Thank you to our 17 litter heroes today who did an amazing tidy up, with very soggy conditions, in Hemmingwell’s parks and pathways. We collected over 35 bags of litter, half a green bin full of recycling, 4 car wheels, a jukebox, portable stereo, a scooter, a parasol and a wheelie bin full of greenhouse glass!
Thank you to Kate, Angela, Caitlin and Olivia, Judy, Sarah and Fletcher, John and Tricia, Freddie, Georgina, Bob and Gill, Kerry; Jonathan, Emma and Billy. Two children, Olivia and Caitlin, desperately wanted to tidy their local area and are sharing their efforts with Blue Peter, hopefully they will get a badge each for doing this!
Our monthly two hour tidy up this month was to litter pick Hemmingwell. Wellingborough Norse kindly supplied the litter pickers and collected the rubbish we picked. Our recycling station was set up from 9:30 outside the Well Cafe, to carry out litter picking between 10am-12 midday.
Three of us, Jonathan, Judy and Simon, had a look at our plot on Sunday, at Ladywell Allotments in Wellingborough. We spent two hours looking at options and uses of the site. Measurements have been taken and Simon will be drawing up a 3D plan based on what we have decided.
Looking into our plot
We considered where to put two sheds and a greenhouse that are on site ready to be assembled, plus a covered seating area and fence to be made out of large pallets and roofing sheets also on site. These have been donated to Jonathan for use at our community allotment and were brought to our plot last week.
Apple tree and rose hedge
We looked at the options for growing areas including raised beds, plus where to put a pond and planting to attract wildlife. The site already benefits from a large rose hedge, brambles and an apple tree, these will be kept and added to for pollinators, birds and mammal residents including badgers, foxes and dear.
What we are going to grow and who for was talked about in detail, and we decided that we would have a mixture of fruit and vegetables for local charities, and flowers and shrubs for community centres and gardens. We talked about donations to food banks and the One Wellingborough project for the food, plus overstock to Animals in Need; with flowers being grown for Glamis Hall and the Victoria Centre.
Pallets and roofing sheets behind a neighbouring shed
We also discussed how to make this as environmentally friendly as we can, including composting and rain water collection options, plus a composting toilet and solar power to power a water pump and lighting. We all agreed that we should base it all on organic/permaculture principles as far as we can.
Then we worked on accessibility, talking about who will be using the plot. We decided that everyone should be able to use the plot, so parking, a covered area near the entrance, hard standing for parking and access to the covered area was seen as a must. Spaces for two cars will be provided at the front of the plot. A covered 12′ X 8′ ‘gazeebo’ will be on the right as you enter plot. A fence will separate the parking strip from the rest of the plot.
Parking, brick edge already in place
Grass paths will then lead from the gazeebo across the plot to the left side, with a raspberry border between it and the fence, and vegetable growing area moving down the plot. Either side of this area, grass paths will run to the bottom of the allotment. Midway down the plot, we will assemble the greenhouse as a central feature. Grass paths will cross the plot in front and behind the greenhouse. Water butts will be put either side of the greenhouse.
Rear of the plot with sheds waiting to be assembled
The first path will lead to our wildlife garden and pond to the left of the plot, behind the neighbouring plot holders shed. A bench is also planned for this area. The apple tree next to this will have its canopy raised to allow more space for seating and the path.
Behind the greenhouse, we will construct raised beds and compost bins. Our two sheds will be built in the two corners at the rear of the plot. One will be for storage, the other for a composting toilet. A solar panel could be attached to the toilet shed to power a light, water pump and fan for the loo. Both sheds will have numerous water butts alongside them.
Looking from the rear of the plot
We are aiming to get this all completed by the spring, we know what we’re going to do, working days will be open to all, detailed plans to follow…
Thank you to everyone who attended our Zoom meeting on Thursday night. Simon, Heather, Sophie and Anthony, Judy, Karen, Marion and Jonathan had a very productive session.
We agreed to formally form a separate group from XR Wellingborough after talking about the reasons for doing so. We have also agreed to draw up a constitution, which may include having a committee, but must focus on the group being run collectively by all members. Heather will look at constitutions and share something we can use as a basis for our group.
