Green Durham

You really could make a huge difference even if you only have a little time or infrequent availability. Feel free to come and check us out every Saturday and Wednesday Morning between 10am and 12pm.

📌 DURHAM CLIMATE HUB is pleased to invite you to 2 talks, with time for discussion, on Thursday 8 August on the theme of SCALING UP NATURE RESTORATION: THE CHALLENGES & OPPORTUNITIES.

Doors open at 6pm (for those wishing to buy refreshment from the café), talk from 6.30 - 8pm.

Durham Climate Hub, Northern Stores & Deli, Unit 36, High Street, Durham DH1 3UL (in Prince Bishops Shopping centre, next to T J Hughes).

'Protecting and conserving wildlife from Tees to Tyne.'
Talk by JIM COKILL, Durham Wildlife Trust.

'The researcher, the shooter, and the single malt maker: 3 in a bog.'
Talk by JESS FIOR-BERRY, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) UK Peatland Programme.

Following on from our screening of the film ‘Why Not Scotland' we are holding a talk and Q & A with two expert speakers. They will help us explore the opportunities and barriers to rewilding and conservation. David Attenborough says we must 'rewild the world' so how can we increase the scale and pace of projects? What is being done in county Durham and how can we support this urgent need?

DrJessica Fìor-Berry has worked in UK peatlands for the past 6 years, initially starting out at Natural England working on agri-environmental restoration agreements. She joined the IUCN UK Peatland Programme as Policy Lead in 2023. She works across the four UK nations to embed the scientific consensus into peatland policy, and build collaborative partnerships between stakeholders to strive towards the core goal of the Peatland Programme, thriving, healthy peatlands for the benefit of nature and people.

Jim Cokill is Director of Durham Wildlife Trust and is currently Chair of the County Durham Environment and Climate Change Partnership. He has recently developed and implemented new income streams based on Nutrient Neutrality and Biodiversity Net Gain, embracing new opportunities to deliver nature recovery at scale.

PLEASE BOOK your place & bring a £2 donation. [email protected]

Creativity! Stalls! We want it all!

This year we need your help! If you're interested please contact [email protected] for any enquiries you have!

Hopefully we will see you there!

Funded by:

SEEDS2TREES - Otterburn Special Event Seeing how local professionals and community folk are caring for, connecting with, and creating our future woodlands , and how you can too.

Our Repair Cafe Team are in Medomsley on Saturday 6th July! 🔌🔨🔧⏰

We've teamed up with Seaham Repair Café to bring their fantastic volunteers to Medomsley. If you have an item in need of repair, why not bring it along!

Saturday 6 July, 10.00am to 12.30pm, Medomsley Methodist Church, Fines Road, Medomsley, Consett, DH8 6QR

If you leave an item with us and have not heard from us after 2 weeks. Please contact the repair team at [email protected]

www.durham.gov.uk/weee

Hiring Just Transition Lead - Transition Together Transition is inevitable - justice is not. Nine months ago, we launched a new focus in our work to support communities to build a better, fairer, thriving

Help us research reuse in the UK Join our people-powered investigation into local options for reusing products and how we can move beyond recycling of e-waste.

HAVE YOU REGISTERED YET? It's not too late.
‼️Exciting News ‼️
Climate Action Durham is setting up DURHAM CLIMATE HUB.
😀 Might you or your organisation play a role in the visioning and planning for this newly-established Hub?
If so, we invite you to join:
Either
ONLINE MEETING (via Zoom) 6PM THURSDAY 11th APRIL.
Or
FACE TO FACE MEETING at the Climate Hub 6PM WEDNESDAY 8th MAY.
PLACE: within the Northern Stores and Deli, Unit 36, High Street, Durham DH1 3UL. Located in the Prince Bishop Shopping Centre next to TJ Hughes.

PLEASE REPLY with your meeting preference to:
👉🏽 [email protected] 👈🏽
For the online meeting we will respond with the Zoom link & meeting format nearer the time.

The Hub is situated within an existing Community Interest Company which incorporates a cafe focusing on locally sourced food, a children's nursery, local produce stalls and upcycled furniture.
We have been allocated space within this area where we are currently displaying leaflets, posters, a suggestion board and contact information.

