Keeping it out of landfill

Landfill is one of the worst solutions to waste. Burying resources in the ground, impacting on landscapes, releasing methane over long time frames and wasting valuable resources... Without a doubt, the worst thing in all of this is when perfectly usable items end up in landfill. If something is valuable, then it’s worth the effort to sell through local papers or ebay, but it’s the low-value items that it can be more tempting to throw away.

How can we avoid this?

If you have furniture to get rid of, Dursley Lyons have a weekly sale, raising money for good causes...The Furniture Sales  normally take place at the Lions Store in May Lane, Dursley GL11 4JH, 08.30-11.30  every Saturday. If you have items to donate for a Furniture sale ring 01453 544471.

Charity shops are an obvious solution to disposing of still usable things, and are always glad of donations, so anything more portable can simply be dropped off with them. You get all the warm fuzzy feelings of helping a good cause, plus the feel-good of keeping items in use.

Stroud District has a Freegle -  A great place to give away unwanted things. Freegle is especially good if you have trouble moving things around – people simply come to you and take away the stuff you didn’t want, so for bulky items, this can be especially good. Get involved with freegle and you might pick up a few handy things you wanted, as well.

Last on today’s list, but by no means least, we have a jumble sale tomorrow (Saturday) 2-3.30 at the Maypole Hall in Stroud.

Stroud Five Valleys walk

September is upon us and that means the 5 Valleys Walk – an epic trek around Stroud raising funds for the charity Meningitis Now. 

The walk is in sections, so if you don’t feel equal to the whole 21 miles, why not pick a bit you can do, and join in for that? As one section goes down the cycle path between Stroud and Nailsworth, it’s viable to do that stretch if you need predictable surfaces and wheels.

This year, Young Green James Colvin (12) will be taking part in the walk, and he’s fundraising, so if you’d like to be supportive without venturing out, he would very much appreciate your sponsorship. https://www.justgiving.com/tigerfish/

Stroud Valleys Project

Stroud Valleys Project has some fantastic events coming up...

Badger Watches

Friday 11 July & Thursday 7^th August - 7pm-9.30pm

During this enchanting event you will see local badgers being fed in the daylight and learn about them with expert Tony Dean.  Children are welcome when accompanied by an adult but they must be absolutely silent while we are at the sett.

During the evening we will be crossing three stiles. Unfortunately, this means the event is not suitable for wheelchair users or for people with serious mobility problems

Please wear suitable footwear   and bring some warm clothing and some rainwear, if necessary. We will also be sitting on the grass so please bring something to sit on too.

Cost: £4/adult, £3/child (under 16) - Booking is essential as places will be limited.

To book a place on any of these interesting events please call us at the Stroud Valleys Project office on 01453 753358

Glow-worm Walk & Talk

Friday 11^th July & Friday 18^th July 7.30pm - 10.30pm -

Denise Gibbons, a local insect enthusiast, will give an illustrated talk on the fascinating lives of glow-worms and fireflies, followed by a walk at nightfall to see our glowing female insects in their natural habitat.  Refreshments will be served after the talk.

The walk will be in the dark along uneven tarmac paths so please bring a torch and wear suitable footwear. Please bring some warm clothing and rainwear if necessary. Unfortunately, this walk is not suitable for children under five.

Cost: £3/adult, £2/child (under 16) – Booking is essential as places will be limited.

Badger Watches

Friday 11 July & Thursday 7^th August - 7pm-9.30pm

During this enchanting event you will see local badgers being fed in the daylight and learn about them with expert Tony Dean.  Children are welcome when accompanied by an adult but they must be absolutely silent while we are at the sett.

During the evening we will be crossing three stiles. Unfortunately, this means the event is not suitable for wheelchair users or for people with serious mobility problems

Please wear suitable footwear   and bring some warm clothing and some rainwear, if necessary. We will also be sitting on the grass so please bring something to sit on too.

Cost: £4/adult, £3/child (under 16) - Booking is essential as places will be limited.

To book a place on any of these interesting events please call us at the Stroud Valleys Project office on 01453 753358

You can also support SVP by buying a raffle ticket...

