11am – 2pm, Oakington Pavilion

All details including how to book an item for repairing (not essential but recommended) are on this page.

On 14^th January, we had a workshop discussion (fuelled by some party food!) to brainstorm New Year’s Resolutions which would be good for the planet.

We sorted them into the categories: Individual, Household, Village/Community, and (Inter)National, before thinking a bit about what could hold us back on implementing them.

Finally we re-sorted them arranged least to most effort and least to most impact – see if you agree!

Low effort but low impact

• Change buying habits for clothes
• Get work to recycle properly
• Use a kindle
• Eat more local food
• Put only the amount of water in the kettle I need to boil
• Consider food boxes from local suppliers to replace supermarket food
• Try to buy food with less packaging
• Make my school get multiple bins
• Use the village shop more – we need it

Low effort but high impact – the sweet spot!

• Continue with the teaching of philosophy which promotes the wisdom of living sustainably
• Use green products
• Reduce packaging from food, return junk mail, refuse receipts
• Wear jumpers at home
• Reduce snack plastic waste
• Be aware of AI and its carbon footprint impact
• Never to buy new clothes (this is an easy one)
• Combined with my resolution for decluttering to buy from charity shops and to recycle more of my clothes, books and tools
• Support national eco organisations (avoid multinational)
• Consider source of ingredients
• Allocate garden areas for sowing wild flowers

High effort but high impact

• Avoid UPF (ultra processed foods) – bad for the planet
• Hold a swish event
• Install a heat pump
• Avoid packaging with mixed paper and plastic
• Find a web browser that doesn’t give an AI summary
• Move money to a more sustainable bank
• Stop Millen Homes – make sure they do plant 200 trees
• Carry out nature recovery tasks: pollinator counts, river water tests
• Get lots of people involved in pollinator counting
• Stop culling seals
• Persuade household to turn thermostat down
• Get a nature reserve for Oakington & Westwick
• Meet with mp again to say more needs to be done for the environment
• Eat more vegan food

High effort but low impact – do other things first

• Don’t eat anything after supper – it’s often junk food
• Watch live TV (lower emissions)

Thinking about what we can do as a community, we also spent some time making plans for SOW for 2026.

“People say think globally, act locally. Well, if you think globally, it is overwhelming and you do not have enough energy left to act locally. Just act locally and see what a difference you can make. It starts with trying to live a more sustainable life in the small decisions we make every day.” (the late Dame Jane Goodall)

Lots going on over the next few weeks, don’t miss out!

Wednesday 14th January – Happy Green New Year

7:30pm at Oakington church hall.

Join a workshop/brainstorming session about making Green New Year’s Resolutions for ourselves and our community.

If you can, bring some party nibbles to help fuel our thinking celebrate the New Year!

Saturday 17th January – Orchard Wassail

Arcadia Orchard, Oakington (at the back of Arcadia Gardens)

A cup of free mulled cider on arrival and complimentary soup.

Cash bar for further drinks

Bring pots / pans / instruments to make a noise with!

Repair Cafe – Saturday 7th February

All details including how to book are on the Repair Cafe page. Come and get your stuff fixed – or just enjoy the cafe!

We still need some volunteers to help at the cafe (serving, washing up etc) or to bake cakes, biscuits or savoury snacks. If you could help please email!

Water testers needed!

We have been invited to join in a project with Histon & Impington and other local villages to monitor the water quality of Beck Brook. This data will help track the impact of developments, climate change, pollution incidents and agricultural and horticultural practice – so action can be taken to mitigate these impacts and increase biodiversity.

The aim is to take monthly water samples from three or four sites – sampling should only take a few minutes and doesn’t require scientific expertise! If you might be interested in helping, please contact SOW.

Wednesday 14th January – Happy Green New Year

The next SOW meeting will be on 14th January (note: NOT the last Wednesday in the month, see below), 7:30pm at the church hall.

• Discussion and planning about Green New Year’s Resolutions
• Let’s come up with some positive ways we can improve the environment in our parish (and maybe in our personal lives too)
• Bring & share snack-type refreshments – eg crisps, biscuits – for a party buffet to celebrate the New Year!

