On a wet weekend in August I set off to join 2000 other people camping in a field for a week. Armed only with a tent and a sound knowledge of the issues surrounding climate change, I had no idea what to expect.

The reason for camping on the site near Rochester in Kent this year was to oppose the building of a new coal-fired power station (the first in the UK in 30 years) to replace an old one at Kingsnorth. The new power station will emit 6 – 8 million tonnes of CO2 per year and is only 20% more efficient than the old one that it will replace. The new station will be the first of a new generation of coal fired power stations around the UK, which will be a disaster for climate change.

Climate Camp Kingsnorth 08: A campers review

Continued on Page 12

3 - Warehouse News

5 - Campaigns Digest

8 - Slaves to Fossil Fuels

10 - Save the Bees

12 - Climate Camp

16 - Guest Article - Transition City Birmingham

20 - Volunteer Spotlight

21 - Diary

22 - Membership Form

23 - Contacts

2 3

Building a campaign In my former job I worked with the Moseley Community Development Trust on tackling fuel poverty. I came across many people whose homes were poorly insulated, inefficiently heated and so draughty that they could barely retain any warmth.At the same time, I came across the Home Truths report written by Oxford University’s Environmental Change Institute and commissioned by Friends of the Earth. The report gave a blueprint for tackling not only emissions from housing in Britain, but also fuel poverty.

These experiences are still relevant to me now that I am the general manager of Birmingham Friends

of the Earth’s community building ‘The Warehouse’. Part of my job is to continually improve the energy efficiency of the organisation, which means retrofitting energy saving measures into a building that was built at the turn of the century and has had a 1950s and 1990s extension.When I look at the building and the problems it has, I sometimes think it would be better starting from scratch, but then the memory of my former job and the aforementioned report kick in:“Of the homes we will inhabit in 2050, around 80 per cent are already standing today and these have to be the main focus for carbon-reduction policies.”That quote tells me that Birmingham Friends of the Earth must demonstrate that it can seriously cut emissions in its existing building. It needs to show that we can transform our existing building stock into models of energy efficiency. The fact that ‘The Warehouse’ is open to the public, means that it can be used as a big campaign to show Birmingham what is possible, and how in the long run, it will lead to reductions in carbon emissions and energy bills.I hope to explain more about how this will be done in future newsletters. In the meantime, if you want to know more or you want to help out, then get in touch, my contact details are on the last page.

Phil Burrows

When I look at the building and the problems it has, I sometimes think it would be better starting from scratch...

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August has been a month of heavy focus here at Birmingham Friends of the Earth on the potential extension of Birmingham International Airport.

The ‘Flyagra’ campaign was put together earlier in the year, but a push for more post-cards urging recipients that “size really matters” took place throughout August culminating in a campaigns stall in Solihull town centre at the end of the month. 150 shoppers took time out to come to chat and sign a postcard. The campaign focuses on the hugely damaging environmental impact of air travel, particularly regarding carbon emissions and climate change, which would be exacerbated

considerably by extending the runway at Birmingham airport. The standards of living of the local people would also be affected, because of the increase in noise pollution and road congestion.

Our work tackling the proposed increase in biofuels also came to a head. The consequences of biofuels, including destruction of diverse eco-systems, an increase in CO2 emissions and global food shortages caused by a shift in priority in the farming industry, were our key messages. We met with two broadly supportive Midlands MEPs and held a photo-shoot with Labour MEP Neena Gill on the 29th August, where we handed over postcards objecting to the EU biofuels targets. We also teamed-up with representatives of Stratford –upon-Avon Friends of the Earth to hold a meeting with Lib Dem MEP Liz Lynne on the science of biofuels and the awkward problems in their application as fuel. It transpired that Lynne’s colleagues in the European Parliament were already working to renege a potentially harmful biofuel target, but FOE were able to bring their expertise to bare in contributing to the amendments. Birmingham FOE’s own priorities were thus emphasised along with those of other local groups in the Midlands region.

The Transport sub-group has been looking recently at the issue of

Campaigns Digest

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Sales, service, repairs, accessories. Bikes also built to your own specifications.

