< Back Reflections on the new National Food Strategy for Shropshire Daphne Du Cros 26 Jul 2025 Shropshire Good Food Partnership consider if this is the solution we have been waiting for After digesting the new food strategy and considering the reflections and reviews of other professionals in food policy, this is our analysis, and what it means for Shropshire, our communities, and people. As a note, I write this as someone who has lived and breathed food policy for over 15 years of my career and have watched in disbelief as our food system and regard for farmers has continued to slide into the background of policy and governance. Opportunities have been missed and leadership on food system transformation has been weak. The result has been a heavy corporate influence that has impacted billions of people, our economy, our environment, knowledge, links to nature and confidence in our own abilities to feed ourselves and know food. Something has to change quickly, which is why I finished my PhD in Food Policy and started a Market Garden, and then became the coordinator of SGFP: We can’t wait for government to hand down a perfectly formed solution for us to take action (perfect is the enemy of the good, afterall). The grassroots must lead the charge on change, as indeed it always has. The National Food Strategy is a positive step for central government, but it’s essentially playing catch up with what we already know, and what many of us have been doing for the last decade(s). By and large, the National Food Strategy (NFS) is being well received, with comments saying that it picks up where Henry Dimbleby’s strategy left off (a good document that should have been put to work right away), particularly that it makes the effort to connect the dots on food, farming, culture, public health and environment. To read the full article on Shropshire Good Food Partnership's website please click here . Previous Next

< Back Beavers finally arrive in the Old River Bed, Shrewsbury! Julie Howe 10 Feb 2025 Hooray! Shropshire Wildlife Trust has released the long-awaited beavers into the site prepared for them in the Old River Bed. The pair are reported to be settling in well, and the boardwalks at the site are now open for quiet visits. For more information on the benefits the beavers can provide for the ecosystem and for water management, visit the SWT website . See also an interesting BBC news report about the beavers, on their release day. Previous Next

< Back A poem about climate change: to inspire thoughtful consideration and action David Powley 4 Jun 2024 Part of the Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow exhibition, Shropshire Hills Discovery Centre, Craven Arms, May 2024 This poem by David Powley formed part of the Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow exhibition held last month at the Shropshire Hills Discovery Centre, Craven Arms. The exhibition focused on the theme of climate change and the environment and the need for action and highlighted the importance of involving people of all ages in action and discussion about the issues. You can find more information about the project via this website . What the older generations did YESTERDAY means that we must all fix things TODAY so that the younger generations have a TOMORROW Previous Next

< Back Shropshire residents out in force in London for “The Big One For Biodiversity” March on 22nd April Fiona Morgan 22 Apr 2023 Members of SSCA joined in the March calling on the Government to protect Nature and take action on climate. On Saturday 22 April (Earth Day) people from across Shropshire and the UK attended the “The Big One For Biodiversity” March in Westminster calling on the Government to take meaningful climate action and halt the biodiversity crisis affecting the UK’s wildlife. The event was organised by Extinction Rebellion in partnership with over 200 environmental and social justice groups including Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth, Fair Trade Foundation, Stop Ecocide, Keep Britain Tidy and faith groups. It was estimated that 65,000 people attended the March including children and their families to show their concern about the current crises, many of whom made some amazing creative art works to demonstrate their love and appreciation of nature. Previous Next

