Sustainable Wellesbourne and Wellesbourne & Walton Parish Council, supported by Low Carbon Warwickshire Network , delivered a packed programme to a full room on Saturday 25 January.

The highlight of the morning was Get Cooking’s Anne-Marie Lambert who made soup while also entertaining the audience with anecdotes and waste saving tips for the kitchen.

Cllr Anne Prior opened with an overview of the many projects being delivered across the parish, including the Community Woods and “Letting the grass grow“. Wellesbourne and Walton Parish Council has declared a Climate Emergency and aims for the activities of the Council to be carbon neutral by 2030. Sustainable Wellesbourne is a working group of the parish council with residents and councillors working together to address the Climate Emergency and support the Climate Emergency Statement made by the Parish Council in 2022. Smaller project focus groups and volunteers carry out actions towards this common goal.

Bob Sherman followed with a talk on the award-winning Harbury Energy Initiative and its projects. Harbury e-Wheels provides transport to those in need using 2 electric cars supplied by Electric Zoo, collecting passengers within a 15 mile radius of Harbury and taking them where they need to go at no cost to the beneficiary or the agency that refers them. The aim is to reduce rural isolation and enable local agencies to deliver their services effectively. This combines social benefit with environmental benefit. Bob also spoke about Low Carbon Warwickshire Network whose aim is to connect low carbon groups across the county, sharing ideas and stimulating and supporting new activity.

Local resident William Howard shared his home retro-fit through pictures of the installation of solar panels and later, storage batteries and an air source heat pump. He shared his personal motivations and ten year data collection to help track the journey from investment to profit. Local Councils and community groups may wish to explore Green Open Homes a national low carbon open home scheme from Centre for Sustainable Energy.  Putting on a Green Open Homes event is a significant undertaking, so to encourage potential organisers and support existing ones, CSE has produced a range of resources to help – covering everything from finding householders to join in to insurance, and marketing to finance.

Tass Smith from Hampton Lucy’s GREAT spoke on the concept of a Warwickshire Community Nature Reserve.  GREAT stands for Grapevine Environmental Action Team, a group of residents from Hampton Lucy, Charlecote and Loxley Parishes, making a difference together with the support of Hampton Lucy Parish Council.

Tass explained how the Community Nature Reserve model has spread organically from Felixstowe to otjer parishes across the country. The initiative grew from Dr Adrian Cooper who worked out how 1,666 little green spaces in Felixstowe would help to boost biodiversity and enrolled community partenrs including Felixstowe Town Council to find sites. Gardeners and allotment owners allocate at least three square yards of their land for wildlife-friendly plants, ponds and insect lodges. In a nutshell, the Reserve is composed of many pieces of private land, but between which insects, birds and other wildlife can fly and develop sustainable biodiversity. If you are interested in growing Warwickshire’s Community Nature Reserve, email Tass with a subject line of WCNR SG.

After a break to look at all the stalls which included Wellesbourne’s Flood Action Group, Repair shop, Dene River Watch, Allotments and Library plus Act on Energy, LCWN and Emily from Net Zero Stratford. Contact – Net Zero  to be on the mailing list for news about events, including updates about the monthly repair cafes.

Rounding up the event was Claudine Pearson, Climate Officer, Warwickshire and West Midlands Association of Local Councils, who talked through many inspiring climate and nature council and community initiatives across South Warwickshire – and a few beyond.  “With action comes hope” and Wellesbourne can be proud of the many projects it has initiated which will create further ripples and connections. Email climateofficer@walc.org.uk for support resources available including best practice, templates, funding guidance and case studies.

More initiatives from Sustainable Wellesbourne:

Open Gardens for Wildlife: Wellesbourne’s wildly successful event returns 31 May and 1 June 2025

Plastic and Waste Reduction: Wellesbourne & Walton Parish Council supports the Wellesbourne and Walton Plastic Free Community and its initiatives in the area. The council pledges to act by example and remove single use plastic items from its premises. More about a local Council’s role in Plastic Free Communities

River monitoring: Wellesbourne & Walton Parish Council has funded the purchase of water testing kits wwdenewater@gmail.com

Reducing Textile Waste: a workshop/themed day at the end of September

Energy: looking forward to an event in 2026