Kent Community Owned Energy - Canterbury Meetings 17/18 January

Help tackle the climate emergency, bring more money into our local area and improve life for people who live and work here.

The Centre for Sustainable Energy would like to invite you to come and find out more about an opportunity to get involved in Community Energy in Kent. Hear about what community energy groups across the country are doing and how you could help bring a 5 MW solar farm into community ownership. It’s a great opportunity to bring over £1million investment into our local area, and there’s plenty of support available to make it happen. Please see the attached leaflet for more information.

When: Friday 17^th January, 1-3pm or Saturday 18^th January 10:30am-12:30pm

Where: Friends Meeting House, Canterbury

Sign up for a place on Eventbrite now

Or call to book your place on 01179 341400 (ask for the communities team).

Deal With Whats On in January 2020

Monday 13th January – Dover Repair Café Biggin Hall 6:30pm (Transition Dover event)

Monday 13th January – East Kent Against Fracking AGM 7.30pm Landmark Centre

Tuesday 14th January – Captain’s Garden @ Deal Castle 10am to 12ish

Thursday 16th January - Captain’s Garden @ Deal Castle 10am to 12ish

Friday 17th January – Kent Community Energy presentation Canterbury 1pm

Tuesday 21th January – Captain’s Garden @ Deal Castle 10am to 12ish

Weds 22nd January – East Kent Climate Action Group, 7pm Dealability (meets every fortnight)

Weds 22nd January – Kent Fisheries & Me (Guardians of the Deep) 6:30pm Landmark Centre
[IFCA – Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority Kent]

Thursday 23rd January - Captain’s Garden @ Deal Castle 10am to 12ish

Thursday 23rd January – Deal Station Garden Group 2pm

Sunday 26th January – Deal Hop Farm AGM 4pm Landmark Centre

Saturday 1st February – Designing creative spaces for children with Permaculture
New School Canterbury book here

Sunday 2nd February – Deal Community Beach Clean 10am Deal Pier
(part of Marine Conservation Society survey)

Tuesday 4th February – Captain’s Garden @ Deal Castle 10am to 12ish (then every Tues)

Wednesday 5th February – Landmark Garden Group 10am to 12 (1st Weds of each Month)

Thursday 6th February - Captain’s Garden @ Deal Castle 10am to 12ish (then every Thurs)

Thursday 6th February Deal Station Clean up Crew 2:30pm

Thursday 6th February – East Kent Permaculture Gathering (Canterbury Please email for details)

Thursday 6th February – Deal Hop Farm Season IV Launch meeting Lighthouse pub 6:30pm

Thursday 6th February – East Kent Permaculture Gathering (Canterbury Please email for details)

Saturday 15th February – Dover Repair Café Biggin Hall Dover 1pm (Transition Dover)

Saturday 15th February – Guardians of Deep Conference Pines Calyx St Margarets TBC

Tuesday 18th February – Coastal Guardians Training 1pm Landmark

This is the last one !

Saturday 22nd February – Deal Seedy Saturday 10:30am Landmark Garden
(please bring/donate labelled seeds + DHF Rhizome pickup day)

Sunday 22nd March – Walmer Community Beach Clean Sea Café 9:30am
(part of Great British Spring Clean)

Sunday 12th April – Sandown Castle Community Beach Clean, 9:30am Sandown Castle end of Deal Beach. Part of Surfers Against Sewage Big Spring Beach Clean Series

Bank Holiday Monday 13th April – Captain’s Garden Open Day 10:30 to 3pm Deal Castle

April – East Kent Permaculture Gathering Whitstable TBC

Saturday 9th May – Spring Deal Seedy Saturday (Dig for Victory ??) 10:30am Landmark Garden

Bank Holiday Monday 25th May – Walmer Castle Community Beach Clean 9:30am

New Year's Day Deal Beach Clean

Deal With It - Deal's local green community group - held its first community beach clean on New Year's Day. 