< Back Middle Marches Community Land Trust launches White Grit Meadows Appeal Julie Howe 30 Aug 2025 Preserving unique habitats for wildlife in the Marches A Community Land Trust is a nonprofit, community-based organisation committed to the stewardship and affordability of land, housing and other buildings used for community benefit in perpetuity. CLTs across the country take a variety of forms; usually they have the aim of meeting local housing need and providing community benefit.However, in Shropshire, the Middle Marches CLT has a distinct purpose: to acquire and manage land of current or potential habitat and wildlife value to ensure nature conservation interest is developed and maintained in perpetuity. Currently the Trust holds four sites . It also works with land managers and organisations for habitat protection and improvement and shares information, advice, skills, expertise and knowledge on nature conservation. Now MMCLT is seeking to purchase and protect a site at White Grit: Wildflower meadows are one the rarest habitats in the UK. A local community land trust has been offered a rare and exciting opportunity to buy five acres of botanically rich meadow just over the Welsh border, at White Grit, within view of the mighty Corndon Hill. "It's a fantastic site", exclaims the Chair of Middle Marches Community Land Trust, Dr. Richard Keymer. " Across the UK, 97% of these meadows have been lost since the 1930's. We have launched an appeal for £45,000 to ensure that these small fields at White Grit will be there for future generations to enjoy ". Large billowing hedgerows enclose the meadows. On a summer's day there is a timeless feel to them as you wander from one room-like space to another, and it is all alive with bees, hoverflies and butterflies amongst the flowers. The site has been looked after by the present owners for 23 years, but they now need to relinquish their ownership, and have kindly offered the meadows to the Trust to purchase. The White Grit Meadows Appeal launched on Saturday 30 August from 1 to 4pm, at Cordon Marsh Chapel. Click here to give money to the appeal. Alternatively, donations can be sent by post, to the Middle Marches Community Land Trust, c/o Enterprise House, Bishops Castle SY9 5AQ. Please make cheques out to 'Middle Marches Community Land Trust. For further information please contact us via email . You can also read the Guardian newspaper’s recent article on MMCLT here . Previous Next

< Back SSCA's Objection to the North West Relief Road Design Amendments Jane Cullen 10 Mar 2023 Our response to Shropshire Council's NWRR consultation On behalf of South Shropshire Climate Action we are registering our objection to the North West Relief Road, in all its iterations. The planning application will clearly lead to irreversible loss of highly valuable greenfield sites and habitats at a time when nature and many different species are already severely challenged. The NWRR creates further massive issues including the risks to Shrewsbury's water supply, the likelihood of overspend and the resulting financial impact on the whole of the county which will suffer further cuts to other budgets (a county already undergoing £50 million cuts), and the negation of local democracy for example in the overriding of Town Council objections including Shrewsbury Town Council itself. Planning Application 21/00924/EIA embodies a profound contradiction of all current climate mitigation, the contradiction of Shropshire Council's recently announced support for the Climate and Ecology Bill as well as all the work that is going on in the county to educate and help communities face the climate emergency. We also note that the application is presented without scientific analysis of the carbon impact of the lifetime of the road and so appears to be a 'vanity project' running counter to the interests of Shrewsbury and the whole county of Shropshire. Planning Application 21/00924/EIA should be rejected on multiple counts, many not even touched on in this brief objection such as health, public transport and air pollution. Submitted on behalf of South Shropshire Climate Action. Previous Next