Open Wednesday to Saturday, 10am-4pm

0121 633 0730

SPROCKETCycles

Established over 15 years ago in the Friends of the Earth Building in Birmingham The Warehouse Café has a reputation as a quality provider of vegetarian and vegan food in Birmingham.

“Real people serving real food with local, organic and fair trade leading the way” Guardian Unlimited.

To see the delicious menu go to www.thewarehousecafe.com

For bookings and enquires

Telephone 0121 633 0261

Email info@thewarehousecafe.com

• 100% vegetarian and vegan• A Large selection of organic

and fairtrade products, most supplied and delivered by a workers co-operative

• Vegan owners - no meat or dairy products sold

Open Monday to Saturday, 10am-5pm

The shops and companies here have all come together because they are dedicated to working towards a healthier, more organic city.

So if you want to help make Birmingham a cleaner, greener place to live, or you just want to eat some good vegetarian food, then come to The Warehouse and see what’s going on.

The campaign focuses on the hugely damaging environmental impact of air travel, particularly regarding carbon emissions and climate change...

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the currently disused Frankley to Longbridge railway line and plans to develop over the line, leaving the chances of a railway link in this part of Birmingham looking slim. We have made our views well known in the Birmingham Post and research is ongoing into methods of preventing this move, in view of a concerning development sanctioned by the Action West Midlands group to redevelop the A38 traffic island, which could scupper plans of a revival.

The Faith and Climate Change project has continued to dazzle potential funders. After making it into the top 21 entries for the NESTA Big Green Challenge, Maud Grainger presented the case for the project to judges in a ‘Dragon’s Den’ type situation. This was successful and we now find ourselves in the top 10 projects

in the competition, for which over 350 originally applied. This success means we are guaranteed £20,000 funding with potential for a significant chunk of £1 million. This fantastic news means that the project will be able to continue with potential for even greater action in the future.

Over the past two months, we have been represented at the Moseley Folk Festival from 29th to 31st August; in Sheldon, Solihull, Rubery and Longbridge.

September saw one of our Campaigns Support Worker, Chris Williams, move on after two years of hard work. He has been replaced by Ben Martin from Oxford who has a strong record of campaigning for People and Planet and for the free Tibet Movement.

Paul Ansorge

September saw one of our Campaigns Support Worker, Chris Williams, move on after two years of hard work.

Campaigns Digest continued

Christopher Williams

Multi Faith & Climate Change by Akiko Bathgate

The reason so many people are unwilling to take action is that no one else is prepared to do so. We can look at our contemporaries’ inaction and justify ourselves doing nothing in comparison. We are all to blame for the decrease in human welfare caused by climate change, just as most of society were to blame for the horrors of slavery in the past.Mouhot calls for an honest recognition of the damage being done to the planet and humanity, and warns of the dangers of ignoring the powerful lessons of the past.“We all want to identify with abolitionists, but at the same time we know that the slave owner in each of us will want to resist change. Our abundant energy gives us an

extraordinary power, but we should never forget that power corrupts.“If we do not change, our generation, and our children’s generation will pay heavily for the consequences of our reckless activity.”Jean-Francois Mouhot’s article ‘Free the Planet’ was published in the August issue of History Today, and is available on-line1. More articles on what history can teach us about human response to climate change can be found on the website of Rescue! History, a group of historians and others in the Humanities and related disciplines who seek to connect their diverse research to current realities of climate change2.

A historian, who was until recently Climate Change Campaigns coordinator for Birmingham Friends of the Earth, has drawn uncomfortable parallels between our current attitudes to fossil fuels and climate change and the behaviour of mid 19th century slave owners, with worrying predictions for the future.

Jean-Francois Mouhot, research fellow in history at the University of Birmingham, calls for a recognition of “the evil of continuing to live as we currently do.” Comparing the attitude of slave owners with our modern day attitudes to oil is valid and useful, says Mouhot, because so many people acknowledge that owning slaves is wrong.

Mouhot says, “It is almost impossible in our contemporary world to live without relying on some sort of energy of the fossil variety. We are perhaps as much victims as culprits of a consumer

society. However, our moral duty once we become aware of the evil of the system is to resist it.”

