Welcome to Northfield Ecocentre’s April newsletter. This monthwe celebrate the success of our Big Lunch Picnic, announce thelaunch of our Forest Schools project, congratulate our Great

June Newsletter

All the best,

2013

www.facebook.com/northfieldecocentre Twitter @northfieldeco

A Sunny Big Lunch Picnic

What a fantastic day we had! The sun wasshining, the garden looked amazing andpeople brought the most delicious picnicfood I’ve ever had. Lots of families came toenjoy the Big Lunch picnic activities atMasefield last saturday. Highlights includeda brilliant Punch & Judy show from DerekPeasley, willow tipi weaving, OxBrum’s hooka duck, and a Hungry Caterpillar naturalpuppet making workshop. My personalhighlight was launching our Family ForestSchool with our first ever session; we hadloads of fun making mini-dens for MaisyMouse of Masefield and discovering Boggart‘snot’ that helps us connect with nature.

Georgia Stokes, Ecocentre Manager write:

So many people contributed to make the day the fantastic success it was.Thank you to all our wonderful volunteers at Masefield who worked sohard to make the site look amazing. Northfield Town Centre Partnershipprovide a lot of support for the garden as well as the event and we arealways really grateful. OxBrum’s Lee and Teresa did a great job, and Lee’sduck costume was a sight to behold. Finally, a big thank you to Jackie,Damien and Anne from the Ecocentre for all their hard work. Well doneguys! The event and garden are funded through NIACE CommunityLearning and Innovation Fund.

Nappuccino - Thursday 20 June 2-3pm. Real Nappy Session

Family Bike Rides - 2nd Sunday of Every Month. Free.Future rides: 9 June, 14 July, 11 August, 8 SeptemberFamily Forest School - throughout July and August. Launches on 20 July. £3 per child.

Ecokids Holiday Fun - 27/31 July ("World of bugs") & 28/30 August ("Ecopirates, ahoy!"). £1 per child.

Outdoor SummerFamily Fun!

For more information visit: www.northfieldecocentre.org Booking Essential: 0121 448 0119

Midland Fun Runners and look forwardto a summer of family fun…

www.northfieldecocentre.org I 0121 448 0119

Central England Area Quaker Meeting Charities Registered Charity No. 224571

Parents & Children spendquality time together

Have fun outdoors

Enjoy exercise

Learn to love wildlifeJULYSat 20 July - 2pm - 4pmWed 24 July - 2pm - 4pmThu 25 July - 10am - 12pmSat 27 July - 10am - 12pm

AUGUSTWed 21 August - 2pm - 4pmThurs 22 August- 10am - 12pmThurs 29 August - 10am - 12pmSat 31 August - 2pm - 4pm

Summer DatesEnjoy Nature

FamilyForest School

Children & parents, enjoy outdoor wildlifeadventures together in the city! Learn to safelymake dens, climb trees, build fires for cooking, makeknots and understand the tools you need to worksuccessfully with natural materials. Togetherexplore, and experience, make and have fun as afamily under the guidance of trained Ecocentrestaff. At Masefield Community Garden inNorthfield, B31 2DT (off Bunbury Road).

LAUNCHINGSOON!

www.northfieldecocentre.org/support-usEmail: kara@northfieldecocentre.org I Call: 0121 448 0119

Kara Moses, Fundraising Co-ordinator, writes;

pearapple

cherry

plumalder

maple

beech

FUNDRAISING For NorthfieldEcocentre

WORKING WITHNORTHFIELD ECOCENTRE

Your support will help us todevelop our work in yourcommunity

CongratulationsA massive thank you and well done to our brave runners (with andwithout injuries!) who ran in the Great Midlands Fun Run for theEcocentre on Sunday 2nd June. Over £650 has been raised so farand it’s still coming in, and it’s not too late to still sponsor them!

here: www.northfieldecocentre.org/home/2013/04/03/235-meet-our-fun-runners

Our Ecocentre Runners:Stuart Masters - 65mins

Damien Bennett - 2hrs 4 minsAldo Mussi - 57 mins 24 seconds

Lisa Crane - 90 minsRob Marsden - 90 mins

RAISE MONEY RUNNING FOR THE ECOCENTRE

To find out more about our runners visit:www.northfieldecocentre.org/home/2013/04/03/235-meet-

our-fun-runners

Above: Damien Bennett & Stuart Masters with their medals!

A Huge Thank Youto Carillion, and their

Birmingham Energy SaversTeam for raising money forour Northfield’s Orchards

Project, during theirSustainability Week.

CommunityFruit Harvesting

We need suplus fruit.Volunteer Fruit Pickers.

Community locationsfor planting new

orchards.

