From Alison Crane (Cheltenham)

Gloucestershire Quakers have secured funding from QPSW to train local facilitators to run a community carbon reduction programme in their neighbourhood, church or other community groups.  The programme comprises 7 sessions, looking at home energy, waste and water, consumerism, food and transport. The aim is to help one another to reduce our carbon footprints in a supportive group environment. The programme has been tried and tested by Transition Leicester. Known as “Footpaths”, many groups in Leicester and elsewhere have already taken part.

The Area Meeting Sustainability Support group has already identified several Quakers who want to do the training and run groups in their local areas, but we are looking for more people throughout Gloucestershire, whether Quakers or not.

The programme is very practical, and creates the opportunity for people to think about their needs, and how to meet them in a low-carbon way. It also deliberately focuses on group work, knowing that making changes with others is more fun and easier than doing it alone. See http://www.leicesterfootpaths. org.uk/ for more information.

The facilitator training will be free (although we will ask for a voluntary contribution towards expenses), and will probably take place over a weekend in March, with the local sessions running immediately afterwards.

You might be interested in the following ways:

·         To become a facilitator

·         To take part in local sessions

·         To circulate this information to others who might be interested – e.g. other churches or environmental groups in your local area.

If you want to become a facilitator, you will need to recruit participants for your local sessions (normally 6 – 10 people in a group), and a co-facilitator, before doing the training. We can provide guidance and more information, and are hoping to run a taster session, which you can attend, and then offer in your local area.

The programme is aimed at people who take climate change seriously and want to reduce their own carbon footprint, but aren’t sure how to. In Leicester, it was found that, although the participants in the sessions were aware of the issues, their carbon footprints were around the average for the UK, so with plenty of scope for learning and action.

Please get in touch if you would like to be involved, or want more information. I would be very grateful if you could circulate this among your networks.

In friendship,