ChalCAN - WHO WE ARE
ChalCAN is an active group formed in 2019 following the Parish Council’s declaration of a Climate Emergency. We're building community engagement in all our work. Our aims for the Chalford community are to
- Raise awareness of the need for change
- Be carbon neutral by 2030
- Increase biodiversity
- Move towards a zero-waste economy and eliminate unnecessary single use plastic
As of 1st June 2021 we are an independent community group, supported by the Parish Council and working with them where appropriate.
There are four working groups of ChalCAN that meet regularly, the size of these groups is varied. The co-ordinators of the groups are:
- Energy (Andy Williams)
- Transport (Claire Carpenter)
- Biodiversity (Jim Bocock)
- Food and Waste (vacant)
- Composting Scheme (Karen Phimister)
The Co-ordination Group, which meets monthly, includes the co-ordinators of the four working groups, the Communications Co-ordinator (Hilary Burgess) and Treasurer (Liz Baldwin).
Minutes of the Co-ordination group meetings can be obtained from the Administrator.
A copy of ChalCAN’s Constitution can be found here
Get Involved
We are always looking for people to join in and support our work – please look at how you can get involved
Working Together
Whilst government policy and action are essential, much can be achieved by us working together as a community. Supported by the Parish Council, ChalCAN is creating community-based projects and encouraging individual action – added together it is astonishing how much difference this can make. It also helps to build the groundswell of pressure on business and government to ensure this is something that cannot be ignored.
We are working with Stroud District Council, who led the way by declaring a Climate Emergency in 2018, and was the first Local Authority in Europe to become Carbon Neutral (in terms of CO2 emissions for its buildings and in-house transport). In the past two years, many other Parish and Town Councils in the Stroud District have also declared a Climate Emergency. We are working with them to exchange ideas and expertise.
ChalCAN's Objectives
Information
Provide information to the community on climate friendly actions everyone can take using: ❖ A dedicated website ❖A regular e-newsletter, FaceBook page and Instagram follow us at @chalford.can ❖ A wide range of information sessions
Local Opportunities
Create local community opportunities to enable climate friendly action through: ❖ Local events (e.g. seasonal feasts, skill-based workshops, tree planting events) ❖ Local projects (e.g. wind turbines, solar farm, Walking-bus, lift-share, community allotments, a local repair and upcycling hub, local share and swap systems, enhancing wildlife habitats, tree-planting, local shopping opportunities, green-space enhancements, best practice biodiversity hub, roadside verge management to promote biodiversity)
Work with local groups
Work with local stakeholders, businesses, schools and many other groups in our community to encourage climate friendly action
Lead by example
Lead by example by ensuring: ❖ Parish office buildings and actions are climate friendly ❖ Parish land is available to create best practice hubs
Share resources
Stay in touch with Stroud District Council and other local community groups to share ideas and resources.
