More and more people wish to get involved in green activities, want to take concrete actions against climate change and biodiversity extinction, but don't know who to ask to or where to start, well here is a little guide if you wish to make a difference in the Royal Borough. Of course ou can get involved and volunteer for Filling Good, see here, but there are also a lot of other groups. It is really amazing to see how much comes from the citizens in our area, come and join to make a difference!
1. RBWM Climate Emergency Coalition
This is where your journey can start! Brilliantly led by Sarah Bowden, who started the Youth4Strikes in Maidenhead in March 2019 with her lovely daughter Orlagh, and pushed successfully for the council to declare a Climate Emergency, this group is bringing all the others together in one voice. It is acting on a political level with the council to reduce its carbon emissions to 0 ASAP. So if you have any action you wish to get done, if you wish to
organize a protest, this is great place to propose idea and find the right people to help. Here the Facebook page.
2. Wild Maidenhead
Not only we release too much Greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, but we officially entered in the 6th mass extinction. This is threatening us as much as the climate change, on top of being completely emotionally devastating that so much of the biosphere is dying. Wild Maidenhead is a great charity full of very competent and inspiring people (anyone who has listened to Fiona speak about the 7 different silks that spiders produce would agree!), who developed a plan to protect the biodiversity locally. They organize great talks, tree planting events and more, you can be a member and attend to all of their events for only £5 a year. The Facebook group is lovely as locals post some pictures and videos of the local wildlife.
3. Plastic free Maidenhead
Surfers against Sewage have their feet in Maidenhead! Lisa Walden is passionate about the 5Rs, and with all the members of the group, they are attending to fairs to encourage people to cut down their plastic consumption, hold different talks and evening, have litter picking events, and encourage local businesses to take action towards reducing their plastic consumption. And it works : they deliver different awards during the years to the ones taking the right steps. You can find their Facebook page here.
4. OurCommunityEnterprise
You have a great sustainable project and look for funding? Search no more and contact OurCommunityEntreprise! They are funded by the council to help you raise funds. Michael Beaven and Maria Evans helped us a lot while setting up Filling Good, and we can only recommend them professionally and personnally.
5. Maidenenergy
Using big community building roofs to put solar panels on them, and hence providing cheap energy for school, while saving CO2 emissions and fairly rewarding investors, this is what Maidenergy is doing! This great cooperative is also run by Michael Beaven and his crew - you can find all the necessary information here, especially if you wish to invest in green and clean energy rather than having your money on your current account funding fossil fuels without it wanting to! (which reminds me I have to read another article on this....)
6. WildCookham
Wildcookham is a community group focused on discovering, celebrating and supporting biodiversity in Cookham, Berkshire, UK. They care about our local wildlife, sharing their passion and knowledge in a practical and engaging way. As well as organising walks and talks, they have a wide range of projects including surveys, managing our own local reserve, working with the National Trust to increase biodiversity on our local Commons and a wild gardens awards scheme which now boasts 100 gardens involved after just two years.
7. CESA
In their own words : We are am Ascot, the Sunnings and surrounding area working to raise awareness on environmental issues, promote sustainable living and create campaigns to mitigate and adapt the effects of climate change. We started about six months ago and we’ve already run a small survey on community attitudes to climate change, been out on local high streets encouraging our neighbours to move to renewable energy through the Big Clean Switch and ran successful stalls at a Farmers Market and at a local school promoting renewable energy.
Enabling people locally to respond to the climate and environmental emergency, we’ve also lobbied our local parish council and the Borough on taking action to protect our communities, producing a robust report criticising the climate policy in the Borough’s plans to regenerate Ascot and the area. At the moment we’re about to start our 2020 campaigns. We’ll continue with our lobbying, our campaign on renewable energy and we’ve also started discussions with a local school on solar panels, investigating sites in the area for a community orchard, examining the impact of air quality on the health of local residents, particularly, children. In the next three months we also plan to raise awareness of ‘diet and climate change’ because, of course, this month is Veganuary.
We’d be keen to hear from like minded people who want to join our group, it’s fun and worthwhile. You can find us on Facebook
8. Maidenhead matters
Some Maidenions coming together for some litter picking activities and more! Here the
facebook page
9. Berks Bucks and Oxon Wildlife Trust (BBOWT)
The BBOWT covers 3 counties as the name suggests, but they are developing a living landscape project covering almost all of RBWM.
The webpage explains who they are and what they do. They are always happy to receive offers of voluntary help either for the nature reserve work or on specific aspects of the work we do in the office. They have some nature reserves in RBWM, and their Berkshire headquarters is in Maidenhead (the overall HQ is Oxford).
10. Clean Conscience
Combining waste reduction, helping developing countries and giving a purpose to people with disabilities? A very complex task solved brilliantly by Gwen Powell & team . Clean Conscience, a charity based in Holyport, repurposes half used toiletries from hotels and more... here a great video to understand what they do and contact them!
11. Extinction Rebellion Chilterns Group
A lot of wrong ideas and fake information are circulating about XR, and I would personally recommend visiting one of their Induction Meeting or an Heading to Extinction Meeting to understand what it is all about. They need volunteers in a very broad spectrum, and are a very warm and lovely bunch of people. Highly recommended as you will understand about the science around climate change, and be welcomed whoever you are, not judged, not blamed. They are also very reactive forum if you need any help...
Their Facebook page is here
12. Monday evening on Marlow FM, 19:00 to 21:00 : the Eco Show with Dave Hampton
Like a nice chat along the Thames, of course concerning the environment, always with good tunes, this program is interviewing mostly local people active in the environment and informing about the local environmental activities. Dave Hampton, who you can contact https://www.facebook., is the presenter, and if you wish to listen to the replay, head to the Marlow FM page!
Don't hesitate to contact me nelly@fillinggood.co.uk if you know about another green local group you would wish to be mentionned in this post!
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