We talked in detail about the One Wellingborough Plus project, agreed to jointly manage One Wellingborough Plus’s Community Resilience Actions, and to accept funding for our new projects. These will include our community allotment, swap shops, a repair club (to work alongside our Repair Cafes) and a volunteer timebank. Jonathan has agreed to draw up an action plan for these activities.
Judy agreed (weather permitting) to join Jonathan, hopefully Anthony Loukes and anyone else who is interested, at our community allotment plot on Sunday at 11am to see what we can do there. We discussed who would be able to use it, how we could use it to share skills, and what we should grow there. Using the plot to grow flowers for local community centres and community gardens, plus produce to feed animals at Animals in Need were very popular ideas…
Heather offered to host Repair Cafes at Glamis Hall separately from their indoor car boot sales. Simon (who is also one of our repairers) missed this conversation but was keen to start the repair Cafes again. I will contact our other repairers to organise this.
We talked about how we can operate the Repair Cafes and the Repair Club, we looked at how to share how the items are fixed and came up with two solutions. One could be to have a socially distanced audience for one or two repairers, the other option could be recording the repair and sharing via YouTube and social media. Simon thought that we/he can do this, and this idea of sharing by video was also suggested for other demonstrations, for example willow weaving, activities at the community allotment and Judy showing us how to make eco cleaning products.
We discussed our social media groups on Facebook and Nextdoor, our blog and other forums, including our Slack channel*, agreeing that these are easy to use and manage. We decided that with the addition of a YouTube channel, what we have is enough for what we need, and that the logo doesn’t need changing.
Simon has agreed to host future Zoom meetings with his subscription so that meetings aren’t interrupted by the 40 minute time limit. We agreed to have monthly meetings with this.
We also discussed our current activities, including our litter pick, and talked about how well they are received by local people. Our next litter pick is on Saturday 31st October 10-12, on the Hemmingwell. I will update the group about this in more detail over the weekend…
* Our Slack channel is at wellingborough.slack.com and anyone can join us to discuss our activities. For an invite please email info@wellingboroughecogroup.org.uk
This month our two hour tidy up will be litter picking the Hemmingwell on Saturday 31st October. It takes place between 10am-12 midday. Halloween costumes can be worn. All welcome!
We are going to be meeting at our recycling station which will be set up from 9:30 in the Nest Farm Crescent car park, where the Well Cafe and other local shops and services are.
We will be litter picking between 10am-12 midday, with so many different areas to tidy up this time, you can decide if you want to tidy up the housing estate or pick litter in the family friendly parks.
Everyone (without Covid-19 symptoms) is welcome, equipment is provided, due to government restrictions, groups of litter pickers are limited to 4 people each. Here are some photos of the area:
After much debate, we are separating Wellingborough Eco Group and Extinction Rebellion Wellingborough. The overwhelming feeling was that this is the logical thing to do, for three reasons:
So that both groups can be more effective by focusing on their own activities.
To allow the Eco Group to accept donations.
To grow membership of both groups.
Moving forward, we want to ensure Wellingborough Eco Group is a group that is run collectively, we want everyone to join in. Your ideas are and skills are important to us, every member counts!
The focus of the group will continue to be based around sustainability and the environment. Our events are still about helping and encouraging people to become more sustainable whilst improving the environment locally. But what do is up to you…
On Thursday night we are holding a virtual Wellingborough Eco Group General Meeting. This will start at 7:30, on Zoom and is due to last 40 minutes.
Join us via https://zoom.us/j/91678279718?pwd=d08zZE1uSnRUSDdsejRlN04ybU4zdz09
Meeting ID: 916 7827 9718 Password: Eco
Anyone can get involved, any member can propose an event and we welcome everyone’s ideas. With your involvement, events like these could be coming soon:-
♻️ Clothes Swap 🌍 Sustainability Advice Sessions 🧶 Crotchet Eco Make-Up Wipes 🦔 Introduction to Hedgehogs 🧼 Green Cleaning 🌱 Plant Swap 🌲 Tree Planting 🌳 Willow Weaving Workshop 🍸 Green Drinks ♻ Litter Picking 🔧 Repair Cafe 🌻 Community Allotment
Thank you to everyone involved for making this possible. See you on Thursday 💚