In an article for the magazine History Today, Mouhot claims that there are more similarities between current attitudes to oil, gas and coal and those of slave owners than might immediately be perceived. His comparison rests on the premise that it is a feature of human nature to take advantage of having someone or something else to work for them for free or at a small cost, even if it comes at a high moral cost.

Large-scale burning of fossil fuels is inflicting global suffering, in terms of the environmental impacts of droughts, flooding, threats to crop yields and the displacement of large numbers of people. This is comparable to the undeniable pain caused by slavery, which millions of people were complicit in. Most of the people involved in the slave trade did not believe that they were doing anything wrong, just as most people now do not see their actions as morally questionable.

Just as we now look back at slavery and consider it a shocking, reprehensible activity, people in centuries to come may look back at our contemporary activities and feel similarly appalled. Producing such unnecessary waste and living such high-carbon lifestyles in full knowledge of the devastating effects that will be felt by humanity is totally unjustifiable.

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We are perhaps as much victims as culprits of a consumer society.

Slaves to Fossil Fuels - a Dangerous Warning from History

Illustration by BeBop717

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The British honeybee is in decline, with catastrophic losses this year according to a survey of UK bee keepers. Close on one in three hives failed to make it through last winter and spring. That’s about 8,000 colonies, leaving us with a potential crisis on our hands. The obvious connection is less bees, less honey and predictions are we will run out of British honey this year. However, British honey only accounts for about 10% of the honey we consume in the UK.

More importantly, honeybees are one of the insects that pollinate the fruit and vegetables we eat. In fact, one third of our food, including fruit, vegetables, nuts, seeds and forage for our livestock rely on pollination. Defra estimate that bees contribute £165m to our economy through their pollinating activities. Though the true sum is probably a lot higher as this research was

based on 10 crops, while bees are involved in probably more like 70. As we become more dependant on a monoculture of growing food, we become more reliant on the honeybee to do the bulk of this work. Also, it is now thought that there are no wild honeybee colonies left in the UK.

Reliance on honey bee for pollination

Apple 90%

Sunflower seeds 70%

Runner Beans 40%

Pear 30%

Raspberry 30%

Cherry 10%

Strawberry 10%(Adas, Consulting quoted in The Grocer, 9th August 2008)

The decline in honeybees - coupled with the fact that other insects that assist in pollination, such as bumblebees, solitary bees, moths and butterflies are losing their habitats as a result of modern farming practices - has huge consequences on pollination. Global problemEven if we were to turn to importing more food, this is a global problem with honeybees dying on a similar scale all around the world, so our global food production is far from secure. Colony collapse disorder (CCD), the term used to describe

why bees matter!Save the bees…the mysterious wipe-out of more than a third of US honeybees has not been confirmed in the UK, but is happening all over Europe and the world. For example, in Sichuan, China, a major pear producing area, nearly all the pear trees are already being hand-pollinated, a massively labour intensive process. Tim Lovett, president of the British Beekeepers Association, estimates that if people were to take over from bees, it would require a workforce of 30 million. Why?People are still unsure why the decline of the honeybee is happening in the UK and are not certain if there is a link with the world decline in honeybees. There are theories of wet weather, the varoa mite and inappropriate controls to reduce the parasite, which could be blamed for our bee decline. The British Bee Keepers Association is appealing to the government for extra funding for research into honeybees so we have more of an understanding, yet they seem reluctant to increase funding. There are measures that could be put in place now that don’t cost anything, most importantly tighter pesticide controls. Researchers have found that widely used pesticides can interfere with honeybees’ sophisticated communication systems and impair memory. EU agriculture ministers have backed proposals for more stringent safety

tests on pesticides including extra safeguards to ensure chemicals are not toxic to bees. Our country was one of the few in European to abstain from agreeing to this plan. British farmers warn that tighter controls could destroy their crop production, which illustrates the short term thinking used as the chemicals that they want to save could be aiding the destruction of the honeybees, which farmers need as much as sun and rain to make crops – our food – to grow. What can you do?Sign the British Bee Keepers Association petition at http://www.britishbee.org.uk/bbka_research_campaign.php and get your MP to sign the 1520 Early day motion for Bee health Research. Mary Horesh

