“Eco Action Question Time with Joshua Reynolds MP”

Come and join the conversation in the Hub on Saturday 12th October from 11:00 – 12:30.

Our new MP Joshua Reynolds will be in the Hub to talk with you and take questions on his plans for eco actions for Maidenhead, for the country and for how he and the Liberals may best influence the green economy. And to get his support!!

🌍🌱Greenpeace (1), The Climate Coalition and Eco Action, are organizing a National Day of Action. Our shared goal is to ensure every MP engages with you as Climate Voters. We hope you’ll be there. It’s inspiring when communities come together to make a difference! 🌍🌱

(1) https://www.greenpeace.org.uk/take-action/meet-your-mp

Repair Cafe – Saturday 12th October

The Repair Café gives people’s broken or worn-out possessions a new lease of life! See people like yourself rebuilding, repairing and recycling cherished items that might otherwise be thrown away. Open again in our ECO-Action Hub.

Please register here if you wish to bring something for repair to reserve your time-slot: Or feel free to email the Repair Café team on repair.maidenhead@gmail.com.

We open from 10:00 to 15:00. Repair skills available at this next event include:
– small electrical items (excludes microwaves and large items)
– laptops/computers, phone repairs (except screen repairs)
– IT assistance(e.g. anti-virus, software updates)
– glass repairs, book binding, fixing picture frames
– basic woodwork, small furniture items
– sewing and mending, textiles repairs

We aim to fix anything, our volunteers love to solve problems!

Look out for our future dates in 2024!

SOLAR PANELS – ARE THEY FOR YOU?

Come to our SOLAR PANELS QUESTION TIME on Saturday October 19th 2024 

WHY COME?

This is your chance to hear our expert panel answer your questions about solar panels. The panel includes two installers, and two experienced solar panel owners;

  • Real life examples of installing PV/Solar panels to generate electricity
  • How to get the best out of your existing system: tips & experiences
  • Using battery storage with PV/Solar & taking advantage of off-peak tariffs
  • All presented with real life figures, savings & tips by users and experts!.

WHEN AND WHERE:

  • SATURDAY 19th OCTOBER from 1100 to 1230
  • In the ECO Action Hub in the Nicholson Centre
  • ECO Action Cake & Coffee also being served!

WANT TO ASK A QUESTION: Want to ask a question in advance? Please click this link

We look forward to seeing you there for what we hope will be a very interesting and interactive ‘question-time’ conversation !

THIS WEEK: Repair Cafe – Saturday 14th September

The Repair Café gives people’s broken or worn-out possessions a new lease of life! See people like yourself rebuilding, repairing and recycling cherished items that might otherwise be thrown away. Open again in our ECO-Action Hub.

Please register here if you wish to bring something for repair to reserve your time-slot: Or feel free to email the Repair Café team on repair.maidenhead@gmail.com.

We open from 10:00 to 15:00. Repair skills available at this next event include:
– small electrical items (excludes microwaves and large items)
– laptops/computers, phone repairs (except screen repairs)
– IT assistance(e.g. anti-virus, software updates)
– glass repairs, book binding, fixing picture frames
– basic woodwork, small furniture items
– sewing and mending, textiles repairs

We aim to fix anything, our volunteers love to solve problems!

Look out for our future dates in 2024!

WE NEED YOU TO HELP US GET OUR ECO CAFE READY!

We’re building our ECO Cafe in the ECO Action Hub ‘now’: We’re opening very soon. The coffee’s going to be great and the cakes & snacks are fantastic!

HOLD THE PAGE: We’ve had some great response to this post – we might have someone working with us soon … we’ll let you know when you can come and have the first coffee!!

Due to illness, we URGENTLY need someone to help prepare for and set up our new café. This would suit someone who is organised and able to investigate things.

This is a few days PAID work starting immediately. The work can be done mostly at home.

If you’ve an interest in climate & the environment AND COFFEE, we’d love to talk to you. Come into the Hub, reach out to us here, or come to one of our events and see us!

SOLAR PANELS – ARE THEY FOR YOU?

Come to our SOLAR PANELS QUESTION TIME on Saturday October 19th 2024 

WHY COME?

This is your chance to hear our expert panel answer your questions about solar panels. The panel includes two installers, and two experienced solar panel owners;

  • Real life examples of installing PV/Solar panels to generate electricity
  • How to get the best out of your existing system: tips & experiences
  • Using battery storage with PV/Solar & taking advantage of off-peak tariffs
  • All presented with real life figures, savings & tips by users and experts!.

WHEN AND WHERE:

  • SATURDAY 19th OCTOBER from 1100 to 1230
  • In the ECO Action Hub in the Nicholson Centre
  • ECO Action Cake & Coffee also being served!

WANT TO ASK A QUESTION: Want to ask a question in advance? Please click this link

We look forward to seeing you there for what we hope will be a very interesting and interactive ‘question-time’ conversation !

MAKE YOUR JOURNEY PART OF THE HOLIDAY!

One of our ECO Action Team has recently returned from a trip from the UK to Denmark by train! An experienced rail traveller, they prefer trains to planes because they are committed to reducing their carbon footprint. and they enjoy the journey as part of the holiday!

Have a read of their experiences in the document below. It might give you idea and motivation to change the way you travel – and replace the plane with the train!


