New Mills School Goes Solar!

19 Monday Sep 2016

Posted by Julian Ashworth in Energy, News

It’s great to hear that Solar PV panels have finally been installed at New Mills School. Electricity generation started on Sunday 18th September from a 21kW array on the Maths and Swinburn Buildings.

In late 2012 the PTA launched the Solar Schools Project at New Mills to raise funds (aim £12,000) to install Solar PV panels. The school and PTA would benefit directly in the form of:

· free electricity generated to the school

· income to the PTA from Government incentive payments (FITs)

Approximately £7,800 was raised by the end of 2013, and Transition New Mills supporters raised over £400 of this through our ‘Clock New Mills’ walking challenge.

The Solar PV (much more than the school previously anticipated) has now been installed by the Schools Energy Co-operative. Although the financial model has changed, the PTA and school will still benefit by:

· electricity generated sold cheaply to the school

· PTA earning an annual interest payment on money invested in the Co-operative

Well done to everyone involved; another step closer to a low-carbon New Mills!

nms-solar-pv-work-in-progress

September Newsletter

08 Thursday Sep 2016

Posted by Julian Ashworth in News

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Welcome to the first Transition New Mills newsletter, straight to your inbox as requested by the vast majority of people in our survey earlier this year.

It will also be posted on Facebook and the blog for those who would prefer to access it this way.

Here’s the top stories for September:

New Mills Primary School Edible Garden nominated for New Mills Community Award!

Transition members who worked with New Mills School to create the fantastic Edible Garden have been recognised in the New Mills Honour Awards. The project, covered on the Incredible Edible New Mills facebook page, has been really well received by the school and the children, who have grown some fantastic vegetables and used it as a learning resource. Many thanks to all the wonderful Transition New Mills members who made this happen; we look forward to further developments next year.

If you or your organisation would like to get involved in the next stage of the Incredible Edible project, please drop us a line at transition.newmills@gmail.com

Incredible Edible at Apple Day

Transition New Mills Incredible Edible have been invited by the New Mills Community Orchard to have a stand at the annual Apple Day celebration in the High Lea Orchard 2-4pm on Sunday 25th September. The event is part of the Festival, and is a very popular, family oriented occasion.

It’s a great opportunity to encourage people to get involved with the Incredible Edible project in the town’s premier example of local community food production, but we need your help to make it happen.

If you can help create or man a stall, or have any good suggestions for fun interactive activities, please let us know on transition.newmills@gmail.com

Quizit for Transition – Thursday 15th September

Transition New Mills will be the beneficiaries of the popular New Mills Pub Quiz at 9pm on Thursday 15th September, at The Pride of The Peaks.

Really hope you can get a team there, or join ours if you want.

Hope to see you there!

Reading Group Date

The Reading Group will meet at 8pm on Monday Sept 12th, for another round of stimulating discussion based on books that some members have read recently, including ‘Inventing the Future’ by Alex Williams and Nick Srnicek, and ‘Postcapitalism’ by Paul Mason.

All are welcome, please email suecoopernewmills@hotmail.com for details.

Local Giving site

As you know, membership of Transition New Mills is now free, but we’re encouraging donations of as much as you want to give, through our LocalGiving site. This has a number of advantages – they will match your donation using lottery money so it’s got twice the value, it’s easy, and secure. If you haven’t got round to donating yet please do, as we rely on this income to get projects off the ground. we’re concentrating on getting Incredible Edible off the ground, and continuing tree planting and the balsam project as funding priorities this year.

You can donate quickly easily and securely here (and double your money!): https://localgiving.org/charity/transitionnewmills/

Free Seeds!

Here’s a couple of free and easy things you can do to help biodiversity:

We planted hundreds of trees last year at Thornsett School. This year, we’d encourage you to collect a few tree seeds such as acorns, ash, beech or conkers that you see lying around, and plant them in a bit of compost in a small pot. Keep them outside over winter, they’ll start to grow in Spring and then we can plant them out.
Grow Wild are giving away packets of wildlife seeds, so if you’d like to transform an area of your garden and benefit wildlife, register for some here: https://www.growwilduk.com/content/claim-your-free-packet-wild-flower-seeds

Another Type of Balsam Bash

Calling everyone who has kindly helped bash the balsam this year – we are celebrating the end of the season with a curry – probably the weekend of 1st/2nd October. Pencil it in your diary for now and we’ll have more details nearer the time.

