Shropshire Climate Action: Energy advice and funding Advice & funding The Boiler Upgrade Scheme provides grants of £7,500 towards the installation of a heat pump. Currently, if moving from LPG or an oil boiler, you could be eligible for up to £9,000. This scheme is not means tested. Help from the Government’s Warm Homes: Local Grant scheme is available to those on low income, benefits, or with health issues Many energy-saving measures have a fairly short payback period. If you pay for your own improvements we strongly recommend getting some free advice: see Home Energy Survey below Marches Energy Advice's local directory can help you to find a recommended retrofit installer. Click here to apply in Shropshire Click here to apply in Telford Click here for the Directory What is a Household Energy Survey (HES)? A Household Energy Survey (HES) is a thorough analysis of your home and energy use and would normally include: Heating – boilers, heat pumps, electric heating, controls, radiators/underfloor heating Hot water – storage, distribution and use Insulation – roof/loft, floor, walls, windows and doors and related structural issues Draughtproofing, cold air infiltration and ventilation Lighting and appliances Historic/real-time energy consumption, bills and advice on tariffs Opportunities for renewable energy generation and storage Read on below for local HES providers. Household Energy Survey providers Marches Energy Advice (MEA) provide: free energy advice on saving money on your energy bills and home energy efficiency home visits to conduct Household Energy Surveys support accessing grants for heating and insulation, resolve issues with energy suppliers and fuel debt energy advisors can also provide drop in advice sessions in local communities. Lightfoot Enterprises provide the following services in south Shropshire and Powys: Household Energy Surveys (HES) : Household Energy Surveys (HES) and associated advice on how to make your home more energy efficient. there are also opportunities to be trained as a volunteer to conduct HES. Stretton Climate Care provide: Household Energy Surveys and information on retrofit for people living within a 5 mile radius of Church Stretton. a free drop in advice session on Thursdays 10-12pm at the Wellbeing Centre, Easthope Road, Church Stretton for any energy related questions including support with energy bills Find a local trusted installer for your retrofit project A Directory of local trusted contractors for your retrofit project is available on the Marches Energy Advice's website . The Directory provides details of recommended installers, trades people and professionals who can help you with retrofitting a building. The area covered by the Directory includes Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin. Click here for the Directory Further helpful websites Energy Saving Trust Financial support for home energy - Energy Company Obligation grants The Boiler Upgrade Scheme - support for low carbon heating systems, such as heat pumps and biomass boilers Shropshir e Council Sustainable Warmth Shropshire - supports low income and vulnerable households to improve energy efficiency. Grants are currently restricted to dwellings that do not have a mains gas connection

Shropshire Climate Action: Food Food Actions you can take for a healthy diet which also reduces carbon emissions: Aim to be food waste free Eat more plant-based foods Eat less, but bu y better quality local meat and d airy Buy local, seasonal and organic produce Support farmers markets and local box schemes Use local independent retailers Choose Fairtrade-certifi ed products Select fish only from sustainable sources Eat a healthy balanced diet and less processed food Grow your own or join a community garden or food Co-op What is the carbon footprint of your diet? Use the BBC's online interactive climate change food calculator to calculate the carbon footprint of your diet on the climate. Assess the sustainability of your food shop 23% of your carbon footprint comes from the products you buy at the supermarket Impact Score® Shopping is an app you can use when shopping or at home to scan the barcodes on food products and find out how ethical and sustainable they are. It will tell you if they have a low, medium of high carbon footprint. It will also suggest ‘more sustainable’ alternatives for products. Grow your own food Grow your own food – reduce the carbon miles of your meals Find out more about having an allotment at All About Allotments Apply to your local council for an allotment: www.gov.uk/apply-allotment World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF) : volunteer with organic farmers and growers in Shropshire and beyond to gain skills and understanding about growing food in exchange for your labour. How to get involved locally Find out more about the expanding local food network in Shropshire Shropshire Good Food Partnership works with different stakeholders across Shropshire to: provide individuals and groups with support to set up and manage community-based food growing, cooking and shar ing initiatives support land-based enterprises and food businesses with innovation and create opportunities to access local markets and develop the local food economy bring together stakeholders including Local Government to engage on policy and planning and deliver goods and services Working groups include: Grow Local, Sustainable Food Economy, Wise Land Stewardship, Nature Connection, Reducing Food Waste, Healthy Food For All Contact for more information: hello@shropshiregoodfood.org Slow Food Ludlow Marches organises events such as themed meals, tastings, producer visits, markets, talks and demonstrations. The group describes its aim as “supporting local, small scale, sustainable food production” and has recently had a particular emphasis on supporting and preserving local endangered foods. The Slow Food Movement is a global, grassroots movement that links the pleasure of food with a commitment to community and the environment. Join campaigns for more sustainable agriculture Join campaigns for more sustainable agriculture: The Soil Association campaign s for healthy, humane and sustainable food, farming and land use The Sustainable Food Trust explores solutions for a food and farming production system that causes the least possible harm to humans and the planet

