Havant Friends of the Earth

Havant Borough Big Green Week

We’re pretty excited about our events for the Green Week so do have a look at our programme  and share it with others. You can find it on. https://havantclimatealliance.com/green-week-events-2022-2/

There are lots of events to choose from (and we hope there’s something for everyone) but we need people to tell others and persuade friends to come along, as we really do need the help. If you could give any assistance at the EcoFairs on 24th September, we’d be extremely grateful.

We need people to help set things up, guide traffic and help on our Havant FOE and Havant Climate alliance stalls. So do get in touch on [email protected]

Another thing we could really do with help with funding. We didn’t get the hoped for grant from the Climate Coalition for the Green Week (although we’re grateful for £450 from FOE) and the week is going to cost a lot more than we have. So, contributions gratefully accepted!

See our fund-raiser on https://gofund.me/52ed9a63

Here’s the poster for the Havant Borough Big Green Week and you can see all the events listed on https://havantclimatealliance.com/green-week-events-2022-2/ and on the national Great Big Green Website.

Please help by letting people in your networks know about the week – we’d like all the events to be well supported.

If you can display the poster, let us know on [email protected] and we can send you a copy.

We’re excited about our Ecofairs on 24^th September in Havant Park and the Pallant. Lots of stalls selling Eco-products or giving advice, live music a fashion show, food.

But we could still do with help.

Could you

• Get the word out as much as possible
• Help with setting up gazebos etc and taking things down at the end of the day. Also, guiding stall-holders and cars to pitches before it starts and after it closes?
• Help on the Havant Climate Alliance or Friends of the Earth stall for a while? We want to collect signatures for our charter and get competition entries.
• We also want to direct people from the Park to the Pallant and to the Library of Things open afternoon at Havant station

If you can help, even for a short time, email us at [email protected]

We also have a fund-raiser to cover all the costs of the Green Week https://www.gofundme.com/f/havant-borough-big-green-week All contributions gratefully

Most of our posts are about energy this month so do join us for our September open meeting which will be a discussion about community energy on Wednesday 14^th at 7.00pm

Catriona Cockburn from the Petersfield Climate Group will tell us about Energise South Downs scheme  https://actionnetwork.org/events/community-energy-for-havant

Obviously, energy prices are a huge concern at the moment but the government still isn’t looking at the investment we need in renewable energy and insulation.

Friends of the Earth is calling for urgent solutions that both end the injustice of fuel poverty and tackle the climate crisis so their main campaign this Autumn is about heating our homes without heating the planet.

You can read their guide explaining what fuel poverty is and who it affects here

As the main focus this Autumn is about heating our homes without heating the planet. There’s a choice of 3 online events starting from the 12th of September.

To find out more about the campaign and how you can be involved Sign up for a launch event

The Climate Coalition (of which we are a member) has joined 40 other groups to officially launch Warm This Winter, a new campaign demanding the government acts now to help tackle rising energy bills this winter and to ensure energy is affordable for everyone in the future.

The new website is now live at warmthiswinter.org.uk, and you can find out more about how to support the campaign in the updated social media toolkit, key messages document and brand guide

Phil Gagg from the Winchester Climate group, has produced a really useful briefing on Hampshire emissions, what the trends are and what still needs to be done, derived from BEIS data published 30th June 2022.

You can find the link and summary here

Friends of the Earth has a brilliant programme of training events this Autumn on energy, planning, anti-racism, class influencing councils and the future structure of FOE. 

See the full list on https://climate.friendsoftheearth.uk/training/training-and-events

Friends of the Earth is launching an important new campaign You can also find information on the new website: unitedforwarmhomes.uk.

They are calling for

• Urgent additional financial support to keep people warm

Even with the government’s price freeze, energy bills are still far too high for millions of us. As the price of food and other essentials continues to rise, too many people will be pushed into rationing their energy use this winter and living in cold homes. We need more targeted support to keep people warm and well.

• A nationwide insulation programme 

Upgrading homes with insulation is the cheapest and easiest way to permanently reduce our bills. But most people can’t afford it. We need governments across the UK to roll out an emergency programme of insulation and energy saving measures now, starting in neighbourhoods where fuel poverty is highest.

• Permanent fixes to our failed energy system

Our energy system currently prioritises massive fossil fuel company profits over meeting people’s basic needs. Everyone deserves a warm home, and there’s no good reason we can’t all have one. By powering our homes with cheap and clean renewables and guaranteeing everyone the energy they need to live comfortably, we can ensure no one is left in the cold.

There are more introductory sessions next week

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/launch-event-campaign-on-home-heating-and-fuel-poverty-registration-396554474107

or you can see the presentation on this recording or this presentation