We welcome any thoughts you have that will add to the scope and clarity of our Project Vision and look forward to seeing you soon. 🚀
https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:EU:9099d3b2-4bcd-4b4a-8ce0-adaecdcd2316

🌳Are you involved with a community project?
🌳Would you like the opportunity to learn the practical skills necessary for running a successful project?
🌳Why not join our staff on Sunday 23rd June when we'll be hosting "Involving the Community with your Project", organised by the wonderful Permaculture Association

Tickets cost £20, including lunch and refreshments (£12 to permaculture members).
For more info and to book see here 👉https://permaculture.org.uk/skillshare-scotswood-community-garden
Please note: Places are limited to 30 people, so please book early

🌳Forest School trainees LOVE learning with us at Scotswood Garden! Interested? There's more info 👉
https://scotswoodgarden.org.uk/learn/forest-school-training-newcastle

🌳We also offer whole staff in-school training.
👉https://scotswoodgarden.org.uk/learn/training

Starting a CSA? Apply now for our 2024 CSA Incubator scheme. 2 years of support to get you started on your CSA journey. Find out more and apply here https://communitysupportedagriculture.org.uk/get-support-for-your-csa-startup-on-our-2-year-csa-incubator-programme/

Switch and Stitch: Eco Fashion Festival Join our anti fast fashion festival to swap clothes, learn to mend and upcycle, check out some live music and more!

Exciting Opportunity at Scotswood Garden 📣🌱🌿
We have received a bursary from the National Garden Scheme (the "Yellow Book" scheme where individuals and organisations open their gardens to raise money for charity) to pay the salary of a trainee via the charity Work For A Gardener (WFGA). WFGA administer the Work and Retrain As a Gardener Scheme (WRAGS). This offers a paid placement on living wage, two days (14 hours) per week for 12 months to work and learn with our nursery and garden team.

You would work primarily in the plant nursery although you would have the opportunity to work in the garden on horticultural projects. An interest in the nursery/plant propagation side and working under glass is essential. You would be working alongside experienced gardeners in a friendly hard working environment. You will also work alongside our volunteers and be expected to take part in open days, plant sales and generally help out with the smooth running of the garden.

We are looking for someone who would benefit from a year working with our team but who would also offer something back to the garden.

Please send CV and covering letter explaining what you would hope to gain from working at Scotswood Garden and what you might be able to offer us now and in the future. Please be aware that the successful candidate will have to sign up to the WRAGS scheme which has an administrative charge of £600. This money is used by WFGA to ensure there are more opportunities for people to retrain as gardeners.

Please submit your covering letter and CV to:

[email protected]

by November 13th. Please title your email "WRAGS". If you have not heard back from us by November 20th you have not been successful this time. Unfortunately our small team can't respond individually to all the applications. The interviews will take place week commencing 20th November. Good Luck.

https://www.facebook.com/gardensopenforcharity

https://www.facebook.com/wfga.org

CITIZENS FORUM ON CLIMATE CHANGE
Please remember to register.

Not a Halloween prank or an April fool's day - Recyke y'bike will be offering free basic bike repairs to Heaton Perk's customers coming into the cafes with their bikes between November and April!

Check the dates when we'll be in and make sure to pop them into your diary!
How it works: you get yourself a coffee and cake, hand the bike to us, and relax in a warm and cosy space. Meanwhile, we'll take care of your bike so you know you'll be cycling safely this winter.

This project has been supported by the Newcastle East High Streets Programme, funded by the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund with the North of Tyne Combined Authority as the lead authority.

The next Green Drinks event organised by Green Durham will be on Wednesday 1st of November from 7pm in the Learning Lounge in the Durham Students Union Building on New Elvet. Please note that this is a change from our usual Thursday evenings due to various scheduling difficulties.

The theme of this event is Biodiversity 🐞. Jon-Paul Dunne (Sustainability Coordinator) will start the event giving an introductory talk on shifting ecological baselines, the University’s Biodiversity Strategy and how we can get involved, the crucial roles County Durham residents can play in supporting endangered species and some personal thoughts on how the biodiversity crisis is as much of a cultural issue as it is an ecological one. The ideas raised will then be put forward to the group for discussion.

Durham Green Drinks is a project organised by Green Durham.

Are you ever free on Thursdays and fancy getting out in the woods with like-minded people and learning new skills?

