“I believe that the threat even greater than climate change is how powerless we feel in the face of it.” Clover Hogan, TED talk, What to do when climate change feels unstoppable.
Struggling with anxiety about climate change?
Keen to take positive action but uncertain where to start?
Join this workshop “Facing Climate Trauma: Finding our Power”. Connect with others in the local community, get new perspectives on our personal and collective challenges, and clarity on next steps we can take.
When: Monday 16th September 6:30 – 9:30 pm
Where: Maidenhead Community Centre, 4 Marlow Road SL6 7HY
How much: As a ‘pilot’ event tickets are discounted at £15. (*usually £35)
This is a very important 2024 General Election at a critical time for our country, our climate, and the planet. Not sure who to choose to vote for in Maidenhead?
We asked all Maidenhead candidates earlier last week for ‘climate statements’ on their ‘green credentials’ and how the intend to help Maidenhead at this critical time.
Four candidates replied. Their responses are posted below: please do read – we hope this, together with this ranking from Greenpeace here helps inform your Climate Vote choice!
Back again this year: Maidenhead’s successful Repair Café gives people’s broken or worn-out possessions a new lease of life! See people like yourself rebuilding, repairing and recycling things 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!
Drop in & Get Involved! Artspiration are running a fantastic series of children’s eco & sustainability art- workshops in our Nicholson Centre on Saturday 6th July. AND they have an art exhibition on 6th and 7th July next to the Cycle Hub in the Centre.
All workshops are focused on children (ages 5-11 years), and run by Arts Award students from Artspiration, our local school of drawing and painting for children and adults. All materials are sullied & sponsored by Artspiration.
Eco Action Hub Workshops Timing: From 2:00 – 2:45pm From 3:00 – 3:45pm From 4:00 – 4:45pm
Artspiration Exhibition & Prize Venue: Unit 73, Queen’s Walk, Nicolson Centre SL61LB
“It is lovely to see our young generation connecting with the important issues around our climate, our ecosystem and our town: We look forward to seeing wonderful art from students who will be doing more art on the day of their exhibition.”
So many conversations from so many parties & politicians wanting your vote:
What’s the stance of each party on the key climate issues?
What’s their actual track record on delivery on the climate?
What are they promising if you vote for them on July 4th?
What influence will they really have locally and globally?!
So many questions – do you need some help? This episode of Rare Earth (a great series we really recommend) can help you think through all these issues and help you decide where you may place your vote for the Planet!
What’s happening: Interested in refreshing and upcycling furniture? This workshop session is for you! It’s being run by one of our partners who are experts upcycling with style! Have a look at some of their work here: “RetroEnterior”
What will you learn: RetroEnterior will teach stenciling techniques using different medium, like brush, roller, sponge and how to create different looks and great patterns with stencil.
You probably know that Greenpeace currently has a ‘Climate Vote’ initiative to try to persuade people to vote in the General Election for the Climate?
Greenpeace say “Climate Voters commit to voting based on which candidate has the best proposals for addressing the climate crisis in a way that also prioritises fixing the economy, social inequality and injustice in the next election.”
“Climate Voters will spark a race to the top among the major political parties on climate and nature. They will maximise the number of MPs with stronger climate policies in the next parliament, and they’ll also hold the next government to account.”
“At the heart of our plan to do this is having face-to-face conversations up and down the country.” We’ll all make a difference in this General Election by using the Greenpeace model. Talk to your friends and neighbours about being a Climate Voter!
Dear friends, I’m writing to your group as one of the UK’s many smaller, grassroots organisations. It’s a beautiful day in Arne, Dorset where I’m currently filming Springwatch- the field of grass shoots and seedlings seems appropriate.
I applaud you- grassroots are the beating hearts of campaigning and activism. We may be small but we are mighty!
We are the mycelium under the floor of campaigning; tirelessly working away, growing, networking and barely seen- but without us the whole ecosystem of activism would simply not flourish. I thank you for the vital role that you play. A selfless, passionate and inspiring role.
We are light and agile, without the heavy governance and processes of boards and multiple layers of management. We can be responsive, reactive and blaze trails where other bulkier organisations can only slowly follow. What we lack in membership and funds we make up for in energy and effectiveness.
So here’s to the grassroots; the volunteers, the local activists, the common people, the ordinary folk MAKING CHANGE HAPPEN.
I thank you from the bottom of my heart and I hope to see as many of you as possible on Sat 22 June in London to demand our government Restore Nature Now. You can sign-up as a supporting organisation here and as individuals pledge to march here.
We know that amazing things can happen when we come together- when we unite en-masse to joyously, fervently, demand the changes we need to see from our elected leaders when it comes to biodiversity loss and climate breakdown.
One of our many volunteers read this book recently and was moved to write a review:
Everybody should read this book – it is full of solid scientific facts, and brutally honest, but somehow inspiring at the same time.
When Greta Thunberg first appeared on the scene, I didn’t read much about her. It took me a while to realise why. It was because she made me feel both envious and guilty! I knew that I would never have had the courage to speak out and call world leaders to account when I was just a teenager. I felt guilty because I felt I should be doing more than I was about the climate crisis.
She started by taking Fridays off school and sitting down outside the Swedish parliament. She handed out fliers with lots of information about the climate crisis, and posted her actions on social media. Once this went viral, hundreds of thousands of other school children have followed her example.
Greta Thunberg is absolutely remarkable and this small book was a revelation to me. Her first book, it is a collection of speeches she made to a range of audiences including the UN, the UK parliament, the US congress, the World Economic Forum and climate rallies. Not all of the people she was addressing were as concerned about the climate crisis as she was. Some were sceptical and others overtly hostile.
What I found amazing about this book was the stark clarity of her writing. She explains that having Asperger’s Syndrome causes her to think in black and white. She sees this as an advantage because as she says “there are no grey areas when it comes to survival”. What she finds inexplicable is the gap between the urgency of the situation, supported by science, and the lack of action on the part of politicians and businesses to tackle the problem.
Hub VOLUNTEER’s Book Review
Get this book from all good bookshops including one of our personal favorites: The Little Bookshop Cookham. [Greta Thunberg ISBN 978-0-141-99271-6]
