SPAD's History
SPAD started life as the Community Forum Environment Group back in 2007 with a group of people who shared a range of environmental and social concerns. Early topics that were talked around included litter, local food, a photographic record of our community and its place, but the first concrete action was an attempt to move people away from throwaway plastic shopping bags. We worked with local shops and a loan from the Community Forum and in 2008 produced our own local cloth shopping bag, with local shop logos on the side.
In March 2009, we held a ‘Greening our Village’ Party in the Community Centre to raise awareness of environmental issues. On the day there were demonstration stalls from lots of village groups, DVDs on show, opportunities to share information and ideas and a Fashion Show. In the evening there was a party that made use of the wide range of musical talent in the village.
In due course, discussions moved to the idea of Transition and formed some sub-groups – initially an energy group, a food group and a village environment group, and by late 2009 we had changed our name to Sustainable Pill & District to make clear our central purpose and the link to other Transition groups around North Somerset, in Bristol and, indeed, all over Britain.
In 2009/10, the energy group focused on helping householders in the village improve the energy efficiency of their homes through the Warm Streets campaign, which offered free or subsidised loft and cavity wall insulation, and gave us a small source of income through a £10 grant for every referral that was followed up. The money helped us mount an evening in the Community Centre when a speaker form Solarsense, the local renewable energy company, gave a talk about solar water heating and solar electricity. This led to quite a few people in the village putting panels on their roofs. However, in 2011, after a lot of discussion with colleagues from Transition Portishead, the energy group decided to close down and instead helped to set up Low Carbon Gordano, which is a form of Co-operative for the Benefit of the Community. (www.lowcarbongodano.co.uk)
The transport group started in 2009 focussing initially on improving the commuter bus service. We conducted a questionnaire with villagers who use the bus and, along with other groups lobbied First Bus Company to improve their service. The village is now on a showcase bus route with a considerably improved service and lower fares. The transport group started community bike rides – still a work in progress to see how to attract more people to these events. We actively supported North Somerset Council to upgrade the cycle route from Pill to Bristol – work starts on this later in 2014.The current campaign is for a 20 mph speed limit in the village. A petition was started in 2013 and by spring 2014 over 450 people had signed it and this will be presented to North Somerset Council later this year.
The food group started a Food Week initiative in 2012 inviting people to grow their own food and to use the local shops. In June 2012 in conjunction with the monthly Community Market that had been running for a few months, Food Week was launched in the precinct with all the Community Market stalls and local media coverage. The following year Food Week focussed on using the local shops and issuing loyalty stamps to encourage people to shop locally. The current focus of the food group is to join the “Incredible Edible” movement and develop public spaces for growing food. The aim is to continue to encourage people to grow their own food and raise awareness about the link between global warming and food shortages. This group is also campaigning to improve the local food shopping.
SPAD has also linked with and supported other groups such as the Community Market and the development of the Community Garden behind the Community Centre.
In the local government election of 2011 we put forward two candidates to stand as Independents with a sustainable environment agenda and Don Davies was elected. He has worked tirelessly on North Somerset Council to promote the needs of our village.
There have been a number of one-off events such as joining in the International Day of Action on CO2 in October 2009 with a call for CO2 emissions to be cut to 350ppm. In 2011 SPAD collaborated with the J19 drama group to put on “The Tale of Ebenezer Scourge” a cautionary tale based on A Christmas Carol and written and produced by the cast to show the future effects of global warming.
We have put on a number of public meetings presenting the climate change science both in Pill and surrounding areas. These talks have been very well received and offer a clear explanation of the issues and a chance for people to discuss the way forward and to join our activities. In October Dr Liam Fox was invited to one of these evenings which was attended by over 150 people. Currently there is a letter writing campaign to ask the main political party leaders for their response to the latest report from the UN on the pressing need for the whole world especially the developed nations radically to reduce CO2 emissions to avoid catastrophic global warming .
SPAD is a movement involving a diverse group of people who live locally. We consider many of the activities in the village are key to our sustainable goals, building community spirit and taking care of our local environment. Pill is a wonderful place to live and we hope that eventually it will be the model of how a community can live sustainably and in harmony with the natural world.