Our friends at New Mills festival help us with insurance for balsam bashing events. As the festival gets into full swing, they are really keen to get volunteers for the famous Lantern Parade 24th September 6.30-9pm. If you can help, please let them know on volunteers@newmillsfestival.co.uk

Feedback: we’d love to know what you thought of the newsletter, and what sort of things you want to read about in future editions. If you have any comments, or suggestions for future articles, please let us know on transition.newmills@gmail.com

Thanks,

Julian

Membership is now free; but donate online and we’ll double your money!

26 Tuesday Jul 2016

Posted by Julian Ashworth in Uncategorized

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Membership of Transition New Mills is now free; but you can donate online and we’ll double your money!

At our recent Annual General Meeting, we voted to make it easier for people to become members of Transition New Mills. So we scrapped the annual charge and made membership free, as we felt that this was a fairer and more inclusive way of doing things.

Being a member needn’t mean doing anything more than what you do already as a supporter of Transition New Mills. Of course we hope that you’ll get actively involved in some projects, and vote at the AGM, but if you’re just interested in what’s happening and nothing more, that’s fine.

We’ll be checking with all our supporters on our contact list, and any new contacts, to make sure they’re happy with this and still want to be kept in touch with a new monthly newsletter. We’ll also check that they’re all still eligible: basically, as long as you either work, rest or play within New Mills, then you can be a member.

We have also made donating to Transition New Mills much easier and fairer. Now you can donate online whenever you want, for whatever amount you are comfortable giving. And in a fantastic introductory offer, we have teamed up with charity Localgiving and the Peoples’ Postcode Lottery to match any online donation, doubling our income at a stroke!*

We’d really love to take maximum advantage of this offer, so that we can do more of the things you want to see and do, such as:

expand Incredible Edible New Mills – more outside classrooms, more planters around the town and more edible plants
more organised balsam bashes and equipment
more visiting speakers
keep the website running and up to date
improve publicity

Many thanks for being a supporter; together we can go from strength to strength to make the town stronger and greener. Please do check out the Localgiving page at:

Transition New Mills | Localgiving

* Up to £500, and until April 2017

2016 AGM Highlights

20 Wednesday Jul 2016

Posted by Julian Ashworth in Events

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The Transition New Mills 2016 Annual General Meeting was held on 30th June. Here are the highlights:

Membership of Transition New Mills is now free to all. This was in response to relatively low paid membership levels, and to generate a wider sense of ownership and involvement. Most other Transition groups also offer free membership. All known supporters will be contacted and made aware of the change.
To counteract the loss of income for vital project set-up and routine administration costs, online giving is now possible at www.localgiving.com/transitionnewmills . This site has received lottery money to double any donation received in the first year, up to a total of £500.
Phil Frodsham and Julian Ashworth were elected onto the Administration Committee, leaving one vacancy. Sarah Brooks was subsequently co-opted as Treasurer until a replacement comes forward.
The reports on achievements, membership and finances (see blog post of 8th June) were noted.

The meeting was followed by an entertaining and inspiring talk from the successful New Mills Foodie Friends café. The aim of the café is to ‘fill bellies not bins’ by providing a cheap, sociable meal for anyone, using food rejected by supermarkets. It was particularly interesting to learn how they had delivered their project, and we will explore ways to work together in future. Many thanks to them all.

Transition New Mills July Dates

18 Monday Jul 2016

Posted by Julian Ashworth in Events, Plants

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Here are the remaining dates for Transition activities in July:

Transition Drinks: Thursday 21st July, 7:30pm, Royal Oak

Come along whether it’s to talk about next steps for Incredible Edible, to float your latest idea or to preview the coming football season.

Balsam Bashing:

Sunday 24th July 10:30-12:30. Mousley Bottom. Meet at bottom of Station Road, working along riverside path area.