Shropshire Climate Action: Eco anxiety Dealing with eco anxiety What is eco anxiety? E co anxiety (also known as ‘eco distress’ and ‘eco grief’) describes the wide range of negative thoughts and emotions people may expe rience when they hear about the global challenges our planet is facing. It can include an overwhelming sense of hopelesness and doom. The Royal College of Psychiatrists describe a range of emotions such as feeling anxious, worried, upset, scared, sad, angry, distressed, vulnerable, or unsure about the future. Research by Marks et al. 2021 showed the impact of eco anxiety among young people aged 16-25. Watch these short videos by psychotherapist Ro Randall on Coping with the Climate Crisis (2020) to help understand and accept these intense feelings. How to deal with eco anxiety First, it is important to acknowledge that these feelings are rational and show how much you care. Secondly, people should be allowed to express their distress about the climate crisis. It is important to listen to each other. Consider joining a climate café (see below), which offer safe, informal spaces for people to talk about their feelings, fears & uncertainties about the climate and ecological crises. In the words of We Are Possible, “The best remedy to climate despair is to take action, together.” Further actions Explore this website to make a difference in reducing carbon emissions and protecting Nature. You will be joining millions of others across the world.. Sign up to We Are Possible - a UK based organisation who “face our climate dread with a can-do attitude and sense of fun” for practical actions and approaches. The Climate Majority Project is enabling mass citizen-led climate action across the UK, connecting people across social, political and strategic boundaries, and building communities so that the climate majority can find their power and voice. “Most people sense that we’re in deep trouble with climate change, and they want to do something. We help projects to grow, get funding, and connect with as many willing hands as possible… Join us in creating the future you want, wherever you are, however you can, with all that you’ve got." Sign up to The Cool Down newsletter which provides lots of information on how to be green, save money and read good news stories about climate action. "How to live in a chaotic climate" Check out this book “How to Live in a Chaotic Climate: 10 Steps to Reconnect with Ourselves, Our Communities, and Our Planet” (2023) By Laura Schmidt, Aimee Lewis Reau, Chelsie Rivera “Eco-distress is real. How to Live in a Chaotic Climate is here to help you rediscover meaning, joy, and connection as the tumult around us increases. Based on the Good Grief Network’s acclaimed 10 Steps to Resilience and Empowerment in a Chaotic Climate program, this book unpacks the social, political, and spiritual nuances of the climate emergency, step by step" Listen to this 10 mins segment about Eco-grief and anxiety on BBC4 Women's Hour (broadcast 15/6/23) in which climate scientist turned campaigner Jen Newall from the Climate Majority Project talks about: how growing numbers of people are experiencing eco-grief and anxiety explores what exactly is the impact on people and how we can turn the tables and help people to feel more hopeful about the environment. Climate cafés: Joining with others to support one another Online Climate Cafés facilitate talking and listening to people who share your concerns and who want to take action. The Climate Psychology Alliance (of therapeutic practitioners, researchers, artists and others) hold regular climate cafés online each month. Follow this Eventbrite link to find a date that suits you. Consider starting a climate café in your area: Contact Climate Café® who have been running climate cafes across Scotland and in Solihull for seven years. They love to share ideas, support and guidance and can connect you with others to create a safe, welcoming and inclusive venue.

Shropshire Climate Action: Toolkit for swap & share events Swap event: Toolkit Here's how to run a Swap & Share event 1 Book a suitable community space; a stall on a market; arrange a pitch outside an amenable shop; or set up a table on your street 2 Make a poster with the event details and what people can bring to swap (it could be a single theme e.g. a clothes swap or a swap featuring any or all of the following e.g. clothes, household items, toys, games, CD’s, DVD’s, books, plants, seeds, harvest produce etc. 3 Put the posters up around the local community and post to social media 4 Set up your table on the day and get swapping! If you are doing a clothes swap it is helpful to have a clothes rail and hangers (charity shops may be willing to provide these) 5 Arrange a donation bucket to allow people to take things on a pay as you can basis 6 If you are having swaps more regularly you can advertise the next swap at this event to help spread the word 7 Think about where you store any left over stuff or where you could take it (e.g. charity shops, crisis support organisations, day care centres, community libraries – its good to check what they need first) 8 Think about doing a risk assessment and you may want to get public liability insurance if you are doing these events regularly

