< Back Get ready for the county-wide Green Open Homes event this November Heather Kieniewicz 17 Oct 2025 Book your viewing of energy efficient homes across Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin and beyond Local charity Marches Energy Agency is running Green Open Homes this year across weekends in November. Homeowners across Shropshire, Herefordshire and Telford & Wrekin will be opening their doors to visitors, for free, to show and explain how they’ve made their homes more energy efficient. It’s a unique opportunity for visitors to experience first-hand things like heat pumps, triple glazing, underfloor heating and solar panels, to ask ‘daft’ questions without being made to feel daft, and without any sales pressure. What does underfloor heating actually feel like? How loud is a heap pump really? How much do you save if you have solar panels and a battery? These questions and many more answered! The properties can be found using the postcode search at https://www.greenopenhomes.net/ So start planning your visits! It’s a wonderful opportunity to learn, and to visit some corners of the Marches region you possibly don’t know. In addition to this fantastic event, Marches Energy Agency also offers: surveys and advice for homeowners to support your own home retrofit; a pathway to reach EPC band C if you’re a landlord; and free training and workshops if you’re a builder wanting to expand your retrofit knowledge and grow your business. Check out https://futurereadyhomes.org.uk/ for more information. 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 The Marches Real Food and Farming Conference: 15th - 16th September Jane Cullen 16 Sept 2023 Our reflections on this fantastic ground breaking local food conference The Conference held at Partridge Farm, near Bishop’s Castle, was a greatly enjoyable day and showed many exciting projects to a new audience – if you are at all interested in your food, where it comes from, how it is grown, how far it has travelled to get to you – you know all the issues - here were practical, pragmatic and possible models that deserve to be known, and adopted, much more widely. The dung beetle safari, led by Claire Whittle who is a farm veterinary surgeon specialising in conservation medicine and regenerative agriculture, demonstrated how dung beetles not only make the structure of the soil much better but rather amazingly also reduce parasite organs in livestock. Claire’s enthusiasm and knowledge lit up those on safari. Another eye opener was the Johnson-Su Reactor which Kate Gatacre opened and described. Although I could not build one in my small urban garden anyone with a bit more space could: all you need is an old pallet, some lengths of drainpipe, wire, fleece, sawdust, green waste and some space. The beautiful, crumbly, clean- smelling compost which was dug out was absolutely perfect. Having experience as a producer I went to the session on Market Linkage, which followed the path between local producers Tish Dockerty and Jan Morgan-Birtles, who trade regularly at the ‘Local to Ludlow’ Market, and a Food Hub in Birmingham, via Slow Food and the Open Food Network. It’s good to see technology making these links quick and practical - for the good of all. Lizzie and Jane Hulton-Harrop also gave an excellent presentation as they charted their move into Regenerative Farming. Pollardine Farm’s soil fertility is improving, rapidly responding to changes in their practice – the first one being a really good rest for the land. There’s much more to hear about this project and the careful research behind the changes, look out for our forthcoming video of the climate and Nature related work being done at Pollardine Farm - which will be available soon. Previous Next

< Back Shropshire's Green Libraries Week Fiona Morgan 6 Oct 2023 SSCA's information stand at Ludlow Library SSCA volunteer Robin Grimmett managed our stand at Ludlow library on the 6th October. We showcased information from groups across Shropshire on how people can take action to reduce their carbon emissions and support Nature including: our Retrofit Toolkit produced in partnership with Stretton Climate Care our Walk Through Ludlow’s Green Spaces leaflet produced with Shropshire Wildlife Trust Ludlow branch Zero Carbon Shropshire’s leaflets providing tips on the climate action people can take Save Our Shropshire’s carbon literacy workshops Marches Energy Agency leaflets on energy efficient homes and Restoring Shropshire’s Verges Project on how to turn roadside verges into wildlife friendly meadows. We will have a permanent display of leaflets at Ludlow Library and hope to develop similar links with other libraries across the county so that people can gain access to useful information on how they can take climate action. Previous Next

< Back Save Our Shropshire to deliver low-carbon education for businesses for Shropshire Chamber of Commerce Richard Watkins 30 Apr 2024 SME's can book now on SOS's carbon literacy courses in June and July Previous Next

