Category Archives: News

May Newsletter

14 Sunday May 2017

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Spring is now well underway, and the plants are growing vigorously. This is a good thing for our Incredible Edible project, but not great where himalayan balsam is concerned! Both offer good reasons to get out and active though. Follow us on Facebook or our blog to be kept up to date of opportunities.

Incredible Edible update
Here’s what’s been happening recently:

  • The walls of Torr Top car park are being planted with edible plants and flowers, which look and taste great, and seem to have gone down well with people in the town.
  • Work has started refurbishing some of the Paths for Peace planters, at Hurst Lea Rd and Thornsett
  • New Mills Primary School are back up and running in their edible garden now the growing season has started again
  • New Mills Community Orchard have created a Forest Garden trial in the lower section of the orchard; further plants to follow

These are great practical projects; if you want to get involved, turn up to an event, or email us at transition.newmills@gmail.com. Events are mostly on Monday evenings; check the Facebook page for details

Bash Some Balsam
The new season gets underway with a series of bashes in May:

  • Monday 15th May 6.30pm, meet at Archie (Torrs Hydro) in the Torrs
  • Sunday 21st May  2.00pm, meet at bottom of High Street ( to do The Picker)
  • Monday 22nd May 6.30pm, meet at Archie (Torrs Hydro) in the Torrs

More dates are being added all the time – keep checking Facebook and the blog. If you can’t make these, remember you can pledge to clear a patch that you want to be responsible for near you, or pull as you walk. For advice on balsam bashing see our website.

We are always after new leaders for bashes – contact us if you want to help run an event. We will provide training and equipment.

Discussion Group Next Meeting

The next meeting of the Transition Discussion Group is at 8pm on Monday May 15th in Whaley Bridge (lifts will be available)

We’re going to watch a short (about an hour) film ‘Carnage’ by Simon Anstell about veganism, and discuss a short article proposing VAT on meat which was recently in  the Guardian

Please contact us on transition.newmills@gmail.com for details if you want to go.

Top Tips (and free gadgets): Reducing Water Use
We’re in a very dry period at the moment (cue the start of a miserably wet summer!), so it’s worth making changes to save water (and money if you have a meter). Have a look at the latest in our series of top tips on the Useful Links web page, with something for everyone including free water saving gadgets!

Make Sure You Vote!
This election will be crucial for your quality of life and the environment we depend on, so it is really important to vote. Transition New Mills isn’t going to tell you how to vote, but we strongly urge you to take account of the parties’ positions on the following key issues when deciding who you’ll vote for:

  • climate change: their commitment to meeting the Paris climate deal and pushing for further reductions
  • Brexit: ensuring the environment and workers rights are protected or enhanced in legislation

New Mills Carnival
Transition New Mills will be getting the message across at this year’s carnival on the afternoon of 10th June, although the Disney theme may prove a little difficult for us!  If you can help out on the stand on the day, if only for a short while, that would be greatly appreciated – email us if you can, otherwise see you there!

AGM Date
Keep the evenings of 20th, 27th or 29th June free in your diaries for the AGM, subject to venue and speaker availability. We’ve a few ideas for speakers but if you have any suggestions please let us know.

Forthcoming events

Discussion Group
8pm, Monday May 15th in Whaley Bridge (lifts will be available).
Topic will be food and diet.
Email transition.newmills@gmail.com for details

Balsam Bashing,
Monday 15th May 6.30pm, meet at Archie (Torrs Hydro) in the Torrs
Sunday 21st May  2.00pm, meet at bottom of High Street ( to do The Picker)
Monday 22nd May 6.30pm, meet at Archie (Torrs Hydro) in the Torrs
See website and Facebook page for more dates as they arise.

Transition Drinks Thursday 18th May CANCELLED
The regular date for Transition Drinks clashes with the election hustings, so there will be no Transition drinks in May

Incredible Edible
See website and Facebook page for more dates as they arise.