Monday 25th July and Monday 1 August 18:30 – 20:30. The Picker. Meet at bridge between Dye House Lane and Hyde Bank Rd

Hope to see you at one or more of these!

Balsam Bashing New Dates

29 Wednesday Jun 2016

Posted by Julian Ashworth in Uncategorized

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Happy bashers at the Picker

We are now well into our third year of trying to clear the New Mills area of the invasive alien weed Himalayan Balsam which is swamping our native flora. We are concentrating on 4 main areas : the Torrs, Goytside, the Picker and Mousley Bottom. We have already had 8 bashing sessions with over a dozen people involved.

We are really encouraged to find that there is a lot less balsam in the areas we have cleared over the last 2 years, and a variety of native plants are recolonizing the areas quickly – so we really are making a difference.

Balsam bashes are easy and a great way to relieve stress! We would love to see you at one of the forthcoming events:

Sunday 3^rd July 10.30 – 12.30 The Picker Meet at junction of High St, Dye House Lane and Hyde Bank Rd Leader : Chris Moore

Monday 4^th July 6.30 – 8.00pm The Picker Meet at junction of High St, Dye House Lane and Hyde Bank Rd Leader : Chris Moore

Sunday 10^th July 10.30-12.30 Mousely Bottom Meet at the bottom of Station Road Leader: Julian Ashworth

Monday 11^th July 6.30-8.00pm Goytside Meet at Torrs Hydro Leader: Julian Ashworth

Wear stout footwear. Long sleeves and gardening gloves are preferable (we can supply gloves if necessary)

If you can’t join us on any of these dates, please help by coming on a future organised bash, pledging to Pick a Patch of your choice or just pull as you walk. But please remember not to leave pulled and crushed plants on the path!

All Go with Transition New Mills!

23 Thursday Jun 2016

Posted by Julian Ashworth in Uncategorized

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The polls are coming to a close on the EU referendum, but there’s another chance to cast a vote next Thursday at the Transition New Mills AGM.

We are looking to elect 2 new committee members, and are seeking nominations for these posts. We rely entirely on the goodwill, time and enthusiasm of volunteers for all our activities, and without them, nothing will happen. So if you’re interested in getting involved in the running of the group, let us know by 18:30 next Thursday if you want to stand.

The AGM will start at 19:30, Thursday 30th June, at the Volunteer Centre on Union Road. Business will be completed by 20:00, at which point we are pleased to be able to bring you a talk and discussion by Father John Baines on the recently launched and very popular Foodie Friends Café, which uses surplus or rejected food from supermarkets to rustle up a great value 3 course meal in convivial surroundings for anyone who wants it.

The weekend before this, there will be a balsam bash at 10:30-12:30 on Saturday 25th June, in Mousley Bottom, around the riverside path. Meet at the DCC Rangers Hut.

And a few days after the AGM, on Saturday 2nd July, we will be having a stall at the One World Festival in High Lea Park, between 12:00 -17:00. We also need volunteers for this, even if you can only spend an hour or so – please let us know if you can help us out on this occasion.

Hope to see you at one or more of the above events!

AGM and Foodie Friends Cafe

08 Wednesday Jun 2016

Posted by Michael Daw in Uncategorized

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FoodieFriendsCafe

Our AGM this year features Father John Baines of St Georges Church who will talk about the recently launched Foodie Friends Café, a project which chimes strongly with Transition New Mills’ aims of bringing the community together to make our town fairer and more vibrant, whilst reducing waste.

The AGM will begin at 7.30pm, Thursday 30 June at the Volunteer Centre, Union Road. We’ll keep it short and from 8pm or before, we move on to the session with Father John. We’ll be out and finished by 9.30pm at the latest.

The AGM is the time to elect people to manage and facilitate activities for the group. We have an Administrative Group of 3 people, currently Julian Ashworth, Mike Daw and Angharad Hughes. However, both Mike and Angharad are stepping down this year so we have two vacancies. If you would like to nominate yourself for this group, please let us know. We can take nominations up to one hour before the meeting. If you’re thinking about seeking election to the Administrative group, do get in touch and one of us will be happy to talk with you about what’s involved (without any commitment!). Note that we’ll be asking each of the candidates to say a few words about themselves before holding the vote so, if you are nominating yourself, please come prepared.