Orchard Wassail

Saturday 17th January, 4-6pm, orchard at end of Arcadia Gardens

Join the fun at the Jordans’ orchard for a traditional, family-friendly celebration to encourage the apple trees to fruit well in the coming year! Dress warmly, bring a torch and something to make a noise (pots and pans or a musical instrument!!) Warm soup and mulled cider available to drink round the bonfire. Free entry but donations welcome to cover costs.

SOW dates for 2026

Make a note in your diary now! This year we are meeting on SECOND Wednesday of the month – to (largely!) avoid clashes with school holidays.

• 11 February
• 11 March
• 8 April (possibly)
• 13 May
• 10 June
• 8 July
• 9 September
• 14 October
• 11 November
• 9 December

SOW Stall at School Christmas Fair

We had a lot of interest in SOW at the school fair on 29th November, and some great ideas for making Christmas more sustainable!

We had a very enjoyable evening creating Christmas wreaths from willow (including the heirloom Harrison willow) and greenery of all sorts!

Every wreath was different and they were all lovely – here are some of them!

Wreath Making Workshop, Wednesday 26th November, 7:30pm at Oakington church hall

SOW’s final session of the year will be a chance to learn how to create a Christmas wreath, led by our own Ems Jordan.

All ages welcome! Please bring a small donation of £3 to cover materials and hall hire, and if you have ivy or other greenery in your garden, please bring some along!

Other local events

Rampton Swish, Saturday 15th November, 11am – 1pm

Dr Bike, Histon & Cottenham, Tuesday 25 and Wednesday 26 November

Histon Toy and Jigsaw Swap, Saturday 29th November

If you haven’t already done so, send answers/comments to the Council climate/nature survey by 9th November. Even if you don’t have time to fill it all in, it would be good for them to hear from as many people as possible. https://engage.cambridge.gov.uk/en-GB/projects/climate-and-nature-strategies

(“The councils have set out transformative visions for a region where nature thrives, the air and rivers are clean, communities are resilient to the changing climate, and future generations can flourish. They are developing new strategies to take this work forwards and want local people and organisations to have their say.”)

Wreath Making Workshop

Wednesday 26th November, 7:30pm at Oakington church hall

SOW’s final session of the year will be a chance to learn how to create a Christmas wreath, led by our own Ems Jordan. All welcome! Please bring a small donation (eg £3) to cover materials and hall hire.

Don’t forget it’s Apple Day on Saturday 1st November!

Come along to the Cidery at 54 High Street between 12 and 4pm. Everyone is invited to join in washing, crushing and pressing locally-grown apples, or to just watch and chat! There will be free refreshments available at this family-friendly event, along with the chance for adults to buy delicious local cider.

Help is also needed picking the apples (off the ground!) – come to the Jordans’ orchard on Arcadia Gardens, 10–11am on Saturday.

Organised by Blue Barrel Cider, Sustainable Oakington & Westwick and Oakington & Westwick Neighbours.

Everyone is very welcome to join in our bring and share vegetarian supper on Wednesday 22nd October, 7pm at the church hall (note earlier time than usual.)

This was a lovely, friendly (and delicious) event last year so we hope to see you!

If you can, please RSVP on https://forms.gle/N5D7n4qTKPieYN886

Don’t worry if you don’t know what you might bring, just guess if it will be sweet or savoury, and you don’t have to cook something yourself, just bring along something to add to the buffet!

Thank you to the 18 people who helped plant bulbs on Saturday 18th October, especially to the nine younger people including Beavers and Squirrels for whom it will count towards badges!

We planted bulbs in six areas, at the junction of Queensway and Water Lane, at the junction of Holme Close and Water Lane, by the crossroads and alongside the pub on Coles Lane.

The bulbs were chosen to be pretty, pollinator-friendly and/or to naturalise and spread in the grass: crocuses, daffodils, tulips and wild tulips, English bluebells, and two types of allium.

These areas will be left uncut next year until September, to benefit pollinators and other wildlife.

We hope the bulbs will grow! Thank you to the Parish Council for paying for them, and to the EAG and PSA for helping to organise.