New Mills Carnival
Help out or visit our stand, Saturday 10th June afternoon

Annual General Meeting
Our AGM will be held on 20th, 27th or 29th June – look out for further details!
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Transition New Mills March Newsletter

01 Wednesday Mar 2017

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Local Giving Match Funds Deadline
Any donations through our Local Giving site will be matched using lottery funding… but only until April 2017. This could give us up to £500 of free cash!
Needless to say, we are very keen to reach this target, and being an environmentally based group there is flexibility over the projects for which we can use the money. The more we can raise, the more we can do!
Don’t put it off any longer: please help us reach this total in a very efficient way by donating as much as you feel comfortable at Transition New Mills | Localgiving

The Plan for 2017/18
We’ve been busy over the winter period putting together our action plan for 2017! We are going to:

  • continue balsam bashing,
  • continue to fund the Incredible Edible New Mills project and help them to build edible planters for New Mills and also to fund further outside classrooms like the one built at New Mills Primary.
  • bring exciting speakers and films to New Mills
  • continue to make appearances at New Mills Carnival and, for the first time, at the New Mills Festival.

No doubt the plan will evolve further as the year progresses but it is shaping up to be a busy year!!

Incredible Edible update
Things are hotting up now Spring is on the way:

  • Incredible Edible New Mills have also announced plans to restore the Paths For Peace planters that many of you may have seen around New Mills. They plan to plant hem with herbs and edible flowers. They are look for volunteers to help look after them thus providing New Mills with free herbs. Contact us for further details.
  • New Mills Community Orchard Forest Garden site preparation event 12:30-16:00 on Sunday 5th March in the New Mills Community Orchard, next to High Lea Park. Bring a spade and gardening gloves if you have them.
  • New Mills Veggieheads – a social group where like-minded individuals can eat delicious local vegetarian food. You can find them on their Facebook page.
  • IENM are also planning to have their own Incredible Drinks – the first being at 7.30pm Wednesday 8th March at The Beer Shed on Market Street. Join them if you can!

These are great practical projects; if you want to get involved, email us at transition.newmills@gmail.com

Can we help your employer?

It was fantastic to hear from Stockport engineering design firm Wilde Analysis Ltd, who approached us for opportunities for their staff to make a positive impact in the community through volunteer work. Time is one of the things Transition New Mills is particularly short of, so this proposal benefits everyone!

There are some great opportunities coming up, including balsam bashing and Incredible Edible planting, but there are lots more things we could branch out into with more people. If you think your employer would be interested in following Wilde Analysis’ lead, please raise it with them and ask them to get in touch with us.

War on Waste

The second topic in our practical short series of top eco-tips deals with waste and shopping. There’s a lot more to this than just knowing what you can recycle – with the aim of throwing as little away as possible in bins of any colour.  There will be something in these suggestions for everyone, and again, they’ll save you money and lower your carbon footprint.

Government spoils New Mills School’s solar party

Closely following the great news in October of New Mills School’s new solar panels, the Government is now unbelievably proposing a new business rate tax on solar power. This would diminish or even wipe out any savings that business and schools hoped to make by doing the right thing and investing in cleaner energy. In a further outrageous twist, this would affect state schools but leave public schools exempt because of their charitable status!

If you agree that this is both unfair and counterproductive, please sign the national petition (be quick, it will be handed in on Thursday 2 March) and write to our conservative MP Andrew Bingham.

Story time for the Discussion Group

The Discussion group will turn to fiction for the next meeting at 8pm on Monday March 20th. This concerns the  real life issues of water pollution and foreign aid in Bangladesh as set out in The Inheritance Powder by Hilary Standing.  Email us for further details on transition.newmills@gmail.com

We hoped you liked the newsletter – let us know what you think at transition.newmills@gmail.com

Forthcoming events

New Mills Community Orchard
Forest Garden site preparation
Sunday 5th March, 12:30-16:00
To lay out the site and fencing for the Forest garden pilot.
Please bring gardening gloves and a spade if you have one.

Incredible Drinks
Wednesday 8th March, 19:30, downstairs at the Beer Shed
Social get together for supporters of Incredible Edible New Mills.