Once again, the Steering Group aren’t proposing any changes to our constitution but if you wish to propose any, or any other motion, please let us know in advance so that we can make sure time is given to discuss and vote on them.

Everyone is welcome but you will only be able to vote at the AGM if you’re a member.

An agenda for the AGM plus this year’s reports are linked below. Please note that we have had to amend last year’s accounts because we uncovered a minor error relating to how much was allocated to grant expenditure so a new version is also below. The overall balances remain the same.

We hope to see you there!

AGM 2016 Agenda

Activity report 2015-16

Grants Summary 2016

Membership report 2015-16

Transition 2015 Accounts-Revised

Transition 2016 Accounts

Balsam Bashing June Dates

28 Saturday May 2016

Posted by Julian Ashworth in Biodiversity, Events, Plants

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balsam bashers

We are into our third year of trying to clear the New Mills area of the invasive alien Himalayan Balsam which is swamping our native flora. We know it is going to be a long haul but we are already winning in some areas. So we need to renew and redouble our efforts this year

We are concentrating on 4 main areas : the Torrs, Goytside, the Picker and Mousley Bottom. We have already had 3 sessions and removed a lot of small balsam plants in the first three of these areas, allowing native plants to continue growing without getting shaded out. This year we have also been removing litter encountered at the same time.

The next organised bashes are scheduled for the following dates :

Monday 6^th June 6.30 – 8.00pm The Picker Meet at junction of High St, Dye House Lane and Hyde Bank Rd Leader : David Blowers

Monday 13^th June 6.30 – 8.00pm The Torrs Meet at Torrs Hydro Leader : Jill Hulme

Saturday 25^th June 10.30-12.30 Mousley Bottom Meet at DCC Rangers Hut Leader: Julian Ashworth

Wear stout footwear. Gloves and long sleeves are more comfortable; we have some gloves for loan if you don’t have any yourself.

If you can’t join us on any of these dates, please help by coming on a future organised bash, pledging to Pick a Patch of your choice or just pull as you walk.

Pick up one of our new handy pocket guides on Himalayan Balsam from the Heritage Centre, Spring Bank Arts, or St Georges Parish Hall to help you.

FREE RETROFIT ADVOCACY TRAINING OFFER

22 Sunday May 2016

Posted by Julian Ashworth in Energy, Training

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Transition New Mills is offering to cover the cost of training up to 4 New Mills residents to gain the knowledge and skills needed to motivate others in our community to improve the energy efficiency of their homes, reducing carbon emissions, improving comfort and reducing fuel bills. The course is being hosted by the Carbon Coop, Manchester.

All we ask is that you undertake to help spread good practice back here in New Mills. Let us know if you’re interested before you book!

WHAT: Retrofit Advocacy Training

WHEN: 9.30-12:30pm, Sat 11th and 25th June 2016 (as this is a two-part course you need to attend both dates)

WHERE: URBED offices, 5th Floor, 10 Little Lever Street, Manchester, M1 1HR

COST: Members – FREE, Non Members – £10 (To be reimbursed by Transition New Mills)

TO BOOK: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/retrofit-advocacy-training-tickets-246550…

LEADS: Helen Grimshaw, sustainability consultant, URBED and Julian Tomlin, consultant, Carbon Co-op committee member, and householder.

This simple, two-part, participatory course will enable local green volunteers to confidently discuss energy efficiency and inspire others to find out more about retrofit, whether on a stall at a local event, in a meeting or workshop, or with friends and family.

Delivered by a specialist retrofit consultants URBED and a householder with retrofit experience, the fun sessions will involve presentations, a quiz, group activities as well as a bit of homework.

The training has been designed to comply with the Carbon Literacy Standard and all successful completers will receive a Carbon Literacy Certificate

This training is for volunteers to provide first stop advice and support to other householders. It will not replace the technical expertise provided by industry professionals.

Please book early as spaces are limited.