We'll be in Tyne Valley woodlands, starting this Thursday in Horsely woods, carrying out the ancient and traditional skill of coppicing hazel.

Get in touch if you're interested 🌳🌲 It's a fun way to meet others, and to do something good for biodiversity as well as your own wellbeing.

Hope to see you there 🍂

SEEDS2TREES - an exciting project where you get to help grow the trees needed for our future generations.
We are in our final couple of weeks of recruiting growers for our second round. Already we have over 100 people growing trees from seed following our first round last year, and we have the potential to help another 200 people share the wonderful experience.

One of our fabulous growers describes her experience as "growing a wood in my yard". Can you image that - look at an establish woodland and just think that in your own yard or garden, you started a future woodland.

This is a wonderful project to get involved in as individuals, with your children or grandchildren, with your community group, or school. Please take a look at our website for more information, and to say "count me in!"

Love this way of working

Our open-source seed cleaner plans continue to be popular, with machines in use all over the globe. Here's one from Japan, made by Masato Okano in Kobe City.
We released the plans to encourage the formation of small local seed companies - commercial machines do exist that can do this, but at a cost of over ten thousand pounds each they are unaffordable when starting up a new enterprise. Our plans require less than 100 GBP in materials and a days work by a skilled carpenter :-)

We're Back!!! ♻📢🔌🔨

After a summer break our repair cafes are back with a bang! We're aiming for two events every month to try and help fix more items and prevent more waste. Keep your eyes peeled because this list isn't exclusive, we are busy organising more dates all the time!

Got a broken small electrical item? Find your nearest Repair event at www.durham.gov.uk/weee

• Friday 21 July, Dean Bank and Ferryhill Literary Institute, St Cuthberts Terrace, Ferryhill DL17 8PP 10.00am to 1.00pm
• Monday 31 July, The Fulforth Centre, Front St, Sacriston, DH7 6JT 10.00am to 1.00pm
• Friday 18th August, Holyoake Community Centre, South Pelaw DH2 2EZ 10.00am to 1.00pm
• Wednesday 30 August, Great Lumley Community Centre, Front St, Great Lumley, DH3 4JD 1.30pm to 4.00pm
• Tuesday 12 September, Peterlee Library, St Cuthberts Way, Peterlee, SR8 1AF 10.00am to 1.00pm
• Friday 22 September, Spennymoor Youth and Community Centre, Rushmoor, Merrington View, Spennymoor DL16 6PP 10.00am to 1.00pm
• Thursday 5 October, Chester-Le-Street Library, Station Rd, Chester-le-Street DH3 3BP 10.00am to 1.00pm

We're at the Neville Cross EcoFest today so please come and say hello if you're passing

Check out some of the local events coming up in June

Event Calendar Time Organiser Venue Read More

Take a look at the groups and businesses we list around the Crook area. We'd love to hear which ones you use and if we're missing something we should be listing.
https://greendurham.org.uk/location/crook/

Do you want to reduce emissions at home or in your workplace but don't know where to start?

Friend of the cafe, Tom Bray, an engineer working to reduce emissions as quickly as possible, will be hosting a drop in at the cafe for anyone wanting some advice. Whether you don't know where to start or you want to go into the detail about solar panels or heat pumps, Tom will be there for you chat to. So come along, and if you can't come this time, write a comment here or get in touch with Tom over on Youtube -youtube.com/c/TomBray-LowCarbonLifestyle

In February we’re hosting two tree planting sessions, giving you the chance to get stuck in and support Beelines North East 🌳
Join us at:
Jesmond Dene – Thu 23 Feb
Walbottle and Throckley Dene – Fri 24 Feb
Find out more at: https://urbangreennewcastle.org/our-work/beelines-north-east/

Guess where you’ll be seeing us in April?! That’s right - ! We could not be more excited 😍

Who’s coming to see us?

Are you a Chef? Or do you know someone who is?
Could you lead a team of Volunteers to design, create and serve a cracking 3 course meal?

We are looking for Volunteer Chefs to come and run a Restaurant Night with us.
It is a wonderful way to give back to your local community, to assist us in our fight against food waste and to make life long friendships!

If this sounds interesting to you and for more information, please get in touch with Kim at [email protected]