(Notes from SOW meeting on 27/9/23 – ten members present.)

Activities under way / already being discussed

Repair Cafe. (Jenny reported on behalf of Philip.) Philip has taken part in online training by Cambridge Carbon Footprint. Repair Cafes take quite a bit of organising taking 3 months, and need about £200 upfront (usually recouped in tea/cake sales and donations.) But they are brilliant not just practically but for spreading the environmental message and bringing the community together, and CCF provide lots of help. Philip to tell us more probably at the November meeting.

Community meal. (Alice reported.) To bring people together, demonstrate veggie cuisine and use garden produce. Ambition for a future meal is to cook together. Pavilion is free Sat 18 Nov but costs £60 + food, and might be too big a space; church hall not free in November on Saturdays which work for us. Church hall has no cooking facilities (but a heating cupboard) so cooked food would have to be brought. Suggest February (albeit with limited homegrown produce.)

Nature Recovery Project. (Jenny reported.) Joint with EAG, this is really an umbrella for all the nature/wildlife/biodiversity actions, plus wildlife recording and habitat mapping. Had a meeting in July. John and Graham ran a wildlife observation session at the orchard. The many people who contributed observations on Village Day are on an email list. The Parish Council has funded hedgehog highway “surrounds” we can give out.

Main planned activities

We considered a list (a shortlist from the many ideas generated in July) and people put their names by those they were willing to help with. From this the next actions for the group to focus on were decided. We’ll go back to the others at a later date, but will concentrate our time and energy initially on:

	Champion	Team starting with
Repair Cafe (see above)	Philip	Alice, Jenny
Community meal (see above)	Alice	Gerry, Ems
Small groups of people to visit targeted areas of village 4-6 times next year and record wildlife spotted Involve school.	John Terry (suggested)	Jake, Kate, Ems, Lucy, Angela
Plant native hedging, or fruit trees, or hazel/willow coppice, along busway	Ems	Lucy, Leo, Gerry
Build and put up bee hotels (birdboxes, etc) in public spaces.	Kate	Angela, Ems, Lucy
Research which areas of the village are owned by whom, plus paths/ rights of ways / land use. (NB Paul D explained that ownership and management of land are often by separate bodies.)	Paul Kershaw	Gerry, Ems, Paul Dover

	Willing to help organise
Trip to Amey Cespa (recycling facility)	Jake
Community cider / bring your own apples to press (but see Dates, at end)	Ems, Jake
Use wildlife cameras to discover wildlife around the village	Kate (champion), Lucy
Car share	Gerry
Crayfish removal	Kate, Ems
Organise local Terracycle – public collection of hard to recycle items	Kate

Talks & workshops

Talks/workshops in some meetings draw people in but need to have 15 min afterwards at least to discuss plans. October’s is in half term with many away, so main event in October will be tree trail instead.

	Champion	Team
Tree Trail Planned for Sunday 15 Oct, 10-12, starting in Westwick. Participants to sign up in advance. Alice to help with Risk Assessment.	Jake	Alice, Kate
Using public transport apps Short talk for Oct meeting for those who can make it	Jenny
Making bee hotels/ bird feeders etc. November meeting workshop (Christmas presents!)	Kate	Jake
Energy efficiency and coming off gas	Paul K could do this talk
Local resilience plan – what can village do to prepare specifically for heatwaves, droughts, flooding etc.	Gerry, Paul K
Tree grafting workshop	Leo, Ems
More wildlife walks. Eg trees, birdsong, moths, etc. Good for families		Kate, Alice, Jake

Social media campaigns

Angela offered to coordinate monthly themed campaigns. Kate & Ems could help with putting good wildlife pics online. Kate & Angela to work out how to share managing the facebook page.

Report back on actions from last time

• Discussion document sent round for people to sign up to activities — Jenny — done
• Make a start on who owns where — Ems & Paul K — carried forward, above
• Community meal — already reported on
• Facebook survey on suggested actions — Kate — will report next time
• Journal article on wild flower planting — Rachel — next Journal
• Cycle ride — Alice organised this on Bank Holiday Monday, a trip to Fen Drayton lakes to picnic and birdwatch. Much appreciated!
• Solar panels on pavilion — the Parish Council are looking into this and Philip has spoken to the clerk about it.

Events coming up

• Sewage talk in Histon (A Really Crap Evening), St Andrew’s Centre. Wed 11 Oct, 7pm
• Cottenham Repair Cafe, Sat 14 Oct 10 — 2, go and see what it’s like
• Tree Trail led by Jake, Sun 15 Oct, probably 10am. Details to follow.
• Human Library on Home Energy, Grand Arcade, Sat 21 Oct, 10 — 4. Paul K is a book!
• Reimagining Community Energy Together, Whittlesford Memorial Hall, Sun 22 Oct, 2-5pm. Paul K is involved.
• Next SOW meeting Wed 25 Oct, 7:30pm — Public transport apps talk and update on action planning
• Apple pressing 28 Oct & 4 Nov, 12 — 4 (& picking 10 — 12). Bring your own apples to press beforehand.

Green Library

The green library of eco and wildlife books was open during the meeting and several loans were issued!