Shropshire Climate Action: Climate action groups in Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin Local Climate Action Groups Find a Climate Action Group near you Many communities across Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin have a local climate action group which may provide various types of support including information, advice, events and drop ins on how to reduce your carbon emissions and get involved in taking climate and nature action. See the full list below. To find out more about what local groups are doing you can also sign up to our monthly newsletters here . If your group has an event you want to advertise, please send the details to our communications group by clicking on this link . Light Foot Enterprises C/o Enterprise House, Station Street, Bishops Castle, SY9 5AQ. Covers Bishop's Castle & surrounding area Mail Click for information Clun Climate & Environment Group Clun Town Council with Chapel Lawn Mail Click for information Market Drayton Climate Action Market Drayton & surrounding area Mail Click for information Pontesbury Climate Emergency Action Group Pontesbury Parish Mail Click for information St Martin’s Parish Council Climate Action Working Group St Martins Village Hall, Shropshire, SY11 3AY. Mail Click for information Transition Telford Meetings held 1st Tuesday of the month at the Cock Hotel, 148 Holyhead Road, Wellington, TF1 2DL. Mail Click for information Sustainable Bridgnorth Meetings held at St John's Catholic Church Hall, Northgate, Bridgnorth, WV16 4ER. Mail Click for information Clunbury Climate & Environment Group Covers Parish of Clunbury Mail Click for information Sustainable Newport Covers Newport & surrounding area (around TF10 postcode) Mail Click for information Shrewsbury Friends of the Earth Shrewsbury Mail Click for information Stretton Climate Care Drop in sessions held at the Health and Wellbeing Centre, Church Stretton, SY6 6BL. Mail Click for information Teme Valley Environment Group Knighton & surrounding area Mail Click for information Broseley Climate Action Group Bridgnorth Town Council, Broseley, TF12 5EL. Mail Click for information Ludlow 21 C/o Ludlow Mascall Centre, Lower Galdeford, Ludlow, SY8 1RZ. Covers Ludlow & surrounding area Mail Click for information Oswestry Climate Action Hub 36 Bailey Street, Oswestry, SY11 1PU Mail Click for information XR Shrewsbury (Extinction Rebellion) Meetings held Wednesdays monthly at the Nags Head, 22 Wyle Cop, Shrewsbury, SY1 1XB. Mail Click for information Climate Action Hub Telford Events held at Belmont Hall, Tan Bank, Wellington,TF1 1LT. Mail Click for information Wem Area Climate Action Wem & surrounding area Mail Click for information

Shropshire Climate Action: Active Travel Active travel Short Journeys: walking and cycling To make walking or cycling the first choice for short journeys we need safe roads, cycle paths and footpaths so people of all ages can enjoy using them. Nationally, transport spending currently favours cars over all other forms of transport, including active travel (walking and cycling) so policy changes and investment are required to encourage the transition to active travel. Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan Shropshire Council commissioned a Loca l Cycling & Walking Infrastructure Plan (LCWIP) focusing on seven market towns during 2022/23. Proposals include a network of segregated cycle lanes, improved road and paving surfaces, reduced speed limits and safer crossings at road junctions and roundabouts. Implementation takes place over 10 years. Actions you can take Try using public transport, walking or cycling once a week to replace shorter journeys Share transport as much as possible Consider joining or starting a car or lift-share club Sustrans is a charity which aims to make it easier for peo ple to walk and cycle. They are the custodian of the National Cycle Network – the UK-wide network of over 12,000 miles of signed paths and routes for walking, wheeling, cycling and exploring outdoors. And they have lots of tips for getting active by using a bike or walking Shropshire Cycle Hub is a community charity focused on improving access to healthy sustainable transport across Shropshire. Find out about the services they offer including bike servicing, rickshaws and how you can get involved. Actions schools can take DfT School Streets programme in Shropshire helps schools to create an active travel plan. See link for more details about the wider initiative. Not all schools are eligible. The programme is being trialled by 6 schools across the county Bikeability is a national cycle training offer for schools supported by Shropshire Council Living Streets is the UK charity for everyday walking. Their Walk to School Outreach project, is working with Shropshire Council and Active Travel England (ATE) to encourage more primary school children and their families to walk to school. Their WOW challenge has increased walking rates by an average of 23% in the first 5 weeks. With funding from ATE, schools across Shropshire are being offered the WOW challenge for free (usual cost £500). See if your primary school is eligible here . Living Streets also offers support to communities and workplaces to make walking a natural choice for all. See the website for information about their walk leader training and their project work. Sustrans organises: Sustrans Big Walk and Wheel the UK's biggest school cycling, walking and scooting event Cycle to School Week Sustrans School Streets is a test programme to address congestion, poor air quality and road safety concerns that many schools experience during drop-off and pick-up times. This project is being delivered in association with Playing Out Big Street Survey is a free curriculum resource enabling pupils to investigate the area around their school and create a manifesto on how to make their streets safer and greener

