This week, amongst all the other news it was confirmed that the last 12 months global temperatures have consistently been 1.5degrees above pre-industrial levels, further demonstrating there is still much to be done to protect the ongoing habitability of our planet.  I’m so grateful for all our volunteers who give their time towards supporting Sustainable Newport.  We had a wonderful surprise that the work of our team has been recognized through a nomination for the Kings Award for Volunteer Service.  We won’t know the outcome of the nomination until later in the year but the task of writing up what our collective impact has been on the community over the years highlights how important the work we do is, despite the challenges we face.

Sadly, this year, our longstanding secretary and former Chair Cath Edwards stepped down.  Her time leading Newport21, through the evolution of Sustainable Newport had the most impact and I’m incredibly grateful that we had the opportunity to call on her experience and leadership as we put the building blocks of this team in place.  She’s greatly missed and always welcome back, being Chair Emeritus in my eyes.

Cath’s departure has helped highlight how thinly we’re spread and that we need to recruit more volunteers in order to have a succession plan in place.  My favourite Margaret Mead quote is

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”

…but to avoid burning out we need more so we’ll be looking for more collaboration opportunities and awareness raising to make sure we can support Newport into the future.

Collaborations and call outs

Over the last year we’ve continued to run project and collaborate with others across the community, and all our volunteers engage in multiple community groups which helps our reach and engagement.

• The successful Hard to Recycle events led by Jane and Sandra continue to run at the library.  The work with Newport Town Council and the fire service to install a new Tetrapak bin at the Fire Station has resulted in 702KG being recycled.  This has given the opportunity to promote other schemes at the Hard to Recycle event, including Heathers Seed swaps in February and March, Xmas jumpers and cards in November, and Fathers day gift certificates in May and June.  We now also accept aluminium cans and stamps at these events which we send with Ruth and Terry to the Canal Trust to support their work.
• Susanne has run with the support of Kirsty and Ruth 2 Climate Fresk training trials at the library, which have helped those who participated better understand the connections between the actions of humanity and climate change.  We’re currently seeking funding to offer the training out to the wider community.  Susanne also remains engaged with both the Telford Plastic Free communities taskforce and Climate Change partnership representing Hollinswood primary.
• Through our collaboration with the Newport events CIC we had a stand at last years Food frenzy and the Christmas Market.
  • Through lessons learnt from the carnival we invested in new signage for our stand at these events to make us easier to find and share our message.
• This year the engagement with the Newport Town Council has changed from community groups being co-opted to the Leisure and Environment committee to being working group focused.  The areas we’ve been involved in have included
  • Being part of the working group to launch a repair café at the Hub
  • Working with the council to invest in 2 new Thermal imaging cameras to be loaned out to the community to highlight heat loss in our homes
  • Participating with an awareness stand at the Pride in your High Street event
  • Providing materials for the Guildhall window in support of Plastic Free July and Secondhand September
  • Writing letters of support to retain the library as the valuable community resource it is
• Other engagement events have included speaking at events run by the Civic Society, Church Aston Church, Female 77 and Newport Inner Wheel and our own Christmas drinks event at the Phez.  We also publicised the “Green Doors” event at which Ruth and Terry opened their home to share lessons learnt from their green retrofit of their sustainable former lock house.

Our work aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals

As a group, we have continued to support our 3 priority United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s) as part of the decade of action, and help to spread awareness of this important framework and any related activities.  The #DecadeOfAction runs up to 2030.

• SDG 12:  Responsible consumption and production:  Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns – awareness and support of groups and activities which align
  • Sustainable Newport “Cups and Pints”
    • Cup Scheme
• • • Pint Scheme 
    Promotion and support of the Refill Scheme
    • 35 Water Refill points available in and around Newport5 Reusable Cup locations1 Plastic Free shopping location
  • In December we ran our second Christmas Jumper swap/give away at the Christmas Market turn on which was championed by Heather, alongside a giveaway of Christmas vouchers designed by Sandra’s daughter Lucy
    • Lucy also created voucher for both Mothers Day and Fathers Day which we gave away at the library and events
• SDG 13:  Climate action:  Take urgent action to combat climate change and it’s impacts (includes Plastics due to fossil fuel) – Partnerships and communication
  • Energy saving talk with the Civic Society
  • Thermal imaging camera purchased for proof of concept
  • Climate Fresk training trials commenced at the Library
  • Promotion of the Refill Scheme
  • Promotion of “Plastic Free July” including the current display in the Guildhall Window
• SDG 15:  Life on Land:  Sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, halt and reverse land degradation, halt biodiversity loss – promoting events which support these areas
  • Promotion and support “No Mow May”

Summary

I want to give a big thank you to all the committee and supporters for continuing to support our work and share what we’re doing.  Here’s hoping that the next year will highlight more opportunities to improve the sustainability of our town with more volunteers and partnerships on board to help us for the future.

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