Category: HGN news

Getting Funds… and People

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

…And how to involve people…

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.

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.

Congratulations to Kington

HGN news, Local Groups Leave a comment

Kington’s KLEEN have achieved recognition across the county and won a Certificate!

If you are local to Kington you may have noticed the big banner that has been up on the fence of the Burton opposite the Primary School – or for those of us at more of a distance the double page article in the Hereford Times about the Community Awards.

It is excellent to see that KLEEN has been recognised as doing significant work for the community in the Environmental section of the Herefordshire Community Awards. The group was presented with a framed certificate by the Lord Lieutenant of Herefordshire during a ceremony at the Hereford Town Hall. KLEEN Treasurer Ian MacLeod and Secretary Rob MacCurrach attended as well Gordon and Jill Coppock.

This is useful recognition of all our combined work in the county – and to all of those involved with KLEEN over the years huge congratulations!

(& thanks to the photographer on the evening James Maggs for the use of the group photo).

Plastic Free Action!

Events, HGN news, Plastics Leave a comment

Last week 8 members of HGN met to discuss how to take forwards actions from our Gathering that took place in February. We agreed a 3 pronged approach to some local plastic action:

 

1 The Black Stuff

We will research & develop a campaign across Herefordshire and Worcestershire to address the lack of infrastructure to recycle black plastic locally. This would be a positive campaign – and would facilitate us working with Transition West Midlands / Worcestershire Transition groups. It would also address a big issue for a rural county where every grower has a garden shed full of black plastic pots…

 

2. Single-use plastic action… 

Targeting unnecessary single use plastic, we will launch a campaign over the weekend of Hereford River Carnival and Spring Greens (5th – 6th May).

Our actions will include a Great Paper Bag Giveaway. Thanks to possible local sponsorship (tbc) we will buy FSC paper-bags – large ones with handles to give away at the River Carnival and small vegetable size bags to put out in supermarkets over the coming weeks. We will develop a logo, some wording and a rubber stamp so that the bags can be stamped with a message about what we are doing and why…

The launch of the campaign at the Hereford River Carnival will include:

  • A high profile pre-Carnival river & site clean-up team
  • Recycling Stations on site on the day of the carnival
  • A dream green team who can go around the site giving away paper bags and talking to stall holders about alternatives to plastics
  • A stall in the h.Energy Village – where we will be rubber stamping paperbags / giving away the bags / having conversations with the public

All of this will be supported by an array of arts activities happening in the h.Energy Village, including plastic weaving and sculptures (Fun Palace), plastic placards (New Leaf), and plastic planting (Hellens)

We will follow the launch event with engagement with local supermarkets and shops, including paperbag give-ways on a regular basis.

 

3. Resources

We will support all this activity by making sure that we have accessible online information about all aspects of plastic recycling, including:

  • Myth Busters – a guide to our current local recycling options
  • How to deal with compostable plastics & PLA
  • Our existing #PlasticFreeHere listing of ideas and inspiration for local and personal action: www.hgnetwork.org/plastic-free-here

 

If any of you would like to get involved with any of this activity, please get in touch…

We need lots of volunteers to take up the various roles described above and to engage the 10,000+ visitors who will make their way through Hereford River Carnival on the 5th May. We will also need volunteers to take our message to Spring Greens.

Ideas, support, action is welcome! Message contact@hgnetwork.org

West Midlands Transition Network

HGN news, Local Groups Leave a comment
The West Midlands Transition network now has a Facebook page to enable us to share events, ideas and to jointly promote transition across the region. This is a members group but can be seen by the general public.
If you do such things and have your own Facebook account… please go to your Facebook page and search for The West Midlands Transition network. When you get to the page, click on “more” and ask to join…

https://www.facebook.com/groups/244102706132964/

Members Meeting on Wednesday

Events, HGN news, Local Groups Leave a comment

Just a quick reminder that our Herefordshire Green Network Member’s Meeting is on Wednesday this week, 21st March 2018, from 5 – 6.30pm at Left Bank Village, Hereford.

Please check here for the agenda.

Everyone is welcome – and if you could email to let us know whether you plan to attend or not that would be very helpful for numbers. Please email kate@hgnetwork.org

Looking forward to seeing you!

Members Get Together

Events, HGN news, Local Groups Leave a comment

A reminder that our next HGN Members Meeting is on Wednesday 21st March from 5pm – 6.30pm, immediately before the HGN Gathering (Ecological Footprinting with Pete Linnell, 7.30 – 9pm). We will be meeting as usual in Hereford at Left Bank Village.

Please come along to let us know what you or your local group are getting up to – and to find out what others around the county are planning for the spring…

If you have any items for discussion at this meeting please email to add them to the agenda.

… And please also come along for an opportunity to meet our rather wonderful new HGN Events Coordinator … more on that soon!

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