Shropshire Climate Action: Refuse & Reduce Refuse & reduce Changing the system to reduce our impact To reduce carbon emissions we need to reduce the amount we buy and throw away. This 20 minute video ‘The Story of Stuff' by Annie Leonard explains how most of the things we buy use the industrial production model "take, make and throw away’’ – which means items have a linear – one directional life span. The materials are extracted from the earth - made into the item – distributed and sold to consumers – used - then thrown away. A circular economy and Doughnut Economics offer more sustainable models of production. Circular economies design products to be more durable, reusable, repairable, and recyclable, and are therefore kept in use for as long as possible. This helps to eliminate waste and pollution; prioritises using renewable materials and renewable energy sources; and can help to regenerate Nature. The Helen MacArthur Foundation website provides more information and examples about how circular economies work. Kate Raworth's video on ‘Doughnut Economics,' extends the Circular Economy and “offers a vision of what it means for humanity to thrive in the 21st century” in ways that promote social and ecological justice. The video is below. More on Doughnut Economics The DEAL (Doughnut Economics Action Lab) website demonstrates how to turn theory into action, and Civic Square is a case study from Birmingham. The image below of Doughnut Economics is taken from the DEAL website .

Shropshire Climate Action: Local lobbying Local lobbying Why lobby? Making climate-friendly personal choices is important. However , we know that behavioural changes by individuals and their local communities cannot reduce carbon emissions on the scale scientists tell us is crucial to avoid catastrophic climate change. National and Local Government and businesses must take action too . How to lobby Take a look at Market Drayton Climate Action's website and their dedicated Lobbying section for inspiration, suggested content and contacts on who to lobby by topic. Every month their members lobby those who can make changes at scale. This may be: companies extracting fossil fuels the banks and pension funds who invest in them and other organisations with large carbon footprints. You can also write directly to government leaders and potential leaders, nationally and regionally, holding them to account for climate promises broken and demanding the serious, strong actions we expect from them. Join the local lobbying network Climate and environment groups across Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin are working together to share their lobbying efforts. If you would like to be added to the What’s App group set up for this purpose, please email contact@shropshireclimateaction.org to request this. This will require you to provide your mobile phone number. You can help the Climate and Nature (CAN) Bill by writing to your local MP. The Zero Hour (CAN) website helps people create letters: to our local MPs who are already supporters of the CAN Bill (Julia Buckley, Labour, Shrewsbury and Helen Morgan, Lib Dem, North Shropshire) and local MPs that have not yet agreed to support it (Mark Pritchard, Conservative, The Wrekin, Stuart Anderson, Conservative, South Shropshire, Shaun Davies, Labour, Telford). Groups that want to get more involved in the CAN campaign can use this pack of resources which has lots of ideas, including template press releases, downloadable materials and a pack of social media resources . Write to your MP You can also write to your local MP to demand action in relation to climate change policies. Click her e and type in your postcode to find your MP . Or use the details below to contact your MP. You can call, email or w rite to them. As long as you are within their constituency they are obligated to respond . North Shropshire - Helen Morgan 01939 809387 1st Floor Offices Maypole Court Wem SY4 5AA Click here to email Telford - Shaun Davies 01952 973714 House of Commons London SW1A 0AA Click here to email South Shropshire - Stuart Anderson 01584 872187 Ludlow Constituency Conservative Association 54 Broad Street Ludlow SY8 1GP Click here to email Shrewsbury - Julia Buckley 01743 650434 64 Wyle Cop Shrewsbury SY1 1UX Click here to email The Wrekin - Mark Pritchard 01952 256080 25 Church Street Wellington TF1 1DG Click here to email

Shropshire Climate Action: What's on Upcoming Events In previous years, SCA has held an annual conference. This year we are holding a series of events on each of our major themes. This will allow us to cover issues in more depth. Details of these events will be published here as available. Restoring Nature Through Collective Action in Shropshire Tue 15 Sept Shropshire Wildlife Trust More info Buy Tickets If you would like us to publish any events that your local group is arranging in our newsletter or social media please email the poster or specific information to contact@shropshireclimateaction.org . The deadline for receiving any information for our forthcoming newsletter edition is the last week of the month, with publication on the 1st of the month.