More importantly, honeybees are one of the insects that pollinate the fruit and vegetables we eat

LindseyBalbierz

Each morning, after the porridge, every neighbourhood held a meeting – an integral part of the camp. The meeting structure was based on consensus decision making; a collective, direct democracy model. As a first time camper (and a teacher!) I was impressed by this meeting structure and how inclusive it was. Everyone was asked for their opinion on each decision to be made. There are three choices; agree, stand aside or block the motion. What astounded me was that if one person blocked a motion, the motion would not go ahead. If someone did not like the motion but realised that blocking it would be detrimental to the group, then they could opt to

stand aside instead. Decisions and motions ranged from; what to do regarding the police tactics on site and where to position toilet blocks, to how to house people who had tents confiscated. One person from each neighbourhood then reported to a central meeting. Roles were taken on by different people every day so there was no sense of top down leadership or any leadership at all, just people working together to achieve a goal.

There really was a place and a role for everyone at the camp, but it was a working camp and not a holiday. Everyone was focussed on the issues and each day was crammed full of workshops in 10 tents ranging from debate with George Monbiot, to transition town discussion, world lawn tango championship, make your own biofuels, agrofuels

Continued from front page....

What overwhelmed me when I arrived was the incredible organisation of the camp and the high spirited nature of everybody there. A walking caravan of protesters had arrived 3 days early and set up marquees, toilets, lanes for people to walk on and a central kitchen.

While the camp aimed to make its mark on the energy generating industry, the same could not be said of the field that was to be returned to its original state at the end of the camp. Lanes for people to walk on were set up to reduce damage and recycling bins could be found almost everywhere. The toilets were not your typical festival type. The cubicles were constructed on-site using off cuts of wood and looked very professional and clean. All waste - wet on straw bales and solids in wheeley bins - was taken off site and composted ready to grow potatoes in for next year! Clean

hand basins with running water and biodegradable anti-bacterial soap were provided next to each block.

The camp was divided into 11 neighbourhoods based on geographical regions of the UK – West Midlands, London, Scotland, Oxford. In each neighbourhood there were between 100 and 200 people all camping close to a central marquee. All cooking was communal within the neighbourhoods with food supplied by the central kitchen reliant on donations from campers. The food was fantastic; delicious cinnamon porridge to start the day followed by hot soup, salad and couscous for lunch and scrumptious curry, chilli, pasta or stew for tea – all vegan of course!

12 13

What overwhelmed me when I arrived was the incredible organisation of the camp

I met teachers, lawyers, students, doctors, dentists, buskers, travellers and IT workers. Of these some were prepared to take direct action...

Climate Camp Kingsnorth 08: A campers review

Amy Scaife 2008

Amy Scaife 2008

discussion from FOE, sustainable living and vegan cake baking. People from all walks of life came to take action, educate themselves, debate and live communally. I met teachers, lawyers, students, doctors, dentists, buskers, travellers and IT workers. Of these some were prepared to take direct action for the cause, some not. I did not sit alone for longer than 5 minutes without engaging in deep discussion with a complete stranger. I was amazed by how friendly and open the campers were.

Choices for the evenings’ entertainment ranged from live music, story telling, sing-a-longs, drum and bass dancing to cinema;

all powered using renewable energy captured on site. Instead of paying for the cinema, customers were asked to pedal for their entrance fee to generate electricity and they were never short of volunteers! One night a marquee full of dancing campers were entertained by dance music powered by two solar panels and a wind turbine, demonstrating that we do not have to go back to the dark ages to avert the climate crisis.

On Saturday, the Day of Action, the camp divided into 5 groups. Two of the groups attempted to shut down Kingsnorth power station by

14

entering by river or through fences, which resulted in 30 arrests. Spokeswoman Emily Davies said in a press release, “It shows how serious we are about stopping climate change that people from all walks of life were prepared, despite blatantly intimidatory policing, to take direct action to disrupt EON. This Olympic effort certainly deserves a gold medal.” Two groups of over 1000 people held a colourful and peaceful protest march up to the gates of the power station and one group stayed behind to run the camp and bake vegan cakes! National, local and independent media provided great coverage of the day that all helped to raise the profile of the camp and its cause.

