Upcoming Low Carbon West Oxford events and projects
LCWO Bring and Take!
Bring & Take Event — Saturday 26th September
Fancy a clear-out, or a good bargain, want to reduce items going into landfill? Come along to our next Bring & Take!
Bring along anything in good condition that you no longer need — clothes, household items, toys, books and more — and take away anything that catches your eye, completely free. All electricals are PAT tested for safety before they go out.
It's also a great way to cut down on waste. Anything left at the end gets sorted and good-quality items go on to local charity shops, keeping things in use for longer as part of our commitment to sustainability.
With 200–300 people usually coming through the doors and well over a thousand items changing hands, it's one of our busiest community events of the year — and always a friendly one, where people spend time catching up with friends and neighbours within the local community.
Everyone's welcome, whether you're a regular or coming along for the first time. See you there!
Further Community Screenings of People's Emergency Briefing!
Thank you to everyone who attended our last screening of the People's Emergency Briefing on 2 August!
What do the latest climate and nature scientists tell us about the future — and what can we do in response?
Low Carbon West Oxford is hosting two further free community screenings of People's Emergency Briefing (watch the trailer here) on Wednesday 14 October and Wednesday 18 November at 7pm at West Oxford Community Centre, Botley Road, Oxford OX2 0BT.
This thought-provoking 50-minute film features Chris Packham, leading climate and nature scientists, a former senior military leader and actor Jennifer Saunders. Together, they present the latest evidence on the climate and nature emergencies, explain what it means for everyday life, and explore the actions we can all take to make a difference.
After the film, there will be an opportunity to stay for a facilitated discussion about what it means for our community and the positive actions we can take locally.
Book your place at either screening here or here.
We look forward to seeing you!
LCWO People's Emergency Briefing post-screening community group!
Thank you to everyone who attended our People's Emergency Briefing post-screening community group meeting on 16 September!
Low Carbon West Oxford plans to continue hosting these post-screening community group meetings to discuss what further actions we can take to support the National Emergency Briefing campaign and protect against climate change, together as a local community.
If you've already attended a Peoples' Emergency Briefing screening and wish to join the post-screening community group meetings, click here to join the mailing list to get updates on upcoming meetings.
Looking forward to seeing everyone who can make it!
Events and Projects
LCWO Home Energy Stalls
Over the last 12 months, LCWO has run eight home energy stalls, held once a month at City Larder, on Fridays from 4–5.30pm in the WOCC main hall.
The stalls aim to distil information on the Warm Homes Plan, offering guidance on the different routes to access help. They've sparked many useful discussions about home energy use, alongside practical information and aids to help people keep their homes warmer and drier.
Thank you to everyone who has attended!
The stalls are supported by the Low Carbon Hub with information and materials.
We'll keep you updated here with dates and details of future stalls.
In the meantime, the Community Action Groups (CAG) featured the following article in a recent newsletter: www.cse.org.uk/news/warm-homes-plan-response/
Free Basil Kits at the West Oxford Food Larder
On 27 March, Low Carbon West Oxford visited the Food Larder at West Oxford Community Centre to help local residents start growing their own herbs at home. We were delighted to give away 50 free “Grow Your Own Basil” kits to the community. We then followed this up with a “Grow Your Own Coriander” give-away on 17 April.
This was all made possible through generous donations from volunteers, each kit included a pot, compost, basil seeds, and simple growing instructions — everything needed to get started on a sunny windowsill.
Basil is easy to grow and a great addition to home cooking, whether in fresh pesto, pasta dishes, pizzas, or summer salads and coriander is particularly great for Thai food and Mexican Food. The kits also included a link to the Royal Horticultural Society website for extra growing tips and advice.
We hope everyone who picked up a kit enjoys the rewards of home-grown herbs!
LCWO