September has arrived quickly and we say goodbye to the Summer months!

Throughout August we've been keeping busy getting ready for the highly anticipated Green Meadows Picnic, as well as working on important Climate Champion initiatives like the Butterfly Project and Community Composting.

Additionally, in collaboration with UK Hempcrete, we successfully launched the Practical Introduction to Conservation Retrofit course. Find out more about this groundbreaking course below.

Don’t forget - to keep improving our projects and tailor workshops and events according to your preferences, we have just launched our annual community survey! Don't miss the chance to win one of five £20 vouchers by participating, click here to take the survey.

Keep reading to find out more.

First cohort embark on Practical Introduction to Conservation Retrofit course

Participants looking at bio-based retrofit materials

On the 29th August, our Practical Introduction to Conservation Retrofit course officially began, kickstarting an 8-week run of sessions covering the principles and practices of the retrofit of traditionally constructed buildings. The course is written and delivered in collaboration with UK Hempcrete, and is designed to offer practical hands-on experience, as well as theory knowledge, to those that aspire to work in the retrofit industry.

The course is broken up, into both classroom and practical sessions to give learners hands-on building experience and the knowledge to back it up. In the first week participants were introduced to the basics of retrofitting traditionally constructed buildings and began familiarising themselves with bio-based retrofit materials such as sheep's wool insulation, wood fibre board and lime render.

There are limited spaces available for the second cohort beginning late October 2023. Find out more about the course here.

Preparing for Autumn

Now that we’re on our way into Autumn, we will start to recognise that winter chill setting in. This leads more people to think about keeping their homes warm and the costs of their energy bills down. It also means that we might notice things that we didn't in the Summer, such as draughty doors and poorly insulated walls.

Our online Knowledge Bank has a growing set of resources on homes, energy efficiency, insulation, ventilation and more.

The article ‘Why are UK homes energy inefficient?’ is a good starting point to better understand why traditional homes often demand extra attention to keep them warm and comfortable.

Give it a read and find out why it’s vital to improve the fabric of the home.

Want to know exactly how this works with your home?

This month we were pleased to check in with Graham, who received a Future-Fit plan early this year and free home improvements funded by the Cadent Foundation, including:

The replacement of all bulbs in his home with new LED bulbs
A new extractor fan in the bathroom
A top-up of loft insulation (from 100mm to 270mm)

Sign up for a Future-Fit here

Climate Champion Update!

The Butterfly Project met up this month to do a litter pick and a Bio Blitz in the pathway near Osier Road, which is set to be transformed into a community butterfly garden. A BioBlitz is basically a wildlife survey. So, we make a note of all the different types of species and wildlife in that area to help us decide what should stay, and what can come out when we do a clearing day.

Clearing day will be 30th September 12:30 – 14:30.

The Growing Group have been busy weeding and harvesting. The wet and sunny days have made everything at the shared allotment grow quickly and large and the group have been taking veg home weekly!

A Growing Group regular, Christina, said: “Just had a lovely meal with chips fresh from the ground, also chard, green beans and cauliflower with left over mince beef casserole. So yummy!”

The group have also started planning a Harvest meal together.

Check out the veggie goods below!

Community Composting groups are so pleased that the first batch of food waste is starting to look like compost. In a few more months it will be ready to put to use!

The composting team have decided to look into ways of becoming a constituted group, to ensure the longevity of the composting project. This will also make it easier if there becomes a demand for composting sites in other areas of the Meadows.

Let us know if you would like a site near you!

If you would like to get involved with these expanding projects or start one of your own, get in touch with Heather at engage@greenmeadows.uk or call 0115 718 2028.

Community Workshops

Over the following year, Green Meadows will be bringing experts to the Meadows to run workshops or training sessions requested by the community.

In August, the Memorial Gardens Association said that they would like to involve the community in a Wildlife Pond Workshop. The aim is to learn more about plants and animals, and to improve the biodiversity of the Wildlife Garden pond.

The workshop will be on Saturday 23rd of September. It will be an all-day workshop, and you can come for the morning or afternoon or both.

Let us know if you are interested by calling 0115 718 2028 or email Heather at engagement@greenmeadows.uk.

DIY Workshops

Another 6 Meadows Residents attended our August Woodworking workshop, focussed on cutting and drilling - a great way to build confidence in the use of tools.

Preparations are now also underway for our soon to be launched Toolshare; a tool library run on a membership basis, so that Meadows residents can “borrow not buy” tools. This prevents everyone buying duplicate tools and makes it easier to carry out DIY at home… watch this space!

What we’ve been up to…

The Green Meadows team with Lillian Greenwood MP

We were pleased to have a visit from Lillian Greenwood MP, who dropped by the Climate Hub for a presentation on Green Meadows project updates, covering developments such as the Practical Introduction to Conservation Retrofit course. Lillian also got to see our eCargo bike, which is one of our new exciting initiatives and used throughout our projects.

The eCargo bike also came with us when we attended the Meadows Community Action Event at the Queens Walk Recreation Ground.

Check it out below