Overall, it was an awe inspiring week of hard work, education, action, fun, thought provoking discussion and debate. If I was feeling pessimistic about climate change, the politics involved and the seemingly increasing disinterest of others on the issue, then I have returned with an overwhelming sense of faith that, in the words of a random camper, “the future is not yet written”. There is hope that another world is possible; a world with less dependence on oil, where its inhabitants can and do tread lightly on the soil and where people and politicians listen to each other and create the change that is needed. The motto of the camp that I will take with me are Ghandi’s words – “Never doubt that a small group of like minded people can change the world.” Bring on next year’s camp!

Lou Twist

15

It shows how serious we are about stopping climate change that people from all walks of life were prepared, despite blatantly intimidatory policing, to take direct action to disrupt EON.

Continued... Climate Camp Kingsnorth 08: A campers review

Amy Scaife 2008

The motto of the camp that I will take with me are Ghandi’s words – “Never doubt that a small group of like minded people can change the world.” Bring on next year’s camp!

Amy Scaife 2008

1519 16 17

grassroots initiatives and projects already active in Birmingham, working to bring about positive change in our communities. Transition City Brum aims to act as a “hub” bringing these existing and future groups and individuals into a wider network where we can work together more effectively by drawing on personal and professional experience, resources and knowledge. In this context, duplication of activities and themes is also acceptable, especially as the requirement for localised responses becomes more of a necessity and less of a choice and separate neighbourhoods may mirror each other’s projects.

So here we are in 2008 and how many areas of our lives are currently carbon rich fossil-fuel dependant? Transport (not only of people but everything that needs to get from A to B); food production; home and workplace construction and decoration; clothing

manufacture; product ingredients and manufacture; communications; heating; refrigeration; healthcare; entertainment; waste management and recycling – basically anything and everything that involves burning or converting oil, coal, gas and their by-products (petrol, diesel, electricity, plastics, metals, synthetic fertilisers, pesticides and medicinal drugs).

It doesn’t take much reflection to see that almost every aspect of modern life is going to be affected by the rising price of oil and its eventual scarcity, plus added restrictions due to climate change incidents and consequent governmental and self-regulations.

Transition initiatives address this cross-the-board potential nightmare and aim to turn it into a dream of a positive future, by evolving into various groups

WHAT IS YOUR VISION FOR BIRMINGHAM WHEN CHEAP OIL RUNS OUT?

The notion of Transition Towns is rapidly taking root around the country and around the world, as ordinary people in diverse communities are waking up to the prospect of living without readily available fossil fuels. Birmingham citizens have begun to sow the seeds of our own local Transition response to the pertinent question above.

It need not be a vision of doom and gloom – Mad Max style battles for fuel, Matrix style supremacy of the microchip. It can be a vision of healthy communities, resolving day-to-day issues with creativity, ingenuity and good old-fashioned care and attention to detail. A vision that reawakens the community spirit of ‘loving thy neighbour’ and gets us working together for the sake

of harmony and peace, rather than profit and plunder…

We live in exciting times, on the verge of major lifestyle, social and environmental changes and we can choose to ignore this fact and head blindly into an uncertain future, or we can begin to wake up, smell the smoke and start helping each other now to prepare and create an acceptable, liveable, sustainable and maybe even preferable way of life, in the years to come.

Transition Initiatives are appearing to encourage environmentally and socially sustainable communities from the bottom up. Transition City Birmingham doesn’t intend to be ‘just one more group to be part of’. It’s about linking people, projects and ideas at the grassroots level to nourish us all towards a fruitful future.

There are indeed many local

Transition City Brum aims to act as a “hub” bringing these existing and future groups and individuals into a wider network

It doesn’t take much reflection to see that almost every aspect of modern life is going to be affected by the rising price of oil

Transition City Birmingham

Photo by Michael P Whelan

Photo by Michael P Whelan

18 19

Continued... Transition City Birmingham

focusing on particular aspects of local life, such as: Food, Transport, Energy, Healthcare, Heart & Soul, Education, and especially Awareness Raising. One may say ‘evolving’ because one of the fundamental qualities of the Transition movement is organic growth, adaptability and flexibility – recognising that every community/town/village/city has different circumstances.

