Green Elmbridge Sustainability Fair
Green Elmbridge, together with Riverhouse Barn Arts Centre, will be hosting the Green Elmbridge Sustainability Fair again this summer, on Saturday 17th June, from 10:00am onwards.
The fair will feature free to attend talks and demonstrations, involving a wide range of speakers and representatives from the local community, including Elmbridge Borough/ County Councils, and stalls promoting local green-minded businesses and organisations.
Green Elmbridge is made up of local climate-preoccupied residents wishing to create and nurture a network of community groups which have an interest in:
• improving the environment and/or carbon reduction.
• sharing information and learning.
• working collaboratively with the Council to amplify impact.
Put simply, the aim is to bring people and community groups together, who wish to share environmental awareness and green thinking in Elmbridge, focusing on taking real and practical actions to adapt to the current challenges we face - such as preserving our water and reducing waste.
Talks on the day:
11:00-11:20 - The carbon neutral journey for Elmbridge.
Joanne Taylor - Climate Change Project Support Officer, Elmbridge Borough Council.
11:30-11:50 - How to improve the energy efficiency of your home.
Speakers from Zero Guildford and Surrey Climate Commission.
12:30-12:50 - How parents can take action for the planet.
Lizzy Harley, climate justice campaigner with Parents For Future. Ashley Barrell, Founder of My Child’s Planet & creator of “Mama on a Mission box”. Co-founder of Cloth
Club Elmbridge. 14:00-14:40 - We Are The Voice. Children's Environmental Choir.
Writing original material about the climate crisis; recording, filming and singing for the children's future .
14:50- 15:05 - Journey of The Net.
Anita Chanda - Artist and Facilitator
15:10- 15:25 - Tree Canopy Wellbeing Garden Story.
Kate Ray - Founder of Guided Wellbeing - Ecopsychologist & Mindful Nature Connection Guide
Refreshments:
Delicious refreshments served throughout the day by our very own Community Café (open 10am to 4pm).
The Community Cafe is run as a not-for-profit enterprise by a team of volunteers and staff, who create beautiful dishes using surplus food.
Stalls:
• Ashley School Eco Stall - making plastic free options more accessible.
• Silverpasta Crafts - It is run by Illustrator & wildlife surveyor, Jess Smith, has a seelction of art, homeware and gifts inspired by the natural world.
• Sigma Sports Kingston - From folding electric city bikes to electric cargo bikes, Sigma Sports Electric will be on hand to showcase some of the latest bikes capable of replacing a car in urban environments.Come along and take a bike for a test ride to really experience the feel of an electric bicycle.
• Ecocentric Us - offering low cost, packaging free, ethically sourced household & personal care refills. Remember to bring your empty bottles & choose from a wide selection of refill options!
• Green Elmbridge - bringing together people & organisations with environmental awareness and green thinking in Elmbridge.
• FairPlay Clothing - Fun comfortable handmade clothing that have minimal environmental impact.
• Thames Ditton Boomerang Bags - cloth shopping bags sewn by volunteers from donated material.
• Guided Wellbeing - help you find inner wellbeing through a deeper connection to the natural world.
• Rewilding Forest School - children have the opportunity to access, experience and enjoy learning in the outside environment.
• Oxshott Net Zero (ONZ) - 'Smaller footprint: brighter future. It's easier to reduce carbon doing it together.' ONZ will be showing how to build a bug hotel.
• Friends of Riverhouse - 'Plant and Seed swap' - bring your left over seeds, cuttings, surplus seedling and plants and swap for something new!
• My Child's Planet & Cloth Club Elmbridge - Eco products for parents including a cloth nappy demo.
• Parents for Future - a global network of parents who campaign for climate justice, to safeguard a future for our children and children around the world.
• Island Farm Community Garden West Molesey - is a garden open to the public growing fruit, vegetables & flowers that anyone may harvest.
• Weybridge Allotment Holders and Gardeners Association (WAHGA) - providing help and advice to plot-holders incouding advice on sustainable gardening, recycling initiatives and sharing of produce.
• Elmbridge Tree Wardens - volunteer group to support the planting and upkeep of trees in the borough.
• Riverhouse Hookers - crochet group by Merrian Holland - kits for making your own sustainable items. Demonstrating how to use crochet for visible mending.
• Repair Café - a group of dedicated repair volunteers. Their skills include textiles, bicycles, electrics, electronics, woodwork and general repair. Members of the Repair Café will be providing a ‘5-minute fix’ service on the day.
• Elmbridge Community Eco Hub - home of the Library of Things, Community Fridge, Skill Share, Small item recycling, Community Garden...and more!
• Molesey Clothing Exchange - Helping you to reduce the impact of the fashion industry. Bring last year's summer dress and swap it for a new one.
• Elmbridge Friends of the Earth - Information about their "United For Warm Homes" campaign which addresses fuel poverty, the need for a national insulation programme and the failure of the current energy system.
• Surrey Wildlife Trust - With the invaluable support of volunteers and members they care for over 6,500ha of land for wildlife in Surrey. Find out about their work in Elmbridge.
• Campaign for Rural England - SPRE's aim is to protect, promote and enhance the countryside and natural environment of Surrey.
• South East Rivers Trust - Raising awareness of SERT, their current project on the river Mole (Caring for Crawley’s Rivers) & how the community can get involved through our new river friendly resident campaign.
• Elmbridge Borough Council - Performance: We are the Voice - Children's Choir Having performed at COP26, festivals, corporate events and theatres, the choir captivates audiences; winning hearts and minds with rousing melodies, dynamic harmonies, and poetic lyrics, they sing for the oceans, trees, climate, and children's futures. Performance time 2pm.
Award Winning Eco Artist
Anita Chanda has won awards for her art installation consisting of 200+ pieces of up-cycled plastic mesh bags in order to highlight the damage supermarkets are doing to the environment by packaging fruit and veg in plastic string bags.
The up-cycled waste became art that connected people after the Pandemic.
Harmful material has taken on a different value in a colourful and joyful way giving hope to those who experience it. The Net speaks of strength and fragility, the artist’s message is: repair not despair. This colourful Net has many memories. As we all giving a talk, Anita will be running mini workshops where you can make a small item out of some of the nets she's collected.
Demos/Workshops:
There will also be a selection of demos on the day including:
• Go along to Sigma Sports for a test ride to really experience the feel of an electric bicycle.
• Children - make a bug hotel.
• Repair Café - Members of the Repair Café will be providing a ‘5-minute fix’ service on the day. • Making a willow tree guard with Guided Wellbeing
• Composting Clinic.
• Visible mending.
• Boomerang bags.
• Face painting.
• Raffle:
Take part in our raffle, with lots of great prizes donated by stall holders - all proceeds will go towards running this fantastic event.
Raffle will be drawn at 3:30pm.