SPAD started life as the Community Forum Environment Group back in 2007 with a group of people who shared a range of environmental and social concerns. Early topics that were talked around included litter, local food, a photographic record of our community and its place, but the first concrete action was an attempt to move people away from throwaway plastic shopping bags. We worked with local shops and a loan from the Community Forum and in 2008 produced our own local cloth shopping bag, with local shop logos on the side.
In March 2009, we held a ‘Greening our Village’ Party in the Community Centre to raise awareness of environmental issues. On the day there were demonstration stalls from lots of village groups, DVDs on show, opportunities to share information and ideas and a Fashion Show. In the evening there was a party that made use of the wide range of musical talent in the village.
In due course, discussions moved to the idea of Transition and formed some sub-groups – initially an energy group, a food group and a village environment group, and by late 2009 we had changed our name to Sustainable Pill & District to make clear our central purpose and the link to other Transition groups around North Somerset, in Bristol and, indeed, all over Britain.
In 2009/10, the energy group focused on helping householders in the village improve the energy efficiency of their homes through the Warm Streets campaign, which offered free or subsidised loft and cavity wall insulation, and gave us a small source of income through a £10 grant for every referral that was followed up. The money helped us mount an evening in the Community Centre when a speaker form Solarsense, the local renewable energy company, gave a talk about solar water heating and solar electricity. This led to quite a few people in the village putting panels on their roofs. However, in 2011, after a lot of discussion with colleagues from Transition Portishead, the energy group decided to close down and instead helped to set up Low Carbon Gordano, which is a form of Co-operative for the Benefit of the Community. (www.lowcarbongodano.co.uk)
The transport group started in 2009 focussing initially on improving the commuter bus service. We conducted a questionnaire with villagers who use the bus and, along with other groups lobbied First Bus Company to improve their service. The village is now on a showcase bus route with a considerably improved service and lower fares. The transport group started community bike rides – still a work in progress to see how to attract more people to these events. We actively supported North Somerset Council to upgrade the cycle route from Pill to Bristol – work starts on this later in 2014.The current campaign is for a 20 mph speed limit in the village. A petition was started in 2013 and by spring 2014 over 450 people had signed it and this will be presented to North Somerset Council later this year.
The food group started a Food Week initiative in 2012 inviting people to grow their own food and to use the local shops. In June 2012 in conjunction with the monthly Community Market that had been running for a few months, Food Week was launched in the precinct with all the Community Market stalls and local media coverage. The following year Food Week focussed on using the local shops and issuing loyalty stamps to encourage people to shop locally. The current focus of the food group is to join the “Incredible Edible” movement and develop public spaces for growing food. The aim is to continue to encourage people to grow their own food and raise awareness about the link between global warming and food shortages. This group is also campaigning to improve the local food shopping.
SPAD has also linked with and supported other groups such as the Community Market and the development of the Community Garden behind the Community Centre.
In the local government election of 2011 we put forward two candidates to stand as Independents with a sustainable environment agenda and Don Davies was elected. He has worked tirelessly on North Somerset Council to promote the needs of our village.
There have been a number of one-off events such as joining in the International Day of Action on CO2 in October 2009 with a call for CO2 emissions to be cut to 350ppm. In 2011 SPAD collaborated with the J19 drama group to put on “The Tale of Ebenezer Scourge” a cautionary tale based on A Christmas Carol and written and produced by the cast to show the future effects of global warming.
We have put on a number of public meetings presenting the climate change science both in Pill and surrounding areas. These talks have been very well received and offer a clear explanation of the issues and a chance for people to discuss the way forward and to join our activities. In October Dr Liam Fox was invited to one of these evenings which was attended by over 150 people. Currently there is a letter writing campaign to ask the main political party leaders for their response to the latest report from the UN on the pressing need for the whole world especially the developed nations radically to reduce CO2 emissions to avoid catastrophic global warming .
SPAD is a movement involving a diverse group of people who live locally. We consider many of the activities in the village are key to our sustainable goals, building community spirit and taking care of our local environment. Pill is a wonderful place to live and we hope that eventually it will be the model of how a community can live sustainably and in harmony with the natural world.