< Back New guide on Shropshire's Green Spaces to promote wellbeing Fiona Morgan and Shropshire Wildlife Trust 3 Aug 2023 Featuring SSCA's Walk Through Bridgnorth's Green Spaces New guides showcasing local green spaces have been created to encourage people to spend more time outdoors experiencing natural environments to the benefit of their physical and mental health. 9 locations have been chosen across Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin. Each location has a free downloadable route, instructions on how to get there, accessibility information, and details of what you can see and do. This is one of the outcomes from a two-year Green Social Prescribing project, run by a partnership between Energize STW (the active partnership for Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin) and Shropshire Wildlife Trust, with support from both local authorities in our County. The 9 guides are available to view on the Shropshire Wildlife Trust website at www.shropshirewildlifetrust.org.uk/local-greenspaces Our South Shropshire Climate Action Walk Through Bridgnorth's Green Spaces leaflet that we produced in partnership with Bridgnorth Library and Sustainable Bridgnorth features as one of the 9 walks. Sharon Smith, Green Social Prescribing Officer at Energize STW and Shropshire Wildlife Trust said: “ Our research has shown both social prescribers and the public were needing more information about local green spaces which are free to access and enjoy. Our focus was around what we coined the 3 Ls – low cost, low level, and local. ” Previous Next

< Back Bishop's Castle Heat and Wind Project gets some wind in it's sails Mike Watkins 5 Mar 2024 Funding awarded to help progress community energy project Previous Next

< Back River Clun Update and petition to Stop the Pipe Alison Weeks 3 Mar 2025 Objecting to Severn Trent's plans to transfer sewage effluent for the River Clun to the River Onny The River Clun and its catchment has changed significantly over the past 70 years. People who live here can remember tickling trout in the ‘50s and ‘60s and there were freshwater crayfish and pearl mussels up and down the catchment. There was a rich biodiversity of river invertebrates, butterflies, otters etc, and a clear river bed. There was much less sediment and turbidity as uplands and land adjacent to waterways remained unploughed. More water was retained in uplands and wider undisturbed areas of peat. The presence of pearl mussels meant Clun was designated a SAC (Special Area of Conservation), meaning that regulations prevent building development in the Clun catchment, because no new nutrients from sewage treatment can be discharged into the river; this has socio-economic consequences for bringing new people into the area and retaining families, maintaining schools, jobs, and work. The Onny pipeline proposal by Severn Trent is an example of the pressure put on the area because of the declining state of the river. This proposal will pump sewage effluent from new developments in Bishops Castle along a pipeline into the Onny to avoid the Nutrient Neutrality regulations in the Clun; in other words, exporting the problem downriver. There is significant local opposition to this. If you’d like to object to this scheme, you can find more details and sign the Stop the Pipe petition here . The River Clun Monitoring Group was set up in 2022 to monitor the river quality. Our aims are to raise awareness of how the water quality of the Clun impacts on all our lives; to increase monitoring where new groups form (and provide equipment); to present data for clear interpretation of the water quality and biodiversity and to work with local and national groups to improve water quality of rivers. We make monthly measurements of physical properties (temperature, water flow, height, total solids/conductivity): this tells us about seasonal and weather-related changes. We measure ammonia, which comes from sewage, agricultural inputs, and fertilisers; nitrate which is from soil and manure; phosphate, which is from sewage, fertilisers, washing machines, agricultural waste; turbidity, which is a measure of suspended and dissolved matter in the river; and invertebrates which tells us about the longer-term health of river ecology. We have about 30 volunteers who take part in the monitoring. We work closely with the landowners whose river stretches we sample. We have regular volunteer meetings, checking and calibration of equipment and monitoring methods and our steering group meets every 2 months to oversee it all. In 2025 a number of events are planned around the river. From 29th May/ June 8th: there will be River Clun Festival: with art, music, talks, Ellie Chowns MP. Other events which are being planned are in August an event in the Upper Clun, in September the Clun Climate Environment groupwill hold a half day event at Clun Memorial Hall. In September the second Dennis and Margaret Twist Memorial event will be focussed Food and Land. You can watch the excellent BBC Countryfile programme broadcast on 12th January about improving waterways in Shropshire and encouraging the recovery of atlantic salmon in the River Onny. Previous Next