Over 75 people volunteered their time and in little over an hour collected some 80kgs of rubbish was collected.

During 2019 the group ran 15 Beach Cleans which collected over 584kilos of rubbish and involved some 764 volunteers who donated 1502 hours of work to the community & our beach.


The next community clean will again be at Deal Pier on Sunday 2nd February starting at 10am. This clean is part of a national survey of the UK's beaches run by the Marine Conservation Society

Xmas Walmer Beach Clean 15th Dec 2019

Thank you to our 32 volunteers on today's Xmas Community Beach Clean on Walmer Beach 

22kgs of rubbish picked and we were very lucky with the weather. 

Big thanks to Nush and Hut 55 café for very kindly providing teas & coffees to go with the mince pies for our beach cleaners. 

Our next clean on New Year's Day 1st Jan 2020 at 10am meeting at Deal Pier

Deal With It - Whats on in December

EVENTS 2019

Saturday 30th Nov – Xmas Eco Fair at the Landmark Centre 10am to 1pm
Lots of stalls of plastic free produce & ideas for xmas. Organised by East Kent Climate Action

Saturday 30th Nov – Mass Tree Planting in North Deal Rec from 10am
Please bring tools – there is about 80 trees to plant. Organised by North Deal Recreation Park Group

Tuesday 3rd December – Captains Garden Garden Group 10am to Noon (Depends on weather)

Weds 4th December – Landmark Garden 10:30 to 12:30 – Garden Tidy up

Thursday 5th December – Captains Garden Garden Group 10am to Noon (Depends on weather)

Thursday 5th December – Deal Station Garden 2pm to 4pm
Litter pick/tidy up of station area and continuing to work in new triangle area. Please bring tools

Tuesday 10th December – Captains Garden Garden Group 10am to Noon (Depends on weather)

Thursday 12th December – Captains Garden Garden Group 10am to Noon (Depends on weather)

Sunday 15th Dec – Walmer Beach Clean 10am (Hut55 + Mince Pies & Teas)
Please bring a mug for a free drink from Hut55 (tea or filtered coffee) we will also have a mix of vegan, veggie, Gluten free mince pies

Tuesday 17th December – Captains Garden Garden Group 10am to Noon (Depends on weather)

Thursday 19th December – Captains Garden Garden Group 10am to Noon (Depends on weather)

Saturday 21st Dec – Winter Solstice Celebration @Landmark Garden 5:30pm to 7pm
Mulled drinks, food, music, storytelling and company to gather and celebrate another year of great green community activities.

Please bring a jar and tea light so we can cover the garden & chase away the darkness.

Also we are asking people to please to bring a mug and if you are making/donating eats please label what’s in them 😊

If you got some spares you can donate please leave them in the garden by the planter

Weather dependent … if bad we will have a drink and music in the Landmark Bar

Weds 1st Jan 2020 – New Year Deal Beach Clean 10am Deal Pier

Mon 13th Jan 2020 – Dover Repair Café 6pm Biggin Hall (org by Transition Dover)

Tues 28th Jan 2020 – East Kent Permaculture Network meet & eat 6pm Canterbury

Thurs 6th Feb – Deal Hop Farm Season IV launch meeting Lighthouse 6:30pm

Sat 15th Feb 2020 – Guardians of Deep Conference at Pines Calyx

Sandown Castle Beach Clean 17th Nov

Thank you to our 35+ volunteers on this morning Beach Clean at Sandown Castle.

Lovely still morning with great views across the Channel- over 18kgs rubbish collected

Our next community beach clean is on Sunday 15th December meeting at 10am at Hut55 on Walmer Beach - We will have teas/Coffee + mince pies for afterwards (please bring a mug)

EKCA Xmas Fair 30th November

Deal Station Triangle Tidy 7th Nov

Thank you to our 30 volunteers on this morning's litter pick and tidy of the wooded Triangle parcel of land nxt to Platform 2 at Deal Rail Station.

We were joined by volunteers from National Rail - between us we filled four x 1 ton builders bags of rubbish and cleared paths to allow future picks.

