Category: HGN news

August: A Social Gathering

Events, HGN Events, HGN news Leave a comment

We have no formal gathering in August, but Russell of Innocent Pilgrim has invited us to his yurt for a cider and cheese tasting – hurrah!

Russell will be opening the yurt from 7pm for a meet-up, social and tour of the apple farm. He will take you through some popular cheese and cider pairings, and more plans afoot to pair cider with food.

Please let us know if you can make it, and where you’re coming from so we can share lifts.

If you don’t let us know we may assume no interest so please do say!

The easiest place to do this is on the Facebook event, but you can also email events@hgnetwork.org.

Look forward to seeing you!

September’s Gathering will be back at Left Bank in Hereford, we’ll be checking in with our plastics campaign and welcoming Emma from the Marine Conservation Society with resources and ideas…

And don’t forget the start of the Make Do and Mend Saturdays at The Kindle – please spread the news far and wide – see you there…

 

Multigenerational Wisdom

Community, HGN news Leave a comment

Doing something… Doing something of worth…  Doing nothing… But doing it together.

Wednesday’s Gathering:  We heard stories of school kids and 90+ year olds, villagers’ doors being knocked on in icy winter evenings, communal meals… heartwarming ideas of multigenerational involvement that we can use in our organisations to get more people involved.
Thanks to Liz and Christine for being a torrent of ideas… and for living those ideas wih young baby Finn who was a brililant workshop member!
How can we become more intergenerational in what we do?  We are social beings. Part of this is doing things together.
We were asked…  “Who are the people you naturally click with?” Who’s your typical group member now?”  useful questions to get understanding who comes through our ‘doors’, and why.
Some local perspectives were:  we need to understand our own areas.  Looking back at our histories… Some areas have people who have lived there for a long time and have a specific shared history with the place.  This is a different shared history than those who have moved as adults for example and we should try and understand both perspectives when planning our events and activities.
All agreed: food is so important! Conversations ‘happen’ over food.  “Not just talking – activity together”
Recommendations for more on  the topic:

And an Organisation: The Beth Johnson Foundation

And if you’d like to quiz her more, you can find Christine in the Hopes of Longtown community shop – along with a heap of great magazines to peruse including Permaculture.

Next Month:  we’ll be checking back in on the Plastic Action Here campaign and hearing about Plastic Free Waterways.  More soon.

h.Energy is ON – Still time to be part of it if you email events@hgnetwork.org.  Looking for and exceptional UPCYCLED home in Hereford, or a One Planet Wales development close to the border…?!  And all the electirc vehicles you can think of!  Get in touch events@hgnetwork.org

Make Do and Mend!

HGN Events, HGN news Leave a comment

Bike Repair – Clothes Swap – Food and more.
Practical activities to save energy and money every month.

August starts with a Clothes Swap – great fun and a massive money saver, more details soon!

Do you have a ‘make do and mend’ skill you can share on any of the days?  Please get in touch with what you’re able to do and what you’d need from us – resources, fee etc.

Here’s how the CLOTHES SWAP will work on 18 August:

10-11am Drop off the clothes you don’t want & collect your tokens (max. 10 items per person).

11am-1pm Select the clothes you do want & exchange them for your tokens.

PLEASE NOTE – We will only accept clothes that are in good, clean condition. We will NOT accept shoes, socks, nightwear, babygros, underwear, hats, scarves, gloves.

The Clothes Swap normally has a good selection of children’s, men’s and women’s clothing, which will be sorted into separate sections.

Any queries about the Clothes Swap, do please contact Averil: averil@brightspacefoundation.org.uk.

Similar events are scheduled for 15 September and 13 October 2018 to celebrate h.Energy weekend!

To volunteer or find out more about these series of events, please contact Rebecca:
Email: events@hgnetwork.org

Facebook event for updates and to let us know what you’re bringing:

https://www.facebook.com/events/269974263550742/

Thanks to the Big Lottery funding for helping to make this possible and our lovely partners The Kindle Centre and Brightspace.

Our new HGN Administrator!

HGN news Leave a comment

We are very happy to announce that we have appointed Averil Clother to take on the administration of the Herefordshire Green Network.

Many of you will know Averil from her work over the past 7 years with the Brightspace Foundation (formerly Bulmer Foundation). She has often played an important role in supporting the Network over this time, and it feels fitting that she should become the safe pair of hands to take the Network forward into a new phase.

Averil messaged to say that she is delighted to be taking on this role with HGN and that she is looking forward to meeting & talking with Network members in the very near future!

Averil will be working alongside Rebecca Tully (our dynamic HGN Events Coordinator) and members of the HGN Steering Group.

Kate Gathercole who has been coordinating the Herefordshire Green Network since it began in early 2010 will be stepping down on the 1st August. She will continue to support the Network by joining the HGN Steering Group for the coming few months.

Averil’s role with the Network is made possible by funding from Awards for All. You will have the opportunity to meet Averil at the next HGN Members Meeting on Wednesday 19th September (5 – 6.30pm) – but she will also be around at HGN events in the meantime.

Welcome Averil!

FREE TRAINING – Fundraising and Recruiting Volunteers

Events, Funding, HGN Events, HGN news Leave a comment

Do you ever find yourself wishing you had a few more people to carry out the great ideas, or a pot of money to do them with?

A couple of ways coming up that we can building our skills and resources…

Small Funds for Small Groups – a locally-focused workshop here in Herefordshire

10am to 1pm Monday 2nd July

The Kindle Centre, Hereford

We’ll:

  • Look at an example completed small grant application
  • Hear from Herefordshire Community Foundation about grants available right now
  • Identify grants that could help us make great activities for our h.Energy weekend
  • Work on the first step of our own applications – how we describe what we do, and the impact of it, so that a funder will listen!

