Ashton Hayes Emergency Flood Relief Fund - HELP REQUESTED

Ashton Hayes suffered bad flooding last week and several families have had to leave their homes.  They are unlikely to be able to return for some months.

On top of COVID-19 this has been an additional blow that they could have done without.

At the request of residents Ashton Hayes and Horton cum Peel Parish Council has set up an emergency relief fund and we were hoping you could assist us by publicising it to all your social media channels, website, partnership channels and contacts through the energy company.

The link to pledge funds is https://www.spacehive.com/emergency-flooding-relief-fund

Any assistance you could give here would be extremely gratefully received. The quicker we can reach our target the earlier we can start helping those in need.

Paul Varey
Vice Chair Ashton Hayes and Horton cum Peel Parish Council

(Photo credit: Yvette Owen 20.1.21)

Timeline to mark our 15th anniversary

Our project was launched to the public on 26th January 2006 and since then we have met hundreds of communities, formed a village energy company and have enjoyed global media coverage. Steve Holland, with the support of RSK, has produced this timeline with some of our key moments. We plan to display this in Ashton Hayes once the COVID-19 crisis ends.

Ashton Hayes in UK-Finland podcast HEL-LO! Climate Calling

4 February 2021: Our project is featured in a new series of podcasts entitled HEL-LO! Climate Calling - a joint British-Finnish podcast that uncovers the world of climate diplomacy. What happens behind the scenes in global climate conferences? What do pub quizzes or Finnish footballer Teemu Pukki have to do with reducing global CO2 emissions?

The Embassy of Finland in London and the British Embassy in Helsinki joined forces to produce a four-part podcast series with episodes focusing on climate diplomacy, climate justice, cities & communities and circular economy. This podcast is your guide to truly understanding COP26, UN’s Climate Change Conference, due to take place in Glasgow in November 2021.

Ashton Hayes Going Carbon Neutral is featured in the fourth and final episode that focuses on how small communities are making a difference to the big picture, with the mayor of the northern town of Ii, Ari Alatossava, and project founder, Garry Charnock.

Click for full details and press release

We'll soon be 15 years old and meeting via Zoom for now

We're pleased to report that the Board of our community energy company is continuing to operate 'as normal' using Zoom video conferencing: from left to right starting at the top - Roy Alexander (chair), Garry Charnock, Kate Harrison, David Wilson, Lauren Colville, Andy Pennick, Maria Lindley and Richard Stradling (no image).The latest meeting was on Thursday 24th September where we discussed a range of matters including some new sustainability initiatives for 2021 and reviewed the continuing income from our solar panels on the school and pavilion. We also reviewed the progress of our project timeline poster that we hope to have finished by 26 January 2021 which will be our 15th anniversary. Here is a photo of the launch event all those years ago!

 

"Growing up green" study findings by Rebecca Collins

Last year, Rebecca Collins of the University of Chester examined how the Going Carbon Neutral Project influenced young people and if their behaviours went beyond the village. Rebecca has prouced this short summary of her findings...

“I think the impact that it has on the young people in those towns you know, one to many and then one to many again if you can inspire a group of individuals who will become more involved in politics and move to another city and start to try and replicate those things and spreading it.” (Project Participant 4)

In 2018 I was awarded a Small Research Grant by the Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers) (RGS-IBG) to investigate the extent to which the individual and household behaviours associated with carbon neutral living, promoted through Ashton Hayes’s ‘Going Carbon Neutral’ (GCN) project, travelled beyond the village. Given my research interest in the ways that young people engage with climate change/sustainability initiatives, my project specifically explored whether young adults who had ‘grown up green’ in the village during Ashton’s push towards carbon neutrality were able to carry that ‘greening’ with them – both in terms of aspiration and practice – as they moved on from the village to form independent households elsewhere.

Click to read more ...