Dear <<First Name>>

We hope you'll be able to find time to come to our Christmas party on 17th December - a time to celebrate the highlights of 2013 as well as meet many of the good people of CFB who care so much about the future of our great planet. 

So, what presents are you going to give this planet of ours over the coming year?  A pledge to reduce your emissions even more?  Switch to a clean energy provider? Encourage your friends and family to join CFB and spread the word?

Whatever you do, don't forget that you're not alone - there are tens of thousands of others all over the world with the same goals and aspiration as us; the small "drops in the ocean" that are making a real impact.

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IN THIS NEWSLETTER:

1.  Christmas party - Monday 17th December

2.  January meeting - Monday  21st January

3.  Fracking

4.  Help with going solar

5.  Eco Trade Fair, March 16th 2013

6.  New CFB website - live in January  

7.  Electric van update

8.  Calling all vegetable growers

9.  A Happy Christmas to you all

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Christmas Party - Monday 17th December

Priory Barn, Newtown, 7.30 p.m.

There is still some space to join our popular Christmas party which will be held once again in Priory Barn, Newtown on  Monday December 17th, starting 7.30pm. This is a great opportunity to meet other members of the group in a relaxed atmosphere.  We will be asking for a donation of £5, payable on the night, which covers hire of the hall and drinks (wine, beer and soft drinks).  Please bring some food to share, savoury or sweet; there will be limited facilities for keeping food hot.  This will, as always, be a zero waste event.

As there is a limit of 40 for the hall, please let us know if you would like to come by emailing climatechampions@gmail.com. First come, first served, so don't miss out. It would also be helpful if you let us know whether you are planning to bring a savoury or sweet dish.

 

January meeting - "Puzzled by Plastics?"

Monday, 21st January  7.30pm

Quaker Meeting House, Whitehead's Lane, BoA

Do you stand by your re-cycling bin puzzling over which plastic items to re-cycle and which to chuck? If so, our January meeting is for you. A representative from Hill's Waste will be coming along and, hopefully, making all clear so be ready with all your queries. This will be followed by a showing of the film 'Plastic Shores' which shows just why it is so important to dispose of plastic properly.  All welcome and donations to cover costs gratefully received.

Fracking

Monday 18th February, 7.30 p.m.

At our February meeting we will be showing the film "Gasland", a documentary about the destructive effects of fracking in the USA.  We are planning to follow this with a Q&A session with someone from the FrackFreeSomerset group. You can find out more about fracking on the Frack Off website.

With the current government putting its energy eggs in the gas basket, fracking is going to become a reality in many UK communities, some of which are pretty close to us, unless we can persuade the government it's not a good idea.

 

Help with going solar 

As energy bills soar many people would love to install solar panels on their roofs if only they had the available cash. Well, help is now at hand. Southern Solar (with whom we have our 'bulk buy' arrangement)  have started to offer financial packages for customers to help them install solar with a loan. It is designed to be paid for through savings and FIT earnings. They’re also trialling working with a company called Freetricity to offer free solar if that is something people are interested in. More details here.

Eco Trade Fair, March 16th 2013 

Volunteers needed to help with catering

CFB are organising an Eco Trade Fair in St Margaret's Hall on Saturday, March 16th next year. Take up for stalls has been good and we are expecting a really bustling event. There is a small group of CFB members working on arrangements for the stalls, publicity, etc. and we would really welcome a small group who could oversee the catering. We would like to serve teas, coffees and cake and/or biscuits throughout the day and a simple lunch - probably filled rolls and maybe fresh fruit. If you feel you could offer any help with this or would just like a chat about what it might entail please email climatechampions@gmail.com.  If anyone has more suggestions for people who could have a stall (preferably willing to pay the £30 we are asking) we would also be interested in hearing about it.

New CFB website - live in January

Throughout 2012 we have been working hard to re-design our website and now we're almost there; just a few finishing touches and tweaks are needed.  We are hoping it will be ready to go live around the middle of January, so look out for it.  The address will remain the same: www.climatefriendlybradfordonavon.co.uk.  We are really grateful to Kim and Mark Samouelle (of "Stay in the Loop" fame) who have been doing this work voluntarily for us.

Electric van update

Well, we've had the Renault Kangoo ZE van for 2 weeks now and it's created quite a stir; there has been lots of interest, including someone who is even considering buying it!  As you know, CFB volunteers have been offering free shopping deliveries for 14 of the town centre shops who joined our scheme and we've also been working with BoA Community Agriculture (BoACA - see photo) to deliver their weekly veg. bags/boxes.  So far we have completed nearly 50 zero emission delivery trips. The other exciting news is that Zero Carbon World, who are working with us on this project now have 4 local accommodation providers signed up to installing their free charging points.  So, the first seeds have been sown and we look forward to more good news during 2013.  The van is going back to Platinum Renault in Trowbridge on 23rd December, so we have another two weeks of delivering left; we'll really miss it.

Calling all vegetable growers!

Thursday 24th January, Winsley Village Hall

Winsley & District Gardening Club invites you to join them on Thursday 24th January, 2013, 7.30 p.m. in Winsley Village Hall.

Chris Smith from Pennard Plants coming to talk about old methods of vegetable gardening.  Chris is an entertaining speaker and will be bringing a selection of his heritage seeds.