By purchasing a ticket (or two) your contribution will help us to achieve even more in 2014 and will enable us carry on our important work in the Stroud Valleys - from improving the local environment to helping local nature and supporting local people. You can win, a bottle of Heidsieck Champagne which has been kindly donated by a volunteer, a selection of Café Direct goods worth £32 donated by Ecotricity and tickets donated by Gifford’s Circus for two adults and two children worth £40. Simply call in to the shop next time you’re passing, buy some tickets and help support our vital work.

Of course, buying more raffle tickets could mean the chance of even more prizes for you to win and we do have more prizes to tempt you.These prizes have also been generously donated by local friends of Stroud Valleys Projects:

Sunshine Health Shop has donated an exotic cordial made by local Stroud producer Sam Angelo – these cordials are very popular in the Sunshine shop, Winstone’s Ice Cream our famous local ice cream making family are offering a voucher, Stroud Brewery are donating one of their coveted hoodies worth £25, Stroud Bookshop our only independent bookshop has donated a book voucher, Bottle Green are also offering a prize of a selection of their award-winning cordials , sparkling presses and still drinks valued at over £20, and Vue Cinemas in Stroud have donated two cinema tickets worth £15.

The draw takes place on 21^st July

Stroud Charity bike ride

 Stroud Valleys Project www.stroudvalleysproject.org describe themselves as "an environmental charity working to make the Stroud valleys a better, healthier place for present and future generations." These are aims the Green Party is keen to support, but as a charity, SVP have no particular connections with us. If you have an event, cause or project that fits with Green policy, we will always be delighted to give you our support in any way we can.

An easy way to help

Here’s a way you can make a positive difference without needing to do much or spend much!

If you save your used stamps – cut them off envelopes with a small paper border around them, you can give them to the RSPCA in Stroud and they can raise money from this.

Stamp collectors in other countries will pay to buy bags of stamps from the UK, and a number of charities use this as a way of fundraising.

You can donate your used stamps at 30 Lansdown Road, Stroud, GL5 1BG Tel: 01453 756621

For more information about the RSPCA in Stroud and the Cotswolds, visit https://www.facebook.com/#!/RSPCASouthCotswolds?fref=ts

The Spirit of Christmas

This new report by Green MEP Keith Taylor shows a 60% rise in food bank use and thousands facing a hungry Christmas: http://ow.ly/rNhZ5 

The report focuses on the South East, an area traditionally a lot better off than much of the country. It is a shocking thing that in an affluent nation like ours, anyone should be hungry, but hunger is on the rise. Malnutrition is a real risk for people who regularly miss meals, or go more than five days without eating, with long term health implications for people who aren’t eating properly. If you’ve never done that, you might take a moment to try and imagine what it’s like not to be able to afford to eat properly. Weight is no indicator, either. A person eating a badly balanced diet, can be both obese and suffering malnutrition. Junk food with lots of calories but little nutritional value, is often a cheap option.

The Charity The Trussell Trust runs a number of foodbanks in Stroud district – typically open for a few hours several days a week, they are giving food to some of the most desperate people in the district. Dursley Tabernacle, Douglas Morley Hall in Stonehouse, Wotton Baptist Church and The Cross at Parliament Street, Stroud, all host foodbanks. http://strouddistrict.foodbank.org.uk/

Of course you have to be able to get there. We have a lot of smaller villages across the district, many of which do not get much of a bus service. The person who cannot afford food probably also can’t afford the cost of petrol, or a bus ticket even assuming a bus is available. We might imagine the countryside as a place for the wealthy, but many of our villages also have small pockets of council housing, and older people in houses bought before rural property prices inflated so outrageously. We have a small population of people living on narrowboats as well. The tendency of foodbanks to be in small towns, may hide the extent of rural poverty and the people who cannot access that help.

The rise in foodbanks marks the failure of our modern politics and culture. They are proof of a corrupt system that punishes the poor for being poor. The government may talk of ‘recovery’ but Shelter (http://www.shelter.org.uk/) are telling us there will be some 80,000 homeless children in the UK this Christmas. And how many hungry people? This is not recovery, this is the destruction of lives, and an assault on civilization.

 

St Nicholas was a saint famous for giving to others. This Christmas, charity at home is more critical, more needed than it’s been since the Victorian era. You can bet the bankers who wrecked our economy, and the politicians who dish out the austerity measures will not be going hungry on Christmas day, or any other day. Plenty of other people will. It’s not acceptable.