Transition Drinks
Thursday 16th March, 19:30, downstairs at The Beer Shed
Come and discuss the latest projects, football or whatever.

Discussion Group
Monday 20th March, 8pm
The Inheritance Powder by Hilary Standing.
Email transition.newmills@gmail.com for details

Transition New Mills December Newsletter

08 Thursday Dec 2016

Posted by in Discussion, Energy, Events, Food, News

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Season’s Greetings to all Transition New Mills supporters! There have been strong signs of hope in what has often been a difficult year. Frequently these have come as a result of ordinary people doing wonderful things for their own communities. New Mills is fortunate to have a good number of active citizens, contributing in their own ways, without whom all our lives would be much poorer – so thanks to you all! Transition is all about local action, and there are some opportunities below. Please contact us on transition.newmills@gmail.com if you’d like to get involved!
Incredible Edible update

Some progress has been made on the projects mentioned in October’s newsletter, and we hope to be able to bring you some positive results on all three in the New Year:

  • New Mills Primary School are working on a funding package for improvements to their edible garden capabilities, including the installation of a greenhouse ,
  • a proposal has been tabled for the creation of a series of planters around the town with edible plants
  • funding has been committed by New Mills Community Orchard for the creation of a Forest Garden trial; a planting session will be arranged for spring 2017.

These are great practical projects; if you want to get involved, email us at transition.newmills@gmail.com
Egg Map

In addition, we are working on a town egg map. This will map the locations where you can buy locally produced eggs, normally using an honesty box. In future, this concept can easily be extended to cover many other locally produced items, ending up with a local directory, maybe something like Falmouth’s. If you know of any locations, or you want to sell eggs or other sustainable local produce yourself, let us know and we can put it on the map.

Discussion Group Next Meeting

The group is tackling the Universal Basic Income as its next topic; an attempt to get away from linking income with work or benefits. Here’s a short introductory video explaining the concept.
Sue will also give a report on her recent visit to Marrakech during COP22. The meeting is on Monday 12th December at 8pm; all are welcome. Please contact us on transition.newmills@gmail.com for details if you want to go.
New Transition movement website

The Transition Network now have a brand  new website! It’s not just a re-design; they have started afresh, making it more readable and accessible, and are introducing new features and lots more specific content.  Check it out with this link to our launch blog from Rob Hopkins, where he explains some of the key elements of the new site, and helps you find the things of greatest importance to you.
The Gift of Death

Before you buy any further Christmas presents; just bear in mind the consequences!  I’ve recycled one of my favourite George Monbiot articles from a few years back on what does and doesn’t make a good Xmas gift.
How to Save Energy and Be Warmer

Dreading the next fuel bill? A few years ago I participated a Global Action plan project on everyday household sustainable living, and created a series of handy ‘top tips’ guides, with a range of solutions to suit different interests, abilities and pockets. Rather than waste them, we’ll be offering them up in the newsletter at intervals, and putting them on our website. Check out this month’s, topically on energy use, and make it your New Year Resolution to try some out.

Local Giving

Any donations through our Local Giving site will be matched using lottery cash. This offer lasts until April 2017, and could give us up to £500 of free cash! Needless to say, we are very keen to reach this target, and being an environmentally based group there is flexibility over the projects for which we can use the money. Please help us reach this total in a very efficient way by donating as much as you feel comfortable at Transition New Mills | Localgiving

Forthcoming events

Discussion Group Monday 12th December, 8pm On the Universal Basic Income. Email transition.newmills@gmail.com for details
Solstice Stroll, Wednesday 21st December, 6-9pm Come and celebrate the Winter Solstice, with a gentle stroll visiting some of New Mills’ pubs, from the Masons Arms, through the town centre, to the Rock Tavern. May involve litter picking on the way!

October Newsletter

11 Tuesday Oct 2016

Posted by in Events, News, Uncategorized

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At a time of rather depressing national and international news, the Transition movement aims to put power and hope into ordinary people’s hands, undertaking local action which collectively will change the world.  The possibilities of what we can create in the communities around us is really exciting and empowering, and if enough of us do it, it can lead to real impact, to really jobs, and to real transformation of the places we live and beyond. So don’t just read this newsletter; take up one of the actions. If you don’t fancy any of the suggestions, create your own and we’ll help you make it happen!

