the other volunteers, wanted to do so to meet other people, learn about how to grow food and to reclaim a connection with nature, which I felt I had lost since coming from the countryside to London. I have really enjoyed getting “green fingered” and would recommend coming along to anybody,whatever your age and experience. Or if gardening isn’t for you, there were other projects showcased on the night covering a wide array of green ideas.

    The evening kicked off with a quiz, which tested our knowledge of both the local area and environmental issues (who’d have known orange juice had a higher eco footprint than a latte?) and the winning team’s trophies came in the guise of seedlings. The quiz was lighthearted, but also gave us an opportunity to learn more about where we live. It then progressed on to fifteen one-minute presentations of the various projects people from the movement are working on. These projects centre around sustainable living and well-being, and include an initiative to encourage green jobs, one to get school children involved in our flourishing community garden, one which focuses on reducing energy bills and projects on the arts and storytelling. As anybody from Tooting will tell you, we’re blessed to live in such a diverse and vibrant community and these projects reflected just that!

    David Thorne and Belinda Sosinowicz were voted in to the TTT Co-Chair positions,and then we had cake! Baked and delivered from Transition Town Tooting’s own and shared among others as the evening progressed and we were all given the opportunity to meet new people, or catch up with old friends. 

    It was an interesting, fun and informative evening and was great to see just how many different projects are currently running under the Transition Town Tooting banner and how people are putting their inspiration in to practice. Heck, whether you’re a “newbie” like me, or “old school” within the movement, the night was enjoyable and there was great incentive to come to future Transition Town Tooting events. A great man once said “be the change you wish to see in the world” and this may be a good place to start.

  • Be creative in Tooting! ‘Day of Stories 2013’ on Saturday 11th May, plus two events this weekend

    Saturday 4th May: ‘Wish You Were Here’ Crafty Pint’s workshop printing souvenirs of Tooting, at the Tooting Tram, 12:00 – 6:00. For details click click here

    Sunday 5th May: ‘The Jigsaw Horse’ storytelling and art promenade leaves Sprout Arts in Furzedown at 1:00. For details click here
    Saturday May 11th: Welcome to the 2nd Tooting Library and Transition Town Tooting ‘Day of Stories’
    This free, exciting and diverse day is on Saturday May 11th, 10:00 to 4:00, in Tooting Children’s Library, 75 Mitcham Road, SW17 9PD

    No need to book – just pop in any time to join in some stories and make creative nature prints and stay as long as you like. This is a family day for children and their parents / carers – all welcome to take part.



    10:00-11:00 ‘We’re Going on a Bear Hunt’+ Bill. …see below!

    11:15- 1:45 ‘Stories of Wonder’ + Alison
    12:00-2:30  ‘Nature printing ‘+ Chuck and Jane from TTT
    2:30-3:00  ‘Snakes, Lizards and Giants!’ Stories on sharing + Emily
    3:15-4:00  ‘Adventures of the Jumping Mouse’ + Marika and Hannah


    More details:

    Going on a Bear Hunt with Bill!  A great way to bring a book to life is by making sound effects to go along with your favourite story, and even recording these sounds to play the next time.
    Join Tooting Children’s Librarian Bill Bawden for a fun creative workshop with the aim of making a recording of Michael Rosen’s classic “We’re going on a Bear Hunt“. Learn how to use everyday objects to make sounds such as splashing through rivers, squelching through mud and stumbling through forests!
    The final recording will be made available to download for free and can be used to bring the story to life again and again!

    Nature Printing  Come and try an unusual, historic and magical technique: printing directly from leaves and plants. It is quick to learn, and it is not hard to get very beautiful results.




    We’ll collect springtime leaves in advance from across Tooting – or you can bring some in.          Then we’ll pass on this historic method for creating surprising and detailed prints.


    You’ll enjoy this:

    Ø if you like trying new things
    Ø if you are interested in looking at plants in a new way
    Ø if you like experimenting with textures, shapes, and patterns 
    Ø if you want to make cards, posters or presents to take home
    Come at 12:00 for an introduction, and we’ll show you how to print, or drop in anytime until 2:30. Materials provided, and we’ll adapt this to all ages and abilities: all welcome!
    There’s a blog for the Day of Stories: click here 

  • Fresh & Refresh

    On 13 April 2013 Mushkil Aaasan in the Upper Tooting Rd hosted “Fresh and Refresh” co-curated by Amee Ramesh and Jeni Walker. This event was designed to be a Spring Festival to inspire people to turn a new leaf and initiate new and positive changes in their lifestyle.

    The Tooting Bec Lido & Zumba trainers demonstrated ways that exercise can help, while information was also on hand about stopping smoking, blood pressure monitoring and cholesterol checks. Information on how to eat healthily and grow your own food, alongside the latest from the Friends of Streatham Cemetery bees, rubbed shoulders with delicious free tasters from Tooting Market’s Portuguese Café, Minashop, and Indian delicacies kindly donated by Tooting Pharmacy. Crafty Pint helped people create wonders from discarded plastics, while pop-up kindness and recipe swaps were also on offer. The event was very busy with a diverse audience, some who just wandered in off the street to investigate.

    Amee Ramesh was delighted at how the event turned out and said: “The day itself was lovely and everyone came together, generating a really enthusiastic and positive atmosphere. It was lovely to meet new people and foster an ‘onwards and upwards’ mentality in the local community, especially after such a long winter!”

    Once again thanks to Amee, Jeni, Mushkil Aasaan and all who contributed to making the event such a success.

  • TTT AGM & 5th Birthday Party

    Just in case this makes no sense … ahem … TTT has its AGM and 5th birthday party on Monday evening at Graveney & Meadow. It will be a fun event including a quiz with prizes, a brief report on all of TTT’s current projects, a short vote, a lot of cake and time to chat. Whether you are new to all this or a gnarled veteran, this should be a fun evening and we hope to see you there! Bring an unsuspecting friend maybe?  It could be the start of something new and exciting!

  • Better Choices for a Better Future: talks, discussion and video 23rd April

    TTT and the Furzedown Low Carbon Zone project have been contributing to a South Thames College initiative since early 2013. 
    We’ve been opening up practical ways for college and university students to explore for themselves what sustainability means in the world of work.
    Local partners have included Eardley School and the Wink Salon in Furzedown – and we’re grateful to many others who have also contributed time, advice and resources.












    All welcome to join us next Tuesday in a free public meeting to hear all about it (see details above, and click here for the flyer). We’ll describe the project, and two of the students involved will introduce the brand new Better Choices for a Better Future video.

    Our guest speakers will explore how local authorities and employers can support jobs for a low carbon economy: we’re pleased to welcome Jonathan Cook, Deputy Leader of Wandsworth Borough Council, and Stephen Gapik, Head of Business Development, British Gas.

    Looking forwards, we’re developing new plans that combine community action with meeting national and global challenges.
    Please come on Tuesday if you would like to be involved!

  • Fresh & Refresh

    A diverse and interesting experience was on offer this afternoon at TTT’s Fresh & Refresh with quite a few new surprises, such as great Portuguese natas, bhel puri, a wishing tree, seeds, compost, craft, how to stop smoking and even a free Zumba class (see below)!