Our First Ever Fundraising Event

This summer, Northfield Ecocentre are organising a fundraising walk around some of South Birmingham’s beautifulparks, ending with a celebratory picnic and barbeque. You can walk or cycle the route. This is our first everfundraising event and we’d love you to come along and be part of it!

What is the route?

THE BIG GREEN WALKFor Northfield

EcocentreSunday 28 July 2013

How much does it cost to enter?

Entry costs £10 per person (£5 for children under 10) and a commitment to raise at least £50per team – sponsorship forms and fundraising support etc are all available. Your entry feeincludes a completion certificate and an eco goody bag.

How to Register

Celebrate finishing with a barbeque

We will end the walk with a celebratory shared picnic and barbeque at our Masefield CommunityGarden – bring your own food to share (complimentary non-alcoholic drinks will be available). Cakesand sweet treats will be on sale too.

To book a team place contact Georgia for a registration form

georgia@northfieldecocentre.org0121 448 0119.

Who can get involved?

Families, friends, businesses, community groups, church/religious groups, individuals and anyone else who wantsto get involved are invited to come and enjoy a fun day out with us on Sunday 28th July and raise somemuch-needed funds for the Ecocentre’s community food growing projects (see below for more details). In fittingwith the theme, there will be exciting food-themed stations along the way – watch this space!

There are two main route options, taking in some historic sites,beautiful parkland and some of our community orchards: 14 milesaround the Rea Valley, Millennium Green and Kings NortonNature Reserve, for those who want a challenge; and an 8-mileRea Valley route for those with younger children or less ablebodies! Both routes start and end at our Masefield CommunityGarden in Northfield, where we have an earth oven, barbequeand plenty of space for picnicing. Shorter routes can also be taken.

Teams of at least three people can enter, and can include children and adults. Teams compete to see whocan raise the most money! You can give your team a name and a theme – fancy dress is encouraged (butnot compulsory) but please make sure your outfit is comfortable and suitable for walking or cycling in,including sensible footwear. Prizes will be given for the most money raised, best fancy dress and more!

Volunteer Week June 2013

www.northfieldecocentre.org I Email: Jackie@northfieldecocentre.org I Call us on: 0121 448 0119

to meet new people to see how they grow things perhapsdifferently to the way it’s done here. I’m learning how togrow the vegetables properly from seed to when they’reready to be picked. I enjoy mainly the social aspect of it.

“I came here to learn how to growvegetables properly and for the social aspect of it:

There are a lot of various different characters andwe all get along very well.”

Seeds of ChangeDuring volunteer week a south Birmingham charity is celebrating the work of volunteers who havecreated an oasis of calm in an urban environment.

Northfield Ecocentre is developing Masefield Garden and Allotment for the benefit of the community.The site, which was once garages, now boasts a forest garden, an outdoor learning area, raised beds, anearth oven, allotment plots and a wildlife area. Most of the work is done by volunteers who becomemembers of Northfield’s Volunteer Time Bank entitling them to other benefits such as CV or DIY support.Jackie Green, Project Coordinatorexplains: “The garden is for all thecommunity. We have an amazing groupof volunteers who work really hard tomake the garden one of the mostexciting places to be in Birmingham atthe moment.“We have regular work days at the site foranyone to come along and get involved. It’sa great way to learn new skills includingcarpentry, composting, permaculture, foodgrowing and rain water harvesting.Everyone is really friendly and it’scompletely informal. The group do workhard but we have a lot of fun as well.”

Plans for the future include a family forest school on site,a sensory garden and lots of locally produced, in seasonfood.

Work days take place every Wednesdaystarting at 10.30am and are opento everyone.

Workshops take place

at our Masefield

Community Garden

GardeningWorkshops

Eileen Oakes, a groupvolunteers explains herinvolvement:

GardenWednesdays

At MasefieldGarden

GOW

FRUIT

&V

EG

EVERY WEDNESDAY,10.30AM

-2PM

Wildlife GardeningWorkshop

Free 8 June, 1 - 3pm. Booking Essential

To get involved go alongon a Wednesday,contact Jackie on0121 448 119

www.northfieldecocentre.org

FUNDRAISING For NorthfieldEcocentre

WORKING WITHNORTHFIELD ECOCENTRE

www.northfieldecocentre.org/support-usEmail: kara@northfieldecocentre.org I Call: 0121 448 0119

Your support will help us todevelop our work in yourcommunity

Good Energy - www.goodenergy.co.uk/affiliates/northfield-ecocentreEcotricity - www.ecotricity.co.uk/northfieldecoCo-operative Energy - *coming soon!*RAISE MONEY BY SWITCHING TO A GREEN ENERGY SUPPLIER

Follow the links below which take you to the websites of the companies, where you cancompare prices and switch your supply. Make sure that when you switch you go via theselinks so we get the donation. The website will cleverly track your referral from our website.Or if you switch by phone, tell them you’d like the donation to come to us.

