What a wonderful village we live in! WestFest was a resounding success, and it was great to see so many people come to the event, despite the blisteringly hot weather!
We would like to say a huge thank you to all the lovely people of Westcott and the surrounding villages who took the time to share their thoughts and feelings towards making Westcott a greener place to live. There were so many suggestions and these were hung on our Ideas Tree (pictured below).
Some of your ideas included:
- community litter picks
- using more renewable energy, such as solar panels and renewable energy suppliers
- village nature trails
- seeds to rewild unused areas
- a community garden for growing food
- a community bus, to enable people to get around easier without using their car
- initiatives to help improve recycling and repurposing of items: toy and tool swaps; repair cafe
Others had ideas on a more global scale, with one very enthusiastic young girl concerned about the impact of shark finning on the ocean ecosystems and the state of our seas in general. We would love to see some of these ideas happen. Please get in touch if you have ideas, time or enthusiasm to share!
Youth leading the way
There were so many young people who spent some time at our stall, offering their heartfelt suggestions to help solve climate change. One group of young people in the village have already set themselves up with their own group called POP (Protect Our Planet). They are planning a local cake sale over the summer to raise funds and we wish them all the best with their project. We would be happy to promote this on our webpage https://greenwestcott.org/ if they let us know the details.
The younger children had fun collecting tiny elements of nature in little matchboxes for our Tiny Nature Treasure Hunt, which they proudly came to show us in return for a few sweets!
Having conversations that matter
There is so much enthusiasm for protecting our planet in Wescott and perhaps the best part of Westfest for us was connecting and talking to so many of you. It was good to make a link with Abinger Common Nursery school and the Unum eco group, and we’re looking forward to sharing ideas in the future. Andaction is already happening- like the family in Westcott who has gone plastic free, and the family who has recently rewilded a part of their garden (we saw the photographs of the many many wildflowers that are attracting bees, butterflies and other pollinators). Green Westcott hopes to be a hub for encouraging more conversations, more connections and more hope for a positive and Greener future for our village and world. Watch this space – in the future issues we’ll share some tools on how to have a climate conversation and will showcase some of the action villagers are already taking.
So where do we go from here? We will be gathering ourselves and working through your ideas to make some of these happen in the next few weeks and months. Please contact us at share@greenwestcott.org if you can help, or would like to share more of your eco-friendly ideas.