< Back Shropshire residents ask National Trust AGM to support the Climate and Nature Bill Jamie Russell and Dougald Purce 2 Nov 2024 Ask your MP to support the Climate and Nature Bill too On 2 November two Shropshire residents participated in the National Trust’s AGM representing a member’s resolution for the Climate and Nature Bill (CAN Bill). Jamie Russell from Shrewsbury (seconded by Dougald Purce, also from Shrewsbury) proposed that the NT support the bill. The CAN bill has been reintroduced in the House of Commons by Lib Dem MP Roz Savage, and is heading for its second sitting in parliament on the 24 January 2025. If successful, it would bind the UK Government to delivering on its international agreements and treaties on mitigating biodiversity loss and climate change, for instance, pledges made with the Paris Agreement at COP21. National Trust members overwhelmingly supported the resolution. This is at a critical moment in the bill’s progress through Parliament: it needs 102 MPs to turn up and vote for it on its second reading. Ask your MP to support the Climate and Nature Bill this month You can help the CAN Bill by writing to your local MP. The 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, LibDem, 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 . Previous Next

< Back Shropshire & Telford residents go to Restore Nature Now March in London Fiona Morgan 22 Jun 2024 Coming together to call for urgent action on the Climate and Nature crises Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin were well represented at the Restore Nature Now national march on 22 June with residents from Broseley, Craven Arms, Ludlow, Much Wenlock, Oswestry, Shrewsbury and Telford among others, descending on London to make their voices heard. Over 60,000 people were noted to have taken part calling for the Government to take immediate action to address the nature and climate crises and protect and restore our UK wildlife. Among the 350 groups represented included the National Trust, RSPB, Woodland Trust, The Wildlife Trusts, Extinction Rebellion, Surfers Against Sewage, as well as indigenous people from the Global South who are in the direct line of fire from these devastating interconnected crises. Make your vote count for Climate and Nature on the 4 July. Previous Next

< Back Having climate conversations with the people you know Julie Howe 1 May 2025 We are the 89% who want their Governments to take action on climate Recent research found that 89% of people across the world want their national governments to do more to fight global heating. In the UK the figure is a still remarkable 82.4%, across the political spectrum. You would never believe this, reading much of the popular press or standing on a Climate Action stall. You might blame long-standing, well-funded misinformation campaigns by the fossil fuel industry, or political posturing. So why - when almost 9 out of 10 people worldwide are united in wanting action to fight the Climate crisis -do we so often remain silent? Experts believe it is because they wrongly think only a minority share their views. We are social creatures, and research has shown we are hugely influenced by how we perceive others think. If we can challenge this self-fulfilling bubble of silence by making people aware that their pro-climate view is, in fact, by far the majority view, we can unlock a social tipping point and push leaders into the Climate action so urgently needed. So this month, why don’t we all join Market Drayton Group and raise the subject of Climate change in ONE conversation and be sure to make the point that across the globe 89% of people want more action from their governments. That would be over 1000 tiny pricks in the bubble of silence. Here are some useful guides to help you get started: Client Earth Talk Climate Change or watch a video here . Previous Next

< Back Green Shropshire Xchange Chris Deaves 31 Mar 2025 A decade of achievement GSX has now merged with Shropshire Climate Action: we reflect here on the achievements and legacy over more than a decade. A Big Green Gathering was held in Church Stretton in 2012 to launch the new Environmental network, Green Shropshire Xchange (GSX). The main aims were to support actions on Climate change and other issues to protect the environment. GSX joined the board of the Voluntary Community Sector Assembly) as the Environmental Forum and with lottery funds was able to give seed-corn grants to small local projects. Big Green Gatherings were regular events to help campaigners to network GSX contributed to local action on Energy, Transport and Local Food, including setting up an Energy subgroup which worked with the Marches LEP Energy Strategy team, Marches Energy Agency and council climate teams. In 2017 a further lottery fund allowed more grants for projects and also a new website. Big Green Gatherings in the late 20teens resulted in GSX helping to set up Shropshire Against Pointless Plastics. GSX produced a Climate Action Guide to help local people make changes. In 2024 Zero Carbon Shropshire held a Climate Conference and agreed to set up Shropshire Climate Action (SCA) to replace ZCS and SSCA. GSX steering group reviewed their role and agreed to merge with SCA. Thanks to all those who were involved with GSX, especially the chairs over the years: David Currant, Tony Green and Rob Saunders. Previous Next