The land is going to be leased to Deal With It for 2years. The idea is to do monthly picks at the site as well as carrying out a full wildlife and habitat survey with a view a producing a long term management plan in 2020 to enhance the site's ecology.

Next litter pick / tidy up will be on Thursday 5th December at 10:30

Deal Beach Clean Sunday 17th November

Deal Station Triangle Litter pick & Tidy Thurs 7th Nov 10:30am

We have a Litter pick and Tidy up in the wooded Triangle area of Deal Rail Station on Thursday 7th Nov starting at 10:30am 

We have wanted to get into this part of the Station for several years - it was the site old Victorian Station Master's House until WW2. 

National Rail are in the process of leasing the land to Deal With It for 2yr so we can litter pick every month and conduct a wildlife survey with a view of establishing a proper management plan for the area

All Volunteers are very welcome - please wear heavy boots and gloves. The Clean up will last for a couple of hours.

Further details please email info@dealwithit.org.uk or phone 372673

Green New Deal Meeting Tuesday 29th Oct 6:30pm Dover

Kent Gleaning dates in Oct/Nov

We have dates the next set of Gleans in Kent …. Please use the link to book and get full details


https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSepc_2RUNhtEuNgOjcoPvfOFe8wslY0feeCLkaoi12V9CcFoA/viewform?usp=sf_link

Wednesday 23rd October 11am-3pm - APPLES
Eastry


Monday 28th October 11am-3pm KEEPING SPARE FOR EMERGENCY SHORT NOTICE CROPS
(perhaps Brenley/ Maggie nr Faversham)


Tuesday 29th October 11am-3pm APPLES
Newmafruit,  CT4 7HQ


Wednesday 30th October 11am-4pm (invite Tudor school Group who’ve gleaned with Phil) APPLES/PEARS
Tonbridge, Kent, TN11 9SN

Friday 1st Nov 1pm-3pm (unless James or a WRAP group is willing to start earlier) SQUASH
Maidstone, Kent, ME14 3BE

Saturday 2nd Nov 11am-4pm SQUASH
Maidstone, Kent, ME14 3BE

Apple Gleaning starts in October

Great Gleaners of Kent,

Orchard season is upon us and we're preparing for another busy season gleaning wonderful fruits (and some fabulous veg too) across Kent, and we need your help to glean it all for charity!

Kent Gleaning Network is currently coordinating the following gleaning days. We warmly invite you to sign up for these events in advance and will send out further details in the week running up to each event.

Additional gleaning days will be added as we learn of more crops across the county in need of rescue. We aim to give 1-2 weeks notice of gleaning events but this is not always possible.

Monday 7th October: 3pm -5pm (exact times to be confirmed): We'll be gleaning potatoes from a farm near Wingham.

Due to the short notice of this glean please contact us directly at kent@feedbackglobal.org to join in. Minibus lifts will be available from Folkestone.

Thursday 9th October: 3pm-6pm (times to be confirmed): We'll be gleaning apples and/or pears from a farm near Sandwich.

Monday 14th October: 11am-4pm (times to be confirmed): Gleaning apples and/or pears from a farm near Sandwich

The rescued fruit & veg will be donated to local charities and other organisations that feed people across the region, which means that the healthy fruit will avoid waste and instead enter a supply chain supporting people in food poverty.

Ready to get gleaning? Fantastic! **Sign up here** to provide us with a few basic details. It’s really helpful if you can sign-up ASAP, as this gives us an idea of numbers and drivers. You'll be sent info in advance of the gleaning day including travel information. We will try to organise lift shares or collection from nearby train stations for as many people as possible if you sign up in good time.

If you do sign-up and later realise you can’t make it, then that's not a problem, just please email me to cancel at Carrie@feedbackglobal.org so we can plan accordingly. Last-minute drop-outs can sometimes have knock-on effects, so please just say if your attendance is in doubt. 