SWITCH TODONATE:

Kara Moses, Fundraising Co-ordinator, writes;

It’s an exciting time at the Ecocentre at the moment. We have lots ofexciting new projects and ventures springing up, and existing projectsbeing developed further as they prove successful and popular.

New projects include: an outdoor classroom being built in ourcommunity garden to provide a space for our new forest schoolsprogramme due to start in September; a bike hub for Northfield toprovide community access to bikes and training; new programmes ofactivities for kids and families in schools, in holidays and at thecommunity garden. Meanwhile funding for our community orchardsproject has ended but there is demand for more, so we are trying tofind funds to keep it going.

Switch to DonateYou can now support the Ecocentre at the same time as saving carbon emissions when you switch yourenergy supplier to a renewable energy company – if you switch to Ecotricity, Good Energy or the Co-operativeEnergy the Ecocentre will receive a donation of up to £60.

Can you hold a fundraising event for us?Could you: ask your children’s school to hold a dress down day? Hold a cake sale for friends? Ask youremployer if you can hold a fundraising quiz/cake sale/dress down day? Organise a fun event like bingo,car wash or garden party? We can support you in organising your event and provide you with helpfulresources and advice. Download a Supporter’s Pack: www.northfieldecocentre.org/support-us/resources

Young people volunteer during TheChallenge week, with the Ecocentre.

Learn new skills, save money andprotect the environmentEcocentre Energy Advice Update

Hi there, I manage Northfield Ecocentre Energy Services which has for the last few monthsinvolved me setting up and running our Green Deal Advice Service amongst other things.The Green Deal is a new and exciting government initiative aimed at helping people makeenergy saving improvements to their home for no up-front costs, see our website for moreinformation: www.northfieldecocentre.org/green-deal

Luke Olly, Ecocentre Manager, writes;

As with all new government schemes there’s been a lot of information to process and understandand many boxes that needed to be ticked but finally we became a Green Deal Advice Service inMarch this year. This means that our Green Deal Assessors can now go out to your property andproduce a Green Deal Report which informs you what improvements can be made to your propertyand the likely energy savings that will come with that.

The Green Deal has so far been very popular in the Birmingham area in partdue to Birmingham Energy Savers who have been at the forefront of the GreenDeal nationally. Being at the forefront of something new is always a tricky placeto be, it means everyone else watches you, applauding if you get it right andlearning from you when things go wrong.

NorthfieldEcocentre is

So a small charity is now working with a large, multinational contractor to deliver a new governmentinitiative, what could go wrong?! Well, everyone is watching and if this goes right it could well be amodel that other people follow, at least that’s what we’re hoping for. This is sustainable developmentat its best. Please support us as we develop this service and tell all your friends and family to speak tothe Ecocentre if they want to save energy.

Birmingham Energy Savers have takena pioneering role in developing theGreen Deal through sourcing theirsupply chain locally, using smallbusinesses and the third sectorwhenever possible; this is a brilliant ideaand has led to the Ecocentre becomingone of the main suppliers for the GreenDeal Assessments!

Into to Fuel Poverty CourseNEA’s FREE I ntroduction to... course is open to advisors from organisations and agencies,

paid or voluntary and interested members of the public, living and working inBirmingham, who are increasingly coming across fuel poverty and fuel debt in their jobs

and everyday lives and want to be able to help address the problems.The course looks atthe causes, impacts and solutions to fuel poverty offering practical advice and enabling

you to provide the right help and support to your clients, friends and family.

Judy Best, Project Development Co-ordinator, NEA02476 559 191 I judy.best@nea.org.uk

web: www.nea.org.uk

Email: luke@northfieldecocentre.org I Call us on: 0121 448 0119

FREE Birmingham CourseThursday 11 July at BVSC

Register before Friday 14th June

0121 448 0119www.northfieldecocentre.org

Learn to beGreen, SaveMoney &Make NewFriends!

Free! Real NappyMorning

New and Expectant Parents!� Learn how Real Nappies can help you save money and

do your bit for the planet.� Come and look at the range of real nappies available� And leave with your questions answered.

Thursday 20th June2pm - 3pm

Northfield Ecocentre, 53 Church Road, Northfield, Birmimgham, B31 2LB (Behind Ouslnam’s)The Central England Area Quaker Meeting Charities Registered Charity Number 224571

Nappuccinoat Northfield Ecocentre