Rather than imposing a set structure onto a community, Transition allows for members of the community to follow their particular interests, use their unique skills, address their specific needs to develop groups, projects and ideas accordingly and adapting along the way as the world around us and we ourselves change. It quite literally empowers each one of us to “Be the change we want to see”, as Mahatma Gandhi’s words so eloquently propose.

A vital aspect of this pioneering approach is the focus on creating positive visions of what we would like a future society to look like, sharing those ideas with each other and “backcasting” to the present to work out the steps required for manifesting the vision. This requires some thought, some dreaming and some optimism. The urgency we may feel in the current and looming situation of a world in crisis may easily create fear and frustration, but as said by Cuban permaculturist Roberto Perez (interviewed in the film The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil), “we must have patience – and persistence”.

Our vision and imagination are powerful tools, which, when combined with a sense of community cooperation, can facilitate effective social change. Thankfully, this is not something new; it has been evident throughout human history, on many revolutionary occasions large and small.

Our political representatives have not yet called for this “vision-creating” for the future, and they perhaps cannot be relied upon to lead the way into and through a peaceful, effective time of transition. Transition Initiatives provide opportunities for us to act now without waiting for assistance from government authorities, but of course their support is welcome and most useful, as policy-makers and fellow residents of planet earth.

Transition City Birmingham is still in its early days and invites citizens of Brum from all sectors of society to join together in this positive move towards becoming a resilient community able to withstand and indeed thrive through the changes ahead. If you would like to take an active role in the development process you are most welcome to join in.

The next public event in Birmingham will be held in October 2008 with an open screening of the inspiring film The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil. Roberto Perez will kindly attend the screening in person and happily answer audience questions, as he winds up a long lecture tour of Europe, Australasia and Africa.

You can connect with Transition Brum in many ways:

In person: At our monthly networking sessions from 7 - 9 pm on the second Wednesday of every month (i.e. 8 Oct, 12 Nov, 10 Dec 2008; 8Jan, 12 Feb, 12 Mar 2009) at Journey MCC

17 Shaw’s Passage (opposite The Warehouse) Digbeth Eastside Birmingham B5 5JG.

Online: http://transition-brum.wikispot.org

By post: Transition Birmingham, The Warehouse, 54-57 Allison Street, Birmingham B5 5TH

By telephone or text: 07980 272 940

By email: transitioncitybirmingham@riseup.net

The network operates two email lists. One is a News list for occasional announcements, the other is a Discussion list used for organisational purposes and open debate related to Transition Brum.

To sign up to the News list go to https://lists.riseup.net/www/info/transition-brum-news and click the subscribe link on the left hand side of the screen. You will then be asked to type in your email address. Any problems just email us to ask to be added to the list.

Additional Transition Towns info: www.transitionculture.org and www.transitiontowns.org

A vital aspect of this pioneering approach is the focus on creating positive visions of what we would like a future society to look like...

Our vision and imagination are powerful tools, which, when combined with a sense of community cooperation, can facilitate effective social change.

2120 21

Farmers’ MarketBearwood: 3rd Saturday of the month

Birmingham University: 4th Wednesday of the month.

Harborne: 2nd Saturday of the month 9-2pm

King’s Heath: 1st Saturday of the month

King’s Norton: 2nd Saturday of the month

Moseley: 4th Saturday of the month

New St: 1st and 3rd Wednesday of the month

Shirley: 3rd Thursday of the month except Jan and Feb

Solihull: 1st Friday of the month

Sutton Coldfield: 2nd Friday of the month

Visit this site for more info: http://thefoody.com/regions/centralfm.html#westmidlands

Multi Faith & Climate Change by Akiko Bathgate

Chris Williams interviews Mary Horesh

How long have you been involved with Birmingham Friends of the Earth? How did you first get involved?Around two years but have been a Friends of the Earth member since I was 15. I found out about the organisation at a Green Christmas Fair that was organised by Alison Breadon. I couldn’t come to Monday night meetings because I had dance classes but then I discovered I had two left feet, met my husband (so job done really!) and thought my time was better spent working for a better environment.

