We are excited to announce the Uttlesford Big Green Festival, running 6 to 14 June, in collaboration with Uttlesford District Council.
Help us celebrate environmental and sustainability action across Uttlesford and showcase your community action group or project – host an activity, run a stall at a local fair, offer a talk or demo.
If you would like to discuss how your project or group could contribute to our week-long festival programme, please email climatechange@uttlesford.gov.uk
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Add or update your group or project listing on the Sustainable Uttlesford website. Showcase your work and keep it updated with your latest progress. Help people find your work, and find nearby sustainable and environmental projects.
The project directory lets you explore and benefit from all the current and historic work done by communities in the district.
Learn what works and what doesn’t, and get a significant head start for any similar projects a group might undertake, and even find your next collaboration.
► Add or update your listing
The new website is a resource for everyone in the district to find information, expertise and groups that care about our planet and want to protect it.
Explore local groups and projects, learn more with events and meetings, and find grants and other funding sources for your community project.
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Spring members event on river restoration – Thursday 23 April, 6pm to 9pm. This event will be hosted by Newport River Group. Further details and booking information to follow in the new year.
If you are planning any events and want some extra support in publicising these, please share to the Sustainable Uttlesford Facebook page and email the details to info@sustainable-uttlesford.org.uk
Professor Jules Pretty, Chair of the Essex Climate Action Commission and Emeritus Professor of Environment and Society at the University of Essex, has launched a YouTube channel of his stories.
Some of these are ancient tales retold, others are explanations as to the benefits of collective action. All are suitable for a wide audience interested in climate change, collective action and the wonderful art of storytelling.
The channel contains short films of 5 to 10 minutes each which pick up on a wide range of issues relating to story, climate and nature.
► Story for Climate and Nature Recovery – YouTube
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LicheN is a new mobile app developed by the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology which uses lichens to measure the effects of nitrogen pollution.
It focuses on lichens that are sensitive to different levels of nitrogen compounds in the air that are easy to identify without microscopes.
All records submitted through the app will also be stored via iRecord.
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Essex County Council offers a discount on compost bins, including a buy-one-get-one-half-price deal on certain items. You can still compost as we move into winter, but it will be slightly slower.
The offer also includes bokashi bins which could be a great way to compost even more food, especially over Christmas.
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The best time to plant trees is from November to March.
Claim your community tree pack from The Conservation Volunteers and get planting in your parish. Choose a pack of 50 trees to plant for pollinators, boost wildlife, create a hedgerow or a mini woodland.
The Woodland Trust also has free tree packs for schools, local authorities and not-for-profit community groups. Apply before the end of January to choose your March planting pack of between 15 and 420 trees.
National Highways can provide 2,500 to 50,000 tree whips for charities, community groups, schools, landowners farmers and others who can plant on land near to the National Highways network – in Uttlesford, the M11, A120 and A11.
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Farmers and landowners on the East Anglian Claylands can claim 90% of the costs and get free support from the Woodland Trust to create new woodland and hedgerows.
Trees help boost soil health and protect crops and livestock from weather extremes, as well as provide vital habitat for rare turtle doves, bats and pollinators.
Local groups can register interest in the Branching Out Fund to help community groups, schools, not-for-profits, residents associations, Tree Warden Networks, charities and many more plant trees for public benefit. Grants available from for £250 to £2,500.
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The Arboricultural Association has a wide range of advice and resources to help people get the best of trees in their garden – whether new or veteran, from planting to pruning and pests.
Find these grants and many others on the Sustainable Uttlesford website.
Anglian Water’s Thriving Communities Fund – grants of between £10,000 and £100,000 to support projects across the Anglian Water region.
Action with Rural Communities in England – village halls can apply for small grants to support improvements. The Defra-funded scheme will remain open until available funding is fully allocated.
CLA Charitable Trust – charities, not-for-profit organisations and schools can apply for grants of up to £5,000 to support projects that help disabled or disadvantaged children and young people connect with nature and the countryside.
King Charles III Charitable Fund – small grants of up to £3,000 per year, for up to three years. The programme is dedicated to supporting non-profit organisations that make a meaningful difference in key areas such as social inclusion, health and wellbeing, education, environment, countryside, and heritage and conservation.
The NINEVEH Charitable Trust – supports a broad range of projects and activities of benefit to the public, with an emphasis on promoting a better understanding of the countryside.
We were thrilled to welcome 40+ members and visitors to a packed-out event to learn what happens to our recycling and waste in Uttlesford.
Ben Brown and Becky Tomkins shared Uttlesford District Council’s plans and projects to help residents recycle more, particularly food waste, and news of how a new waste-to-energy plant now means that none of Uttlesford’s waste ends up in landfill.
Everyone came with plenty of questions for a rich discussion, and left feeling energised and well informed.
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