Tea, coffee and pastries at the start!

You should leave with at least part of a funding bid written – well worth a morning’s reflection.

Places are free but limited – please book here and we’ll confirm your place by 22nd June.

If you’re raring to go now, here is a fund with a deadline in two weeks – if you’d like support completing it please email events@hgnetwork.org

Recruiting and Retaining Volunteers

July will see some free, live, online sessions with our events and publicity coordinator Rebecca who is also an experienced volunteer management trainer. All welcome!

Three lunchtimes: 17th, 18th and 19th July covering: recruiting volunteers, keeping them on board and making sure it’s all legal too.

Sign up here

If you’re not sure what an interactive online workshop might look like, Rebecca will be able to explain after the funding workshop face-to-face!  The beginning of the online sessions will also include an orientation.

… join HGN!

HGN news Leave a comment

In light of changes afoot here at HGN we have a job we are advertising, and a role for someone to join the HGN team going forward from here…

so .. if you have energy, a broad & enthusiastic desire to support communities, a passion for sustainable living & carbon reduction, a yearning to work in a self directed way, and are looking for a Herefordshire based opportunity to develop your own skills and capacity, click below and open the HGN Administrator Post file to read the job description and find details of how to apply:

HGN Administrator

Applications should be submitted before 9am on the 30th June 2018.

With huge thanks to Awards for All for their support.

Sociocracy in Action

HGN Events, HGN news, Local Groups Leave a comment

Thanks to Roz Brown for a very interesting introduction to Sociocracy on Wednesday evening for our June HGN Gathering.

The ‘permaculture of organisations’ Sociocracy incorporates a dynamic and systems based approach to decision making… and we had a go at finding common ground between different themes and issues over the course of the evening – to illuminating effect!

Click here and open the Sociocracy Handout at the top of the list for lots more information.. about the pros and cons of using using consent vs consensus, the power of clear ‘Vision Mission Aims’, and the principle of circles: semi-autonomous, self-organising teams.

Thanks to all of you who came along… this was one of our Awards for All supported workshops for local groups – and we have more!

… on Monday 2nd July 10 – 1pm come for a Breakfast Funding Workshop – eat croissants, drink coffee and hear from Herefordshire Community Foundation about how they might be able to support you … and go away with a funding application at least half filled in…  what’s not to like!

More details here.

HGN Members Meeting

HGN Events, HGN news, Local Groups Leave a comment

Join our HGN Members Meeting on Wednesday 20th June 5 – 6.30pm, all welcome.

Come and share the activities of your own local environmental group, business or interest – and hear what others around the county are getting up to.

Click here to find the Agenda – its top of the list!

 

.. & stay on afterwards for a drink & a social with others from the Network before going into our Sociocracy Workshop at 7.30pm with local expert Roz Brown.

Signposting Data & Dates

HGN news Leave a comment

Thanks to all of you who have signed up to stay on our HGN Friday Review contact list. We’re so grateful that you want to stay! If you haven’t yet completed our GDPR request form, please click here. Over the coming weeks we will of course be deleting all of the names from our email list of those you who have not positively opted to stay.

 

If you are having sleepless nights about GDPR and your own groups email lists – & especially if you already use mailchimp – we have an easy step by step guide that will help you through the process of making your own lists GDPR compatible.

Email kate@hgnetwork.org if you would like to receive a copy of our guide.

 

In terms of upcoming dates, there is lots going on over the next few months. Check out the calendar on the HGN website What’s On page for details of moth breakfasts, solstice dances, how to keep a cow at home, discussion evenings, repair cafes, a visit to Westons with the Herefordshire Business Futures Forum, the Hereford Community Land Trust launch event, and a number of local group meetings. If you would like your own group meetings / events listed just send them along – or better still link us to your own google calendar. Contact us for more details.

 

Our next HGN Members Meeting is on Wednesday June 20th at 5.30pm at De Koffie Pot (Gwynne House). Bring along your own local news and hear updates from groups and organisations around the county. All welcome – just email kate@hgnetwork.org for an agenda nearer the time … and ideally stay on afterwards for a bit of a social and then join the Sociocracy Workshop with Roz Brown (details below).

… the May Bank Holiday is near!

Community, Events, HGN news Leave a comment

All around the county details are being finalised for the activities of the May Bank Holiday weekend.. in the north Spring Greens is looking lush in the late sunshine…

And here in the city arrangements for the launch of #PlasticActionHere in the h.Energy Village at the River Carnival are being accompanied by all sorts of other last minute developments for activities, information, food & music in the Village…

We are delighted that we will be joined by a number of artists, including Matilda Gomersall and The Onion Project:

The Onion Project looks at food, shelter and community as three human essentials. It focuses on the onion both as a source of food and its ability to dye textiles (shelter). The project aims to get people of the community together through making of clothing and the eating of food; two of the historically embedded social activities of every culture. Both of these activities, as well as providing essentials to daily life, are a space for conversation, learning and building understanding.
More information on facebook, & the photo attached is one that was made at a Kindle Centre workshop last week.
If you would like to join us in the h.Energy Village this is your last chance! Book or confirm your market stall or gazebo space by the end of this week to be part of the fun and festivities celebrating Hereford’s diverse communities and beautiful river.  
Contact events@hgnetwork.org for more information.
1 2 3 … 6