What have we been doing?

Find out what we have been doing to help make the Crich area a greener and more sustainable place

Crich Share & Repair Café - 14 October

Lots going on at our Autumn Share & Repair Café including lots of repairs, community Art Share exhibition, Table Top Sale, poetry reading and rag rug demo.

We had another successful Share and Repair Café. The event, which took place with the Glebe's Table Top sale, generated 74 repairs for our volunteers, keeping them busy!

Homemade cakes were enjoyed alongside a poetry reading and the fantastic artwork on display from local residents as part of Art Share Crich.

Hazel demonstrated how to make a Scandinavian rug and visitors were able to have a go at this fantastic way of creating useful objects out of recycled material.

Volunteers also took time out to join the campaign for better buses in Derbyshire, who are campaigning to win increased funding for bus services and to end the deregulation of buses.

Thank you to all involved and to those who visited.

If you would like to know more about Transition Crich or are interested in being a volunteer at the next café please get in touch.

Scandinavian Rag Rug Workshop

A fun and creative evening learning how to making Scandinavian Rag Rugs.

In collaboration Crich Crafters and Art Share Crich hosted a sustainable materials workshop.

A big thank you to Sophie James who shared her skills with the group and demonstrated the art of making a Scandinavian rag rug using old materials, i.e. old duvet covers or curtain fabric so that we could breathe new life into them.

Getting started was a bit tricky, but with Sophie's patience and guidance we all got going and found it to be a very relaxing and satisfying skill to learn.

Some of the items made have been submitted for display at the Autumn Art Share which is running alongside our October Share & Repair event.

Sophie runs a small business, James and Co. She started crocheting to support her mental health and has since expanded her passion into an artisan craft business.

Whatstandwell Festival - 25 June

Clothes swap and haybox demo success at the Whatstandwell Festival!

Whatstandwell Festival Committee are keen to be eco friendly and over the past few years have introduced reusable branded plastic 'glasses' for customers to use at the bar, take home and bring back the following year. They also provide various recycling bins for waste around the arena.

On hearing about Transition Crich they were keen for us to be involved and offered a stall on Saturday afternoon. We were delighted to accept and decided to run a clothes swap and haybox demonstration.

Both activities were well received with party goers donating, buying and swapping clothes. The haybox demonstration and tasting went down well and we chatted to quite a few people about TC and gained some new volunteers!

The Derwent Living Forest Project - 16 June

During The Great Big Green Week George Jones from Derbyshire Wildlife Trust spoke to us about the positive work that is happening in the Derwent Valley catchment area.

The Derwent Living Forest Project is connecting the National Forest in the south of Derbyshire with forests being created in the north of England with the aim of reducing flooding in the Derwent catchment area, improving habitats for wildlife and reconnecting landscapes across the midlands.

During this 30 year project Derbyshire Wildlife Trust are working with landowners to help them assess their land for flooding, encouraging them to plant more trees and hedges and make other changes to increase wildlife habitats to aid natures recovery.

George said that the landowners that they have worked with so far have been very enthusiastic and willing to plant more hedges and trees and make the other changes they have suggested.

Ideas we can do at home to help #slowtheflow of rain to our rivers include reducing hard surfaces, build a pond, plant hedges and trees, build raised beds. For more information and ideas check out their 15 brilliant ideas to stop flooding leaflet

If you would like to get involved DWT have many varied volunteering opportunities You can contact their team on 01773 881188 or at volunteering@derbyshirewt.co.uk

Crich Share & Repair Cafe - 10 June

Joining up with the Glebe's Table Top Sale proved to be a winning formula for the latest Share & Repair Cafe with our highest number of visitors to date.

Volunteers came together from the Glebe and Crich Share & Repair Cafe to share their skills and provide a space for the community to sell their unwanted second hand items or repair their broken items to prevent them going into landfill.

Some of the items repaired included a wooden card playing table with broken hinges, a teddy bear that need stuffing, a remote control for a whirlpool bath, a bike that needed a service, broken arm on some sunglasses, split seam on a dress, chicken house door, plus Ade & Alan sharpened over 40 garden tools, knives and scissors!

Volunteers shared their repairing skills by showing people how to fix their own items and gave demonstrations on how to use a sewing machine, a soldering iron and how to make plant milk using an Almond Cow!

Donations were made for the repairs and many people bought the delicious homemade cakes sold in the café, which will all help to keep the Crich Share & Repair Café open.

We welcome new volunteers with open arms! Roles include fixing things, serving in the café, organising, welcoming customers and helping them complete our repair forms. If you can help please get in touch by emailing transitioncrich@gmail.com.

The Big Help Out - Monday 8 May 2023

Volunteers from Transition Crich and Crich Open Gardens got together today to lend a hand with #TheBigHelpOut, an initiative to mark the coronation of His Majesty the King's Coronation.

Despite the rain, we met up outside Crich Glebe Field Centre and split into two teams:

1 - Litter pick - lots of rubbish was collected from around our streets and the Rec.

2- Planting - refreshing the Queen Elizabeth Garden outside the Glebe and Medical Practice. We added edible plants like raspberries, strawberries and herbs and also made a bug hotel.

We were so busy chatting that two hours flew by. We were really pleased with what we had achieved and came away with a good sense of wellbeing.

There is still plenty to do. So if you would like to join us next time, please get in touch. The more the merrier!

#The Big One - 21 to 14 April 2023

Members of Transition Crich were taking action at #TheBigOne this weekend – a four day climate protest in Westminster and the Houses of Parliament.

Hazel said "It was a great feeling to be with people from all over the country (a woman on our coach had marched with her daughter from Cornwall. We'd chatted to people from Burnley and Portsmouth); the strength of togetherness to build a strong force to let the Government know that things must change immediately.

I also felt that these great organisers weren't just going to go away thinking The Big One was a great success; this is the start of a demand and they will not stop until we have got the changes that will start the whole system change.

I didn't see this yesterday but for me I want to say "The power of the people is stronger than the people in power."

Crich Inaugural Share & Repair Cafe - 15 October 2022

Successful first repair cafe and skill share held at Crich Glebe Field Centre

We held our first Crich Share & Repair Cafe in partnership with Art Share Crich's annual exhibition of art and craft works made by local people.

Both groups encourage residents to share theirs skills with others in the community through fixing things and sharing their artistic flair.

The repair cafe was well attended and feedback was positive, so we are encouraged to hold some more next year. Keep an eye on our Events Page for dates!

Pledges at Crich Fete 2022

At the Crich Village Fete 2022 we invited visitors to add pledges to our pledge tree in support of environmental changes they would make in their lives. Every Little Helps

Reduce waste
Keep using public transport
Put in a wildlife pond
Rewild my garden
Ask my university to switch of computers each night in the computer labs
Grow more flowers
Use refill shampoos and soaps
Leave an area of the lawn unmown
Buy fizzy drinks in a can not plastic bottles
Reduce my electricity use
Give up flying
Cut down meat consumption
Make a wild flower patch

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