What do you do here?I am the Joint Campaigns Coordinator, lead the local shops sub-group and for a while, I even took Birmingham FoE’s tetra paks to the Chelmsley Wood recycling site – and dealt with the associated ‘bin juice’ on a fortnightly basis. I also take notes on the laptop in our campaigns meetings to keep those who can’t always make the meetings up to date, although haven’t yet mastered how to take notes and talk at the same time.What do you like about the group?I can’t deny that the Monday night pub socials are a plus. I love being with like-minded people who care as much about the environment as I do. People here are willing to take time out of their own lifes to inform the public in Birmingham about environmental problems and try to change things.Give us some thoughts…I want to make a contribution to leave the planet in a better state than I found it. One thing I can’t understand is how some people can be so selfish to have no interest whatsoever in our future – some people do know the facts but still don’t care about handing on the world in a right mess.

Volunteer Spotlight

Our current maintenance co-ordinator Russell Fitzpatrick does a fantastic job, but as our building gets older and older, we are finding that the jobs are piling up. If you think that you can lend a

hand to us, whether its painting, tiling, sanding or woodwork, we would be grateful for your time. If your interested get in contact with me Phil Burrows on 0121 632 6909.

Maintenance Volunteers Needed

Contact us:Friends of the Earth (Birmingham) The Warehouse 54-57 Allison Street Birmingham B5 5TH

Tel: (0121) 632 6909 Fax: (0121) 643 3122

E-mail: info@birminghamfoe.org.uk

Web: www.birminghamfoe.org.uk

Friends of the Earth is:- The largest international network of

environmental groups in the world, represented in 72 countries.

- One of the UK’s leading enviromental pressure groups.

- A unique network of campaigning local groups, working in more than 200 communities in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland.

- Over 90% of its funds come from its supporters.

Birmingham FoE:Campaigns at a local level to effect environmental change (in ways which feed into national and international policy) through:

- Direct action

- Lobbying

- Education

- Empowering others to take action

- Participation and representation through public fora

Chair: Benjamin MabbettCampaigns Co-ordinators: Mary Horesh & Joe PeacockCampaigns Support Worker: Chris WilliamsGeneral Manager: Phil BurrowsTreasurer: Margaret LynchAviation: James BothamClimate Change & Energy: Nigel BakerMulti-faith and Climate Change Project: Rianne ten Veen & Maud GraingerWaste and Resources: Kate Nancarrow & Andy PrykeLocal Shops: Mary HoreshPlanning: John HallTransport: Martin StrideNewsletter Editors: Hannah RumsbyWebsite Editor: Phil BurrowsTalks: Paul Webb and othersAll enquiries and callers welcome.Find us on page 74 of the B’hamA-Z, grid ref: 4A

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We are the only organisation in Birmingham that campaigns on Climate Change, Transport, Local Shops, Planning, Waste and Recycling. You can help us do this in a number of ways;1.) By taking part in or our campaigns 2.) By joining us 3.) BothWhichever route you decide, you are helping to change your environment for the better. Making sure that those who pollute, monopolise or despoil locally, nationally or internationally are accountable. There are two ways to join us...

EitherI wish to become a Golden Supporter with payments by standing order of £2 per month or more.

OrI wish to become an Annual Supporter, paying by standing order / cheque (Please delete as appropriate. Note that standing orders are cheaper for us to process).

Annual supporter fees are a minimum of:

• £16 (waged) • £10 (unwaged) • £20 (joint/family)

Please return with standing order or cheque to: Secretary, Friends of the Earth, 54-57 Allison Street, Digbeth, Birmingham B5 5TH.

Contact Details

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Your name/ Account name: .................

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Please pay the sum of £ every month/year (delete as appropriate) starting on ____/____/_________

To: Friends of the Earth Birmingham Ltd.,

Account no: 50 72 58 30 Sort Code: 08-60-01

Unity Trust Bank, 9 Brindley Place, 4 Oozells square, Birmingham B1 2HE

This replaces any previous standing order in favour of Friends of the Earth Birmingham.

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