For contributors - how to use WIX We're trying to see if people who can use a text editor, such as Word, can contribute to this site. This page will grow to contain links to articles and videos on using it, as well as giving some initial guidance. Let us know what works for you and any helpful sources you find. If you've just started, you are not being asked to produce final, pretty layout, using all the features of WIX. It's sufficient to add pages you need, text boxes (with bullet points rather than WIX lists), and images to be used. The WIX documentation for the editor is here . Warning: this is being written by a new user - it's probably be full of mistakes, but these can be fixed. Finding things in the WIX editor user interface In your WIX account, click on 'Edit Site'. The editor will open at the home page. There are boxes around elements, that aren't visible on the published site. Make sure you don't work in the header or footer (it should be possible to lock these for most users). Hover over 'Site', to the right of the WIX logo. The 'Preview', 'View Site' and 'Exit Editor' options are useful for now. Ignore the rest, and the rest of that row of controls, except for 'Help' of course. You can also 'Save', 'Preview' and 'Publish' the site using the controls at the top right. Just below it a drop down box, starting 'Page: ...'. Click on the down arrow and you'll see a list of the pages on the site. Select a page to edit it. (It should be possible to limit editing / publishing of a page to nominated users.) Beneath the drop down, on the left of the screen, is a column of icons. In order they are: Add Elements: You build a page by adding elements (such as a 'strip', a text box or images) to it. See below. Add Section: The top level of each page consists of horizontal 'sections'. You work within these sections. See below. Pages & Menus: Let's you access the site's pages, create new pages and edit the menu (simply drag and drop). Site Design / Add Apps / My Business: ignore these three. Media: Let's you see images, documents and videos already uploaded and upload more. You can also upload as you add new media to a page. Content Manager: looks as though it should let us organise content and make it easier to use. More to come ... Marketing & SEO: ignore for now. Using the WIX page editor This isn't as easy as it might be, but is quite useable once you've had a play. The following concentrates on the basics, so you can (1) edit text or change or add images to an existing page, or (2) create a new page and bung some content on it, leaving the final layout, for now, to someone else. Basic page structure The top level of a WIX page is a stack of 'Sections', each of which is a horizontal layer across the page. Touch a section and it will be outlined, in purple for me at the minute. With it highlighted, you'll see an 'Add Section' button at the bottom, which adds a new section beneath the selected on, and an up/down arrow to let you change the height of the section (at the bottom, you can't move the top border down). The next (optional) level of hierarchy is a 'Strip'. This is a horizontal layer to let you group other elements within a section. I think that one thing it does is help advanced users make sure that pages appear sensibly on mobile phones. Touch the '+' (Add Elements) button on the left to see the elements you can add and drag a strip to where you want it in your section. You can place other elements either directly in a section or nested within a strip. I'd avoid using strips for now, but it's helpful to know they exist. Other elements range from text boxes and images, through to complex structures, including ones under 'My Designs' (which I guess we should use to create standardised layout for us novices to use consistently). People adding content can probably get away with text and images for now! Before proceeding, note that two vertical dotted 'guidelines' on the page. You need to keep all content within the lines to be sure they are visible on smaller displays - see the documentation on guidelines . Guidelines in columns (like those in the next section) override the normal guidelines, as in the documentation. Editing an existing page I'm a paragraph. Click here to add your own text and edit me. It's easy. Creating a new page Click on 'Pages and Menu' on the left and click on '+ Add Page' at the bottom of the pop-up menu. You're offered a host of possible templates to start from, but few of them look useful to us. For now, click on '+ Blank Page' to get a blank page to play with. Add a blank section and then add a text box. Size it to fit if necessary. To edit text in the box either double click on the box or select the box and click on 'Edit Text'. It's best to only format the text using the Themes in the Text Settings window. (I'm currently using Paragraph 2 for this text.) I think it's probably best to have a separate text box for each heading and for each block of text, as in the section. I may be wrong. The headings can then each use an appropriate Theme (like a Word 'style'). A different new section Now click on '+ Add Section' at the bottom of the first section you created. Choose 'Basic' and select the template that looks like this section. It has a heading on the left and text in a box on the right, and isn't laid out very well! You could correct the layout, but don't bother for know. All that matters is that you can add a heading and some text as content. That can subsequently be put into a consistent layout for the website. As a final step, add an image element beneath the title in this section and resize it to fit. You can use an offered image or download one into the site media store. Again, the aim is simply to store an image away as content to be used with your text.

Zero Carbon Shropshire has linked with Shropshire Climate Action - click here to carry on.