murm_guqxoatk04zelll236knkpk6

Launched in 2021, the Islington Climate Centre is a lively hub for local community groups and residents who want to address the impact of the changing climate on one of North London’s most vibrant boroughs.

Originally founded and led by Rakesh in 2011, Transition Pimlico was centred on the Churchill Gardens Estate, off Lupus St.
 
Being both a practitioner and a teacher, many of the projects under Transition Pimlico had a pedagogical element.
The initial round of projects included a Community Food Growing Project designed according to Permaculture principles with estate residents keen to learn to grow food (see link below), a Transition Pimlico (wholefood) Food Coop, Rakesh additionally  offered Tree I.D. and  wild food foraging walks. A Forest / Nature Garden was started (but not without challenges) within the Churchill Garden Estate, which is now a flourishing, peaceful space. There were also some skillshares following ‘open space’ methodology that Rakesh facilitated at Pimlico library, including a memorable one on greywater systems, and a low maintenance rooftop garden on the roof of the Light Centre on Eccleston Street, nearby (https://lightcentre.com ). Rakesh arranged to collect waste materials from the Tate Britain and Chelsea College of Art & Design and the Chelesa flower show as well, which were used in various gardens and projects. We also hosted events on the grounds of Tate Britain highlighting the need to create habitat for the 250 types of bees in the UK and not just the honey bee, and another session highlighting the environmental impact of giving preference to honey bees.
 
Sadly, after Rakesh had to leave Pimlico towards the end of 2012 to attend to important family matters, the group fell apart. 
 
I am currently giving serious consideration and energy to reviving this group, with Rakesh’s blessing and support. He has said that he is happy to help initiate and be a member of the team, at least initially. We are at a very early stage, identifying (and reconnecting with?) Key people and mapping who and what is already there…  
 
Anyone local to Pimlico / Westminster South for work, study or who lives there and is interested in getting involved is most welcome to contact us at:
transitionpimlico@gmail.com, or my personal email : zeldine2002@yahoo.co.uk 
 

The Onion Garden (TOG), a Community Interest Company in Westminster, UK, transformed an unused tarmac into a thriving garden with 150+ plant species and soon a beehive. It’s a community hub for diverse groups, from locals to the disadvantaged, promoting health through nature. Led by Jens Jakobsen and 15-20volunteers, TOG aims for carbon neutrality and environmental education, hosting events like the ‘Reclaim’ exhibition to emphasize its climate action commitment.

(Not new group, but new email address!)
Transition Heathrow was started in 2010, and the hearth for the community eco-hub Grow Heathrow. This community occupation worked with many key stakeholders and hubs across the Heathrow Villages, preserving the life and hope of the villages blighted by the 3rd runway. The land community was evicted during the 2020 global pandemic.
The main focus of Transition Heathrow now is creating community arts across the Heathrow Villages to tell the story of resistance and resilience there over recent decades, and bring inspiration and hope for the future. Many of these projects are based in Harmondsworth, as there are not many long term residents left in Harmondsworth.
 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grow_Heathrow
Grow Heathrow:
Around twenty people lived at Grow Heathrow. The squat was off-grid and low carbon. Electricity came from solar panels and wind turbines. There was a meadow with allotments which were used by both residents and local people. There were also three large greenhouses.[1][6]
The project stated four main aims: To further the Heathrow villages as an iconic symbol of community resistance to the economic, ecological and democratic crises.
To develop and promote community and resource autonomy to support long-term community resilience
To establish replicable structures of organisation, which could provide a model for future non-hierarchical, consensus-based communities.   To root the grassroots radical values of the 3rd runway resistance in the Heathrow villages for the long term.

Southall Transition was officially launched in 2015 but has been active in the richly diverse community of Southall, London, UK since 2014.  Together we are a beautifully complex, multi-faceted patchwork of people united in our desire to help Southall be the best place it can be for all who live here.
Our vision is that local people from all backgrounds will take a proactive lead in engaging with the community, in tangible projects that deliver a more environmentally and socially sustainable Southall.

This new group based in Somers Town comprising mainly of females from the local Bengali community, is being set up to develop and deliver a new project: Sharing Space Produces. Many women in Somers Town have never been in the work marketplace, yet have incredible traditional makers skills to share ie crochet mobile phone cases, embroidered pillows, headscarves, table ware, make up bags. Decorated frames, natural jewellery. Kids clothes.  This new group’s project will be aimed at helping create small livelihoods for members, the project also has a social justice aim to help boost confidence amongst the community. The group has had an initial meeting, and will meet again late Jan. Plan is to launch Sharing Space Produces in the spring. Items created will be sold online ie Etsy etc, but also around Somers Town and other places in Camden. The project speaks very much to the circular economy, for example using recycled fabric remnants etc. The project will also help teach members how to share their wonderful skills with other Camden’s, ie dressmaking etc.
Debbie Bourne of Transition KT and Think and Do Camden will be helping oversee the group which will be run according to Transition Principles and very much as a collective. Halima Tuli, the Shakti Saver who co-runs The Camden Energy Savers Club and has presented at TT meetings is also on the core group. An aim of the group is also to encourage local Bengali Camden’s to take a leadership role involved in governance, and decision making.
This group will feature on Think and Do’s website and comms.

This growing group is aiming to build resilience within the Kew community, in keeping with Transition principles and values. We’ll be encouraging collaboration and creativity to bring vibrant, imaginative and inclusive projects alive.

