About the Group

Hamish our Chair, at the Redland May FairRob our secretary at the Redland May Fair with Stephen Williams MPAngela our treasurer

In March 2005 Hamish Wills, a local resident, hand delivered a letter to hundreds of Redland households asking if anyone else was concerned about climate change, CO2 emissions and environmental destruction. We held a meeting and the group began.

So far we have;

  • established the regular Whiteladies Road Farmers and Fair Trading Market
  • established an email forum on Yahoo (now closed)
  • run a successful carbon club for three years
  • helped lots of members change their home energy including a group deal on solar domestic water and participated in Bristol’s Green Doors
  • made big personal changes in car-free travel, less or no flying and shopping differently
  • held loads of events with speakers or films, and an Open Day which included a talk from our local MP
  • registered as a Transition Initiative
  • responded on local and national planning matters affecting the environment
  • raised awareness through leaflets to households, stalls at the May Fair, and local news media
  • joined in with the Metford Road Community Orchard
  • planted 99 apple trees in 2008 as part of the Transition Fruit trees project
  • established a Gardens Club for anyone interested in local fruit and veg growing
  • become actively involved in our local Neighbourhood Partnership
  • contributed to the establishment of The Community Farm in Chew Magna, with susred members helping in a voluntary capacity on the steering group, the Board, with fundraising and on the farm
  • distributed a regular Newsletter to around 160 supporters

All our work is achieved by people giving up their own time. We cover costs of room hire and printing from small donations. A small grant from the Frances Wood Trust funded the initial costs of this website. Jake McMurchie, who designed the first website, gave us lots of help with managing it. We are grateful to Maryam Saleem, who designed our first Farmer’s Market leaflet, to Morgan Beddoe Estate Agents of Whiteladies Road who have helped with printing costs, to Jim Wilkie who helped us set up the market, to local businesses for practical help and support with the Farmers Market, particularly Dreweatt Neate Auction Rooms, Rossiter Smith and Co, Sheepdrove, Wild Oats, Kitchens and the Better Food Company, to Lorna Knapman who has helped us develop the Whiteladies Market, to Redland and Cotham Amenities Society who gave us a Green Star Award and to the Neighbourhood Partnership who awarded us a small grant.

We have a chair, secretary and treasurer and about twenty of us who devote time to projects run by the group. Basically anyone who wants to help with reducing our fossil fuel dependancy and our impacts on the climate is in effect a member of Sustainable Redland, and you don’t have to live in Redland.