< Back Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin's Climate Conference: a young person's view Sascha Robinson 1 Jun 2024 Includes Dr Sam Hampton's key note speech "Collective action and behaviour change to tackle the climate crisis" On the 18th May, the Climate Conference for Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin, went ahead at Shrewsbury Town Football Club with over 130 people attending either as interested individuals or representatives of community groups, local businesses and councils. It was an opportunity to inspire and stimulate our communities to address the urgent changes needed to reach net zero. As a member of the Environmental Leadership Program (ELP2) with Shropshire Wildlife Trust, it was amazing to be given the opportunity to support the preparation and running of the event, alongside several other young people. The morning of the conference was kicked off by Dr Sam Hampton,* a climate behaviour expert, who discussed that across the globe, we severely underestimate how many people are interested in making behavioural and lifestyle changes to support the environment. He summarised that galvanising communities for climate action should be a top priority. Following this, myself and other young people shared our own perspective about the space for youth in climate action. It was a great chance for us to feel ourselves heard and to express that we need to be on the forefront of change. Young people no longer want to be a tokenistic addition to climate action. Our involvement in the development of the conference really gave us those opportunities we need to start seeing more of. Panel discussions focusing on the topics Land, Nature, Food and Farming, Transport, Energy and Housing, and the Circular Economy were held for the remainder of the morning. It was clear that the 30-minute times slots simply wouldn’t begin to cover the conversations that unfolded. What stuck with me was the education that needs to take place in all areas of climate action. Learning how to retrofit your own home or developing skills to repair rather buy new may be understood by those involved in climate action. But the main question remained, how can we engage and educate all people? In the afternoon, the delegates split into workshop groups to share ideas and knowledge across a broader 9 aspects of climate action including how to encourage public engagement and collaboration. The workshops were a great success. From speaking to fellow ELP2 facilitators, we concluded that the ideas were plentiful, but putting those ideas in place was where groups found a sticking point. The conference closed with a summary of each workshop’s actions. From here the groups will remain in contact, making the vital steps towards reaching their priority action goals. After an excellent day of brainstorming and collaborating, I can see our future towards net zero looks bright. The conference was organised by Zero Carbon Shropshire, South Shropshire Climate Action and Save Our Shropshire and sponsored by Shropshire Homes and Kier. A short film summarising the conference will be made available soon which we will circulate in a future newsletter. *The presentation slides from Dr Sam Hampton's key note speech " Collective action and behaviour change to tackle the climate crisis" can be read here. Dr Sam Hampton Conference Key Note Speech 18.5.24 .pptx Download PPTX • 11.01MB Previous Next

< Back Appointment of the new SSCA Project Co-ordinators Fiona Morgan 5 Jul 2022 Meet Nick Read and Fiona Morgan Nick and Fiona started as the SSCA project coordinators in the summer, 2022. Their role, in response to climate change, is to foster collaborative partnerships that inspire and support people and communities to undertake actions leading to human and ecological wellbeing. Fiona Morgan was formerly a social worker and Senior Lecturer in Social Work at the University of Wolverhampton. She has been actively engaged in voluntary work relating to climate action including Climate Action Network West Midlands, Transition Telford, and is a founding trustee of Climate Action Hub Telford. Nick Read is an Anglican Priest and Agricultural Chaplain, the Co-Chair of Herefordshire Green Network and a member of the Marches Nature Partnership. He was previously the Food Policy & Research Adviser for the NFU and Director of the Brightspace Foundation, a Herefordshire charity focused on sustainable development. You can email them at SSCA@mea.org.uk Previous Next

< Back Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s visit to Bishop’s Castle’s wind turbine public meeting in April Mike Watkins 1 Apr 2023 Lightfoot (members of SSCA 's network) show their support for the development of the Bishop's Castle Heat Network At a public meeting in Bishop’s Castle this month, called to report on the progress of the projected Wind-Turbine-powered Bishop’s Castle’s Community Heat & Wind Network , over 70 people responded to Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s request for a show of hands to vote on the authenticity of the climate crisis, the use of on-shore Wind-Turbines as one means of countering it and, specifically, on whether a Wind Turbine should be used for BC’s Community Heat & Wind Network . There was an overwhelmingly positive response to all his questions, with only a few dissenting or undecided. Hugh proffered an opportunity to those unconvinced or unsure to join his team to visit and learn from other renewable energy projects that will be covered as part of the Channel 4 documentary, which is to be screened in the autumn. The Heat and Wind network, designed by Sharenergy and Carbon Alternatives with funding from Shropshire & Telford Community Energy , would supply heat from an air-source heat pump powered by a Wind Turbine, which could be pumped to at least 100 houses in the Town as well as the Community College, the SpArC Leisure Centre and Enterprise House. The Heat Network would not be financially viable without the Wind Turbine. The scheme would result in a massive reduction in carbon emissions for the Town – which has an above average carbon footprint, dependent, as it is, on oil and LPG heating - and enable people to get rid of their boilers and oil tanks. A response is awaited from Shropshire Council to a pre-planning application for the Wind Turbine. A FAQs document about the scheme can be accessed via this link . To find out more about the project please e-mail: climateaction@lightfootenterprises.org Previous Next