Incredible Edible update

The growing season might have ended for the year, but the Incredible Edible group haven’t! Plans are afoot in the winter months to:

  • install a greenhouse at the New Mills Primary School edible garden,
  • create a series of planters around the town with edible plants
  • help New Mills Community Orchard create a Forest Garden trial

These are great practical projects; if you want to get involved, email us at transition.newmills@gmail.com

Subsidised Centre for Alternative Technology Trip

Take a trip with Sustainable Hayfield to the world renowned Centre for Alternative Technology, Machynlleth, Wales, on Sat/Sun 12th/13th November.

Departing after breakfast on Saturday, returning tea time Sunday. Free transport provided in Hayfield Community Minibus. Accommodation at nearby Plas Dolguog country house hotel from £45. Entry to CAT £8.50 (£7.50 concessions).

Transition New Mills will pay for entry for any TNM supporter who is willing to write a blog or do a presentation following the visit.

To register, email lauriejamesis@btinternet.com or ring Laurie on 07867 578326

Local Giving

Any donations through our Local Giving site will be matched using lottery cash. This offer lasts until April 2017, and could give us up to £500 of free cash! Needless to say, we are very keen to reach this target, and being an environmentally based group there is flexibility over the projects for which we can use the money. Please help us reach this total in a very efficient way by donating as much as you feel comfortable at Transition New Mills | Localgiving

New Mills Secondary Solar School

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. Back in 2013 Transition New Mills supporters contributed over £400 of the £7,800 raised, through our ‘Clock New Mills’ walking challenge. The school will benefit from cheaper electricity, and the PTA will get an annual interest payment on the investment. Well done to everyone involved; another step closer to a low-carbon New Mills!

Forthcoming Events

Transition Drinks, Thursday 20th October From 7:30pm, The Royal Oak
Come along to talk about Transition projects, Incredible Edible, the football or whatever!

What Do You Think of the One World Festival? Wednesday 19th October, 7:30pm Open meeting upstairs at the Beehive to share thoughts and ideas for next year’s festival.

Buds, Berries and Leaves Survey Moors for the Future Partnership Friday October 21st, New Mills Volunteer Centre, 10am-2:30pm Free training sessions for anyone who would like to take part in the new survey on ‘Buds, Berries and Leaves’.

New Mills School Goes Solar!

19 Monday Sep 2016

Posted by in Energy, News

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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 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

Important Dates for your Diary

15 Sunday May 2016

Posted by in Events, News, Uncategorized

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Photo-AH3

There are 3 important dates coming up where we would really like to see you:

  1. New Mills Carnival; afternoon of Saturday 11th June
  2. AGM & Speaker(tbc);   7.30pm Thursday 30th June, Volunteer Centre
  3. One World Festival;  afternoon of Saturday 2nd July

We intend having a stall at the Carnival and One World Festivals, but we really need your help staffing it. If you are able to give even just an hour on these days it will help make this possible. It’s fun, and just involves finding out what people are interested in, telling them what we’ve been doing, and discussing what we’d like to do in future. And the weather has always been lovely!  Please let us know at transition.newmills@gmail.com if you can be of assistance.

This year’s AGM will be on the evening of Thursday 30th June, and we are lining up a topical speaker for the event. There will be 2 vacancies on the Administration Group, so we are keen to receive nominations from anyone who is interested in helping to run the group and make our town stronger, cleaner, fairer and more resilient. Let us know at transition.newmills@gmail.com to find out more or register your interest in these posts.

End of the Road for Himalayan Balsam!

06 Saturday Sep 2014

Posted by in Biodiversity, Events, News, Plants

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Derbyshire County Council rangers have surveyed the areas targeted for balsam clearance, and are very happy that we have helped them achieve this year’s goals.