Our Journey

For our 2024 holiday we wanted to visit family in Denmark. The first thing we did was consult the excellent ‘man at seat 61’ (www.seat61.com) for various sustainable options on how to get to Denmark. Rather than an early start for the Eurostar we decided to try the overnight Stena ferry from Harwich. We understand that Stena is pretty good on the sustainable front.

 

Most of our Danish family live in Aarhus, so that was our first destination. They wanted to take us to their summer house on the tiny island of Stryno. After that we would want a train to Copenhagen to see more relations and have two days exploring that city. Then returning via Hamburg and the Eurostar from Brussels.

Next we chose somewhere to stop enroute to explore a new place. Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Hanover or  Hamburg? And on the way back? Hamburg looked to be so interesting we decided to stop there on both journeys including a day excursion to Stade, about 1 hour from Hamburg, as it looked stunning with 17th century houses built during the prosperous Hanseatic period.

So, how did we do and what was it like?

The Ferry: It was a comfortable crossing with helpful staff and we had a nice cabin with a free mini-bar! I was able to watch the Wimbledon Ladies Doubles on the TV which pleased me greatly. We had a good breakfast and arrived in the Netherlands on time at 8am. Changing trains in Amsterdam we had time for a coffee overlooking the canal and cyclists (own cycle lane!).

Hamburg: an impressive train station with a welcoming committee sitting on the 1st floor balcony! Our family had come to meet us!

A large city but very attractive, built on the river Elbe with a buzzing port area (great to walk along and have a cruise around it which included the old renovated warehouse area). 

They have a newish, spectacular Elbphilharmonie building dominating the port area.

Our relations had enthused about Hamburg’s Miniature Wonderland so on our return trip we visited and discovered that it is similar to our local Bekonscot but indoors and enormous! It was stunning and we spent several hours looking at places we have visited and the miniature interpretation of them. 

There was also a Greenpeace boat approaching a Russian ship near the Antarctic – which ticked the box for us! Also in Hamburg I was very pleased to find an exhibition of the famous photographer Henri Cartier–Bresson whom I admire.

Stade: even better than expected!

Trains: all worked as expected. The station platform displays were helpful to inform where to board when you have seat reservations.

The scenery isn’t as spectacular as other train journeys we’ve done such as through the Alps, but our return train from Copenhagen to Hamburg goes over a very long bridge between Jutland and Funen.

Next year we are thinking about travelling to Croatia for two weeks, by train of course!


INTERESTED IN MARKETING? HELP US BE EVEN MORE SUCCESSFUL!

We’ve been pushing marketing outreach on social-media, email-newsletter and our website for months. Our marketing team work well – but now we need someone to help us grow more: social / digital marketing, newsletters and all other communications!.

We’re looking for someone with ‘any’ level of marketing skills to join our volunteer team. Could that be you?

If you’ve an interest in climate & the environment, want to ‘do something that makes a difference’ and have even some marketing skills & capability we’d love to talk to you. Come into the Hub, reach out to us here, or come to one of our events and see us!

HELP US BE EVEN MORE SUCCESSFUL WITH EVENTS!

We’ve been busy building & running events for months. Our teams work well – but now we need someone to be our event ‘focal point’ to ‘co-ordinate’ our events, our teams, our partner-events and just ‘pull it all together’.

We’re NOT looking for someone to run events (unless you’d like to do that too): We’re definitely looking for a (volunteer) coordinator. Could that be you?

If you’ve an interest in climate & the environment, want to ‘do something that makes a difference’ and have even some organisational capability we’d love to talk to you. Come into the Hub, reach out to us here, or come to one of our events and see us!

CLOTHES-SWAP: SWAP DON’T SHOP!

£30 million worth of clothes sit unworn in the UK’s wardrobes* so why not swap them? We are working with “Saf’s Swap Shop”, a new clothing swap event launching in our Hub with the main Swap on 28th September!

EVERY swap of an unwanted piece of clothing extends it’s lifecycle and reduce it’s carbon footprint! Fashion enthusiasts can exchange up to 10 unwanted items for preloved clothes, accessories and shoes for less than £1 per item!

Shop other people’s wardrobes and help reduce excess clothing waste. You’re not just swapping but upgrading clothes from ones you don’t wear to ones you will!

How it works!

Bring up to 10 items of clothing, accessories and shoes to swap. Saf’s Swap Shop accepts all shapes, styles and sizes provided they are freshly cleaned and in good condition.

Bring your clothes in to the Hub on the “drop-off” dates, and come to the Swap on Saturday 28th from 13:00 – 16:00. Go home with a new wardrobe of clothes … !

Once dropped off, items are exchanged for relevant tokens. To maintain fairness, there’s a tiered token system: bronze, silver and gold. Items are categorised based on the type, brand, RRP and condition. Swappers receive tokens to exchange for preloved items.

This first event is adult-only. Children’s clothes swaps will take place at future events.

Drop off Dates & Times

  • Sunday 22nd September between 11am – 2pm
  • Thursday 26th September between 11am – 2pm
  • Saturday 28th September between 11am -12pm 

Clothes Swap Date & Time:

  • Saturday 28th September between 13:00 – 16:00

Tickets: Tickets to Saf’s Swap Shop are £8 (plus booking fee) per person with 20% of each ticket sale donated to the ECO Action Hub. Purchase tickets via Eventbrite: Click Here