We are based in Ilford, East London. We started in 2014 and are engaged in several different projects, including community energy, sustainable food growing, a food cooperative, a Forest Garden, tree planting and wildlife gardening. We are always looking for new members and new ways to engage the public in Transition.
Our most successful project is the creation of a Forest Garden in Valentine’s Park, a local and well attended park. We managed to secure a site with the help of the park keeper. This project is now in the planting stage and we hope to continue to engage the community in the years to come.
We have also run a Food Fest – an annual event which for the past 3 years has brought together local enthusiasts – both individuals and organisations, to share skills and information to help people grow and share their own food. We’ve run workshops on how to grow edibles, composting, growing microgreens, fermentation and pickling as well as seed saving.
We have run an awareness event on caring for the earth in a local primary school to show children the importance of helping to protect the environment. We engage with other primary schools in the area as well as starting an awareness club in a secondary school.
We have been running the Repair Cafe which is a free and friendly meeting place where we repair things (together). Tools and materials are available to help you make any repairs you need; on clothes, furniture, electrical appliances, bicycles, crockery, appliances, toys, etc… You’ll also find expert repair volunteers, with skills in all kinds of fields.
We are also running regular Energy cafes in Ilford. These offer an informal, friendly way to give energy saving advice to people struggling with fuel bills. We offer information on how to save energy and money by changing their fuel tariff or supplier, taking simple actions to make their home more energy efficient and financial help they may be eligible to get.
Our Community Energy working group is focused on advising community buildings on how to change to LED lights and is currently exploring a partnership to set up a Solar for Schools project locally. In the summer of 2019, we participated in the Green Fair, Ilford’s very own green festival. We organised workshops there on a multitude of subjects such as composting, campaigning, fermenting, herbal teas, upcycling, using cloth nappies and seed sharing and also supported a repair cafe.
We also planted a wildlife garden in the car park of a local church and have organised several tree planting events. During lockdown members did short videos on making cuttings, composting and other gardening themes. We also offered free seeds and seedlings for people to take.
Our Food Coop allows members to buy organic foods at a reasonable price. It regularly does orders for organic and environmentally friendly projects from Infinity foods.
We’ve also run a Christmas organic vegetables project at a local shop.
Please contact us via our website or Facebook page, Twitter , Instagram or YouTube.
https://www.facebook.com/TransitionIlford/
https://twitter.com/TTownIlford?s=09
Instagram @transition_town_ilford
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQpqdwbcwxj4_hp6cFEazqQ
Website: https://www.transitionilford.org

Our group in London has drawn together a group of people covering an area from Kensal Rise (NW10) through Queens Park and over as far as Kilburn High Road (NW6). We currently have an initiating group of 7, which meets monthly to plan activity and recently were awarded a grant of almost £8,000 from Brent Council to help fund our activities and expansion.
Here are just some of the things that are going on at ttK2K:
Awareness Raising: We ran a great stall at Queens Park Day, and regularly run stalls at Queens Park Farmers Market on Sundays. We have been invited to speak to various local groups and residents associations. We host a monthly Green Drinks at Hugos on Lonsdale Road on the last Sunday of each month. We have a very active webgroup which is testing the boundaries and capabilities of ‘ning’.
Education: We run a monthly film night at the Lexi Cinema, and hold open meetings at the Constitution Club afterwards. We have a monthly Transition Handbook Club meeting in the local library.
Food Growing and Sourcing: Lots of people are interested in food. We have an Apple Picking project to try to ensure that apples in our area get picked rather than wasted. We’ve also run pruning training courses.  In 2010 we have plans to Permablitz, run a Harvest Festival, set up Community Allotments and learn to keep Bees. We’re also getting good at making chutney and jams and swapping foraging tips.
Buildings and Energy: We’ve a lot of expertise about buildings and how to improve insulation and what to do about renewables. We ran our first draught busting saturday during March 2010.
Transport: Cycletastic is a cycling project based in Kilburn, regularly running Dr Bike surgeries, and encouraging more people to get riding.
Recycling: A lot of people are setting up street level recycling projects based on the Greenzones model.

The vision for Transition Town IG3 is “We are a group of local residents sustaining and transforming IG3 in a caring and environmentally friendly community”
Some of the projects Transition Town IG3 have identified we want to initiate immediately are as follows
1. Design and create a community forest garden in Goodmayes park. This is an immaculate way to address food sovereignty; increase biodiversity in our food growing systems; sequester carbon; manage greenhouse gases that are linked to climate change; bring people together; educate; allow people to share their knowledge and passion, and have fun. 
2. Create a children’s permaculture club to help children connect to and love nature
3. A carers support group, to help people who are caring for others to find people they can talk to and meet regularly
4. A clothing up-cylcing project which facilitates residents to take old clothing and jazz them up and have lots of fun with like minded people. The project culminates with an up-cycle fashion show.
5. Wholefood food buyers co-op to get quality food to people at wholesale prices. Buying this way will reduce packaging, transportation, as well as build community
6. Run regular gift circles to encourage people to share and care for each other 
7. Energy awareness to help people to understand their energy consumption
8. A vegan community cafe to give people access to healthy, local, ethical, environmentally friendly, affordable food
9. Run workshops on effective collaborative working, so we can work well in communities
The project is run by the community for the community, so we welcome people who are interested in living in a more environmentally friendly way. We look forward to welcoming people who have something to share or want to learn and be part of making IG3 (seven Kings and Goodmayes) a better place to live.
We are registered as a Community Interest Company