There will therefore be no organised Balsam Bash tomorrow Sunday 7th September, so you are free to make good use of the forecast sunshine in other ways! With no other events planned, this brings a close to this year’s season.

Many thanks to all the 20+ volunteers who have helped make this project such a success, and to the Town, Borough and County Councils for their support; it’s great to see such enthusiasm and hard work. One young member has even got a Blue Peter badge for her efforts! Although it can seem overwhelming, we have made a noticeable difference on the riverbanks in all directions from the Sett / Goyt confluence, in Mousley Bottom and around Hague Bar.

In response to the comments on the danger of spreading the plant once the seeds have set, this has always been acknowledged by the project. At the more recent bashing events we have concentrated on the smaller, younger plants coming through in areas cleared earlier in the year, and tried to leave the seeding plants alone, apart from where they pose a threat to already cleared areas. In the latter case we merely bend the stem so that it sheds its seeds back into the already infected area.

The next stage in the project will be to take stock of this year’s experiences, and to create an effective plan for next year. It would be good to involve more local groups, work out how we can tackle the more difficult sites, and maybe get some funding for materials we may need. We’ll let you know when a meeting has been arranged.

Thanks again for your support!

Julian

Join (or Rejoin) Transition New Mills!

09 Monday Jun 2014

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At the recent AGM I described the importance to Transition New Mills of the membership, and outlined how things had changed in the previous 2 years of its existance

Last year (2013/14) Transition New Mills had 24 members. 5 of these were new last year. This is good, and they enabled us to achieve more tangible outputs than we achieved in the previous year, although this was itself one of trying to get the project established.

However, membership last year was down on the previous year, by 15 people. And it is clear that both older (retired) and younger people (under 18) appear to be significantly under-represented.

Does this matter? I would argue that it does; consider the following reasons:

  • it’s true that we want to encourage more people to participate in our projects, and welcome anyone joining in and contributing. But membership is a great way for people who agree with its principles to strengthen that support because it gives you the power to influence the direction of projects and the way the group is run, gives you a greater level of ownership and belonging, and helps the group start new projects (or ultimately exist at all!).
  • there is a modest membership fee to those who can afford it (although it is free to under 18s, reduced for unwaged or if you can’t afford it). There’s obviously a lot more to membership than the subscription, but this income is absolutely essential for us to cover certain types of expenditure for which it is very difficult to get grant money; in particular ‘revenue’ type items such as for room bookings, leaflets and publicity, and other sundries. These are just the sort of items needed in particular at the start of projects before any grants can be applied for. So membership constitutes an essential stream of resources.
  • a group with a low membership can lack credibility, particularly with funding bodies. It may struggle to demonstrate that it has sufficient support to make it worthwhile funding, or potential new members may look at it and think it isn’t worth joining.

I hope that you were enthused by the things that Transition New Mills has done over the last year and more, as described in the AGM report. We now have a well-established group, and we are supporting in particular those projects which people said they wanted most. There are now many examples of tangible improvements happening because of the great efforts and contribution of our supporters; members and non-members.

I hope you feel able to demonstrate your support and confidence in Transition New Mills by either renewing your membership if you were a member last year, or joining up now as a new member. We’d be particularly pleased to see more involvement from younger and older people. Join us, tell your friends, or if you’re not yet convinced, come and join in with a project (or start your own!) and see what a difference you can make!

Forms for both new members, and a shorter one for renewals, can be found on our website, or attached to this post – please return with the appropriate remittance to me, or look out for us at local events, where you will also be able to join.

Thanks,

Julian

 

New website!

10 Friday Jan 2014

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The eagle-eyed among you may have noticed that we’ve changed our website. The content is the same but we’ve moved the hosting from Mr Site to WordPress (where we’ve been blogging from).

There are several reasons for this:

  1. It keeps the blog together with the rest of the website to avoid confusion.
  2. It’s easier to write and maintain.
  3. We think it looks better.
  4. It enables us to do wizzy social media things like share with Facebook or run polls more easily.
  5. Last but not least, it’s cheaper! (Around £10 a year instead of £40.) Which is a better use of our members’ money.

Enjoy!