On Saturday 23 September, residents of Nuneaton enjoyed the first ‘The Big Save’ roadshow organised by Warwickshire Climate Alliance.The next one will be in Coleshill.
Nuneaton
On Saturday 23 September, residents of Nuneaton enjoyed the first ‘The Big Save’ roadshow organised by Warwickshire Climate Alliance. The roadshow gave local residents tips on saving energy, reducing food waste, recycling, and offered a pop-up repair café to fix residents’ broken electricals for free.
The roadshows are funded by Warwickshire County Council’s Green Shoots Community Climate Change Fund and five more events are planned in Atherstone, Bedworth, Coleshill, Kingsbury and Polesworth.
Hazel Underwood, Committee Member from Warwickshire Climate Alliance, said: “It was great to engage with local residents in Nuneaton and the feedback we received from people who attended the event was all extremely positive. We’d like to thank the Mayor of Nuneaton and Bedworth for coming along to support the event and for showing such a keen interest in what we are trying to achieve. We’re already planning our next event so that we can help even more Warwickshire residents and details will be announced soon.”
Steve Currie, who helped host the repair café at the event, said: “Repairing broken items instead of sending them to landfill is a great way of saving money. We were kept very busy on the day with repairs and many asked when we would be hosting our next one, so it is clear that residents would like to see this happen on a regular basis. There are regular repair cafes in other towns across Warwickshire, and it would be fantastic to see one open here in Nuneaton too.”
The Big Save also offered residents free refreshments, free seeds and plants, and a children’s toy swap.
Coleshill
Residents of Coleshill will be the second of six North Warwickshire towns to experience ‘The Big Save’ roadshow. The roadshow is aimed at helping local residents to make little or no-cost changes to support the environment. Running on Saturday 9th March, the roadshow will cover topics such as saving energy, saving water, reducing food waste, recycling, repairing & reusing, and active travel.
The roadshows are being organised by Warwickshire Climate Alliance and are funded by Warwickshire County Council’s Green Shoots Community Climate Change Fund. The £1m Green Shoots Community Climate Change Fund supports a wide range of small, community-powered initiatives across Warwickshire to address the climate change emergency. Warwickshire Climate Alliance were allocated £10,998 in funding which will allow them to deliver the six pop-up roadshow events across North Warwickshire.
Hazel Underwood, Committee Member from Warwickshire Climate Alliance, said: “We look forward to engaging with local communities across Warwickshire and highlighting the actions that people can take to make a real difference. We believe that saving the planet doesn’t have to cost the earth.”
Cllr Heather Timms, Portfolio Holder for Environment, Climate and Culture, said: “It can be easy to assume that unless you have the space to install solar panels or heat pumps at home, or the money to buy an electric car, that the impact that you can have on your own carbon footprint and the wider climate will be minimal. This is not the case.”
The Big Save roadshow is free to attend and fully accessible to all. There will be a variety of Community groups attending including Act on Energy, Low Carbon Warwickshire Network, Coleshill WI and Clean Air Warwickshire. There will also free refreshments, free seeds and plants, and a pop-up Repair Café, so residents are encouraged to bring any items that need repair or no longer work. The event is family friendly too, with a toy swap happening, so bring along any toys in good condition for swapping.
Warwickshire Cycle Buddies will also be hosting a free 3-hour basic bike maintenance workshop in conjunction with The Broom Wagon Cyclery, aimed at those who would like to get out on their bikes more, but are unsure how to best maintain them or how to do basic repairs when out and about. Advance booking required as spaces are limited – email cleanairwarwickuk@gmail.com to book a place.