Expenses: Travel expenses for fuel or public transport can be covered for those travelling from nearby – just check with us first (we cover up to £12 per gleaner per day or £6 for half day gleans).

Do get in touch by email if you have any questions and I hope to see you out in the orchards over the next few weeks!


Best & beetroot,



Carrie

Kent Gleaning Network Coordinator (07920404546)

Deal With It - October Events

Deal Cycle September

Deal Town Council's has a series of rides and cycling events for 'Cycle September' 

Full details at https://www.deal.gov.uk/Deal-TC/cycle_friendly_deal_project-13564.aspx

Walmer Beach Clean with Wayne+Koda

Thank you everyone who came on today's Community Beach Clean on Walmer Beach - it was a hot one!

We had over 60 volunteers who collected nearly 32kilos of litter including some 7 kilos which we could recycle.

It was great to see colleagues from Litter Picking Watch Romney Marsh joining us as well Wayne Dixon and Koda who are walking the full UK Coastline litter picking as they go! They will be in the town for the next couple of days so say hello to them

Big thanks to Nigel and the O'Brian family for helping to organise and Pete and the Sea Café for hosting us.

Our next clean is part of the MCS 'Great British Beach Clean' on Sunday 22nd September Deal Pier 9:30am. All Welcome

#KentGleaning - 1.5 tons of Cherries in July/August

We have spectacularly gleaned right to the very end of the cherry season. 

This week's gleans saw us rescue 187kg on Monday at Selson farm and another 155kg at Newmafruit on Wednesday. I know I've said this before, but this really does mark the end of cherry season- the farms have removed their nets and the rain expected tonight will spoil any final remaining fruits (although I suspect the wasps will have got in their first anyway). I want to thank you all for your spectacular efforts to rescue as many cherries as possible.

I thought you'd like to know that in total this year we have gleaned 1541kg cherries in Kent. That is a serious amount of fruit which has now been devoured by some of our regions most vulnerable people. A 'portion of fruit (according to the "eat 5 a day" campaign) is 80g for an adult, so we have gleaned sufficient cherries this year to feed 19,262 people a portion of the finest Kentish cherries! And if that doesn't sound impressive enough- Newmafruit (one of Kent's largest growers and importers of fruit) harvested 50 tonnes of cherries from their orchards this year and they considered 2019 to be a very good year, so the fact that a group of considerably less experienced pickers managed to glean over 1.5 tonnes on only 8 partial days of picking (including some seriously hot days plus having to do a lot of quality control on some of the varieties) is amazing. Thank you all very, very much!

The next glean we have planned is on the 14th August starting at 3pm. This will probably be leafy veg and potatoes near Wingham but farms are now harvesting plums and Newmafruit has offered us there's when they're finished picking so keep an eye on your email inboxes, there may be some more dates added any day. It's also now early apple season, but I don't expect there to be a rush for these any time soon (I hope!). If you'd like to sign up for 14th you can do so here:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSepc_2RUNhtEuNgOjcoPvfOFe8wslY0feeCLkaoi12V9CcFoA/viewform?usp=sf_link


And if you're not already on the Gleaning Network mailing list and would like to receive emails when we have gleaning days scheduled you can do so here:

https://actionnetwork.org/forms/join-us-in-the-fields-its-time-to-get-your-hands-dirty/

Finally, we were chatting about the British sugar industry on Wednesday's glean and I thought some of you might be interested in reading Feedback's exploration into the UK sugar industry and it's impact on our soils. It was truly a shock to most of us when it was shared amongst the team: https://feedbackglobal.org/campaigns/sugar-beet-and-soil-depletion/about/ there's plenty more campaigns, research and studies on different aspects of the food system on The Feedback Website, if you're passionate about sustainable foods I do suggest giving it a browse when you have the time.

Once again, thank you so much for joining us on the final week of cherry gleaning, it was a true pleasure to see you all out in the orchards and I look forward to seeing you again soon on one farm or another.

Best and beets,


Carrie