News & Events
Here are the latest upcoming events, news items, recent newsletters and blog posts from ChalCAN
Latest News
This month join the Wildlife Trust’s Annual Challenge 30 Days Wild
Free Webinars : If you are thinking of taking on a domestic retrofit project eg floor insulation or heat pumps you might be interested to learn that the Centre for Sustainable Energy are running free webinars in June.
Volunteering Opportunities (PDF)
20 is Plenty in Chalford and Eastcombe
Are you concerned about speeding vehicles? Would you like our roads to be safer for schoolchildren, pedestrians, cyclists and other drivers alike? ChalCAN, working with BisCAN is mounting a ‘20 is Plenty in Chalford and Eastcombe’ campaign. 20 mph limits on roads where people live, work, shop, play and learn
- reduce accidents
- reduce pollution and CO2 emissions
- make active travel (biking, walking) possible for more residents
- make it safer for horse-riders
- have little impact on journey times.. and
- are increasingly accepted in many areas (e.g. Wales, Scotland).
Since the County Council are deliberating whether this should be considered across the county (as in Cornwall and Oxfordshire) and will be consulting on this later in the spring, this is timely. We’re collating local residents’ views on a implementing a default 20pmh limit in the area wherever practical, and promoting safer driving through banners, stickers and posters (available from the Parish Centre). We’ll be out and about in local shops in the coming weeks to talk to people and working with local schools.
Please sign our petition and/or let us know your views. Contact Penny info@chalcan.org.uk
Planting in Bussage
St Mary of the Angels, Brownshill
Work began on improving the churchyard last year with some fifteen volunteers from the Brownshill community clearing the site. Lizards, slow-worms and toads were found. To improve the biodiversity of this lovely site further funding was obtained from the Countryside Charity (formerly known as the Campaign to Protect Rural England) for 32 native shrubs and trees, and these have now been planted with the help of local volunteers.
The Thomas Keble GCSE Citizenship pupils’ campaign to prevent food poverty(PDF)
Make a difference in 2022 (PDF)
Here is a video by ChalCAN’s Dr Grace O’Donovan discussing trees and climate change and an initiative to plant more trees in the area.
Hedgehog Street (PDF)
Help make YOUR street a Hedgehog Street! Hedgehogs are vulnerable to extinction. You can also link up with your neighbours to make a Hedgehog Highway. More information from www.hedgehogstreet.org
Air Source Heat Pumps (ASHP)
We’ve produced a summary about ASHPs (PDF) and another outlining local housholds that have installations ChalCAN Case Studies (PDF). Contact us if you’d like more information or to visit a working example.
Biodiversity Trail
A circular wildlife trail 12 km long through Chalford Parish. Maps and info here….or pick up a leaflet from the Parish Centre or Chalford village shop.
Take a Climate Walk (PDF)
Follow us on Instagram! @chalford.can
Upcoming Events
Community Walks – ChalCAN continue to lead a monthly walk – the next one will be Saturday 16th July starting at 10am from Chalford Sports and Social Club, with a chance to chat over coffee and cakes afterwards. The route will be planned nearer the time to take account of weather conditions – check our Facebook page for details.
Newsletter Archive
ChalCAN’s recent newsletters
Click on the link to open
Latest Blog posts
Eat better for the planet, your health and your budget
What we eat has a significant climate impact. The UN’s Food and Agricultural Organisation found that about 14% of all greenhouse gas emissions come from meat and dairy production. Changing
Workshops on Biodiversity
The presentations from Chalford and Bisley highlighted two successful and divergent approaches for tackling biodiversity. While both have undertaken various activities/events (such as a Biodiversity walk in Chalford or farm
Can a Local Handyman become Carbon Neutral ?
Can Bisley Handyman become Carbon Neutral? We’re literally suffocating the planet with our CO2 emissions, so making sure that our impact is as minimal as possible is everyone’s responsibility, business
Take a Climate Walk
Do you already have some awareness of climate change but nothing much more? The ‘Climate Walk’ can show you how the choices you make can have a real impact
Encouraging Biodiversity in Your Garden
Frequently Asked Questions about Encouraging Biodiversity in Your Garden In a ChalCAN survey, respondents were asked what questions they had about encouraging biodiversity in the garden. Here are the collated
Did your t-shirt cost the earth?
Did you know that…… The UK sends an average of 300,000 tonnes of clothing to landfill each year. One wash load of polyester clothes can release 700,000 microplastic fibres into
Our Community and Biodiversity
As individuals it’s easy to feel helpless about the effects of climate change and loss of biodiversity. We can each of us make changes and take steps to help –
Wildlife friendly allotments
Your allotment is mainly for growing fruit and vegetables, and maybe keeping some chickens; but allotments are also really important for biodiversity. There are lots of things you can do
Roadside Verges
What is the issue? Any plans to increase and restore biodiversity within our community must include a focus on the way we manage our road verges. Our verges form just
Green Spaces
There are lots of community owned green spaces scattered over the Parish, all managed by the Parish Council. Some are tucked away, quietly acting as mini wildlife reserves without the
Trees and Hedgerows
First the good news…About a third of our Parish is currently covered in trees and hedgerows. Many of these trees are on the steep slopes of the Frome Valley and
Plastic and General Waste
We need to change our habits and consume less, buying wisely. This applies across all areas of shopping from food, to clothes, to electrical appliances. ChalCAN is looking at how
Upcycling and Repairs
Reuse, recycle, swap…and the impact of fast fashion Buy less junk and less new ‘stuff’. Buy things which are designed to be repairable and when you have finished with
Food
Do you want to learn something shocking? Meat, egg and dairy production use up 83% of the world’s farmland, are responsible for 58% of the world’s agricultural greenhouse gas emissions,
Biodiversity Survey
Chalford Parish Council has acknowledged that there is a climate emergency and that we should become carbon neutral by 2030. To do this efficiently and effectively, ways need to be