January 1, 2023
Happy New Year from the Sustainable South Hams team! To celebrate, we've put together a collection of some of our activities over the last year. Thank you so much to all of you who have supported SusSH, joined in our events and brought your own passion, drive and enthusiasm to sustainability in the South Hams. We're excited to let you know about our plans for 2023 in the New Year, and look forward to seeing what amazing ideas and projects we'll be seeing from South Hams sustainability groups!
We've organised seven well-attended events including a compost gathering and field trips to rewilding sites, regenerative farms and wildlife projects with more 140 total attendees.
A successful series of six monthly gatherings for group leaders have brought together representatives of environmental groups, local government and other organisations to discuss and learn from one another. We have also run three online meetings for members on a variety of subjects, including supporting households in fuel poverty.
The Sustainable South Hams Assembly on 8th October 2022 drew over 100 attendees representing 33 South Hams parishes and featured talks, exhibitions and special interest group discussions. In feedback, attendees rated the event on average 9/10.
Planet Local, an event in Bigbury on the 3rd December 2022, showcased 25 local & sustainable small businesses and acted as a pilot for future similar events.
Our new website included a focus on: showing the relationship between parishes, groups and projects; the status of each parish/ town in terms of carbon footprint, climate emergency declaration and plans to address this; and sharing knowledge and inspiration in terms of events, resources, case studies and project documentation.
We created Special Interest Groups with their own discussion groups, dedicated to specific focus areas: Group Leaders; Community Composting; Parish & Town Councillors; Community Energy; Water and Land.
Our newsletter mailing list offers monthly updates to almost 300 subscribers and we are present on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube.
Supported and fostered the creation of new South Hams sustainability groups in Ermington, Marldon, Ipplepen, Kingsbridge and more.