Coming soon……
As of January 2020 we are starting the Horsham Climate Café.
It will take place on the first Saturday of the month starting at 2pm until about 4pm in the Quaker Meeting House, Worthing Road, Horsham after the morning’s Horsham Repair café (10-1pm).
Initially it will be a small forum for pupils from a number of local schools (age 11 and upwards) providing, a ‘safe’, friendly, inspiring and motivating place to visit where we can share ideas, discuss problems, solutions and strategies to the serious environmental issues facing us.
It will be led by the pupils and supported with adult facilitation and mentoring.
We know it can be difficult to talk about climate change with friends and family, so Climate Cafés are designed to provide a space to do just that. Come along and join in the discussions about our concerns and hopes.
Our longer term vision…
When we have secured larger premises we plan to expand the Horsham Climate Café. It will be a place where people can meet informally and talk about climate change, eat delicious homemade cake, have a hot drink and join in the conversations about problems and solutions. You can come once or every month. We can help you track and monitor your ‘green’ actions to see what progress you’re making over time, a little like weight watchers!
Working with other Horsham partners, we plan to develop information ‘stations’ which might include:
Environmental petitioning – telling people about the most important petitions, their aims and impacts. We will encourage people to sign the petition(s) during their visit to the climate café.
Energy – sharing ways to save energy and reduce fuel poverty. Using our cost comparison and clean energy site we will help people switch their electricity
suppliers for their homes and businesses often saving them money. Or people can use our site from the comfort of their home. As of December 2019 we will be offering fuel poverty and energy saving advice through the ‘Warming Communities’ Community Energy South initiative at the Horsham Repair Cafe. Learn more here https://www.horshamrepaircafe.org.uk/energy-advice/.
First green steps – or ‘Green watchers’. It’s similar to Weight Watchers where we help people take their first green steps, encouraging at least one green action a month. We hope they will come back month after month to be supported and monitored as they transition to a more sustainable life.
Youth Climate Forum – young people working together to share ideas, helping give them a voice and support activity and in collaboration with Fridays for Future, Parents for Future and Parent Pledge.
Science behind climate change – if visitors want to learn more about climate change science, we will be on hand to talk to them, suggesting reading and films to develop their knowledge. There are seven Climate Reality Leaders in West Sussex, all trained by the former US Vice President Al Gore along with leading climate change scientists who are part of the Climate Reality Leadership Corps. Carrie Cort, the founder of Sussex Green Living trained with the Climate Reality Leadership Corps in Manila, Philippines in March 2016. We plan to establish a rota so there is always someone on hand to answer questions and share information.
Local campaigning groups – Representatives from groups like No Incinerator for Horsham, CAGNE (Communities Against Gatwick Noise Emissions) and Extinction Rebellion Horsham will be welcome, but unlikely to attend every month.
The Horsham Repair Cafe is in the morning on the first Saturday of each month at the following locations:
The household cleaning product bottle refill service and the plastic free dry, organic and loose food will still take place at the Quaker Meeting House 10 – 1pm, with lots of advice about recycling and our single-use plastic recycling scheme.
At the Unitarian Church Hall 10 – 1pm (about four buildings up Worthing Road opposite the bus station – same postcode) – we will be repairing household electrical goods, phones, computers and textile repairs. Energy reduction, cost comparison and switching to clean energy and fuel poverty advice. Bookings for repairs and energy switching/advice can be booked here.
Want to get involved?
Come to the next Horsham Climate Cafe session on the first Saturday of every month.
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“Inspiring sustainable living in Sussex”
On Friday 18th October the Wiggenholt Association held a Climate Change Forum in Pulborough. The village hall was bulging at the seams with over 150 people. It was considered a great success and now there are plans for the event to be repeated in other villages.
During the first half of 2019 Sussex Green Living and the Horsham Repair Cafe are out and about, inpiring people to ‘make do and mend’, remake, repair, repatch and basically love the clothes and materials around them. Come and learn long lost skills of sewing, patches, repairing buttons, clothes etc. Learn about fast fashion and the damage it is causing our planet, solutions, ways of saving money and the planet……
When Carrie flew to Montenegro in May for the