< Back SSCA at the South Shropshire Youth Forum Annual Conference, Craven Arms Fiona Morgan 24 Jun 2023 Working with young people to make a difference We had a fantastic day at the South Shropshire Youth Conference, joining in a whole range of activities with the young people who attended, including a Bushcraft session in the beautiful Discovery Centre grounds, and watching local youth drama group productions centred around the concerns of young people including the climate crisis, pollution and Artificial Intelligence. We had the opportunity to play the brilliant new board game called Youth Chance designed by young people from South Shropshire Youth Forum (with financial support from SSCA and other organisations), where you set out to organise a youth project. We had one of the designers, Dominique Dodd, in our group who helped to explain the rules of the game where players are given a budget to work out what their priorities for their project are and how to deal with the potential barriers and opportunities projects face including staffing and resources. We all agreed it was a fantastic learning opportunity and we had fun designing our own eco project. Well done to all those involved! We contributed to the day by holding a clothes swap, with clothes kindly donated by the Cuan Wildlife Rescue charity shop in Shrewsbury, to encourage those attending to reuse things and avoid waste thereby reducing Greenhouse Gas emissions, and by taking an exhibition of photos by students at Hereford Sixth Form for their A level Photography course. The students’ assignment was to create pictures showing what they thought important about the environment having heard from Nick and Jane about South Shropshire Climate Action’s work and report ‘Next Steps’, with impressive results. Previous Next

< Back SSCA’s response to the government’s decision to roll back on the UK climate commitments Jane Cullen 23 Sept 2023 Our letter to Philip Dunne MP On the 23rd September we wrote to Philip Dunne MP, to make the following points: 2023 is the hottest year ever recorded; We in the UK lack climate leadership at all levels, especially government; The Office for Budget Responsibility has recently highlighted the economic benefits of speedy action on net zero and the financial risks associated with any delay; If we continue to use fossil fuels for our cars and heating this will drive up costs; Children experience profound anxiety as they try to grow up amidst all these pressures; Lack of action on the climate emergency creates more hardship and disintegration of communities while damage to the environment and nature accumulates; Milestones on the way to 2030 are missed that makes a net zero transition so much more difficult, so much less likely. Surely Prime Minister Sunak can see the climate emergency cannot be used in the ordinary way to score political points? Please write to Philip Dunne yourself (the Rosebank oilfield and the closing of the Energy Efficiency Unit both happened last month too). His email address is: philip.dunne.mp@parliament.uk Philip Dunne’s own letter to Prime Minister Sunak on behalf of the Environmental Audit Committee can be read here . [Photo credit: The chart is by Ed Hawkins, University of Reading using Met data and depicts Shropshire's increasing annual temperature change since 1884]. Previous Next

< Back New sustainable fashion initiative in Oswestry Lizzie Dibble 1 Dec 2024 Borrow clothes from Oswestry Library Based in Oswestry, With Love From ... is on a mission to reduce the environmental and ethical impact of fashion. We are encouraging people to slow down in their shopping habits, repair, re-wear, share and care for the clothing that already exists. Currently, With Love From... is a community project but we are in the process of registering as a CIC. There is enough clothing on the planet to dress the next six generations. We started by creating a shared wardrobe in the town, encouraging people to donate items in exchange for points which can be spent within the shared wardrobe. On average, British women hoard £285 worth of unused clothing - this equates to over £34 million worth of unused purchases in Shropshire alone. Our shared wardrobe already holds more than 600 items. Since November we have started a very exciting collaborative project with Oswestry Library where library card holders will be able to borrow an outfit from our shared wardrobe, in the same way you might borrow a book! You can find out more on our website, or pop in to the library and you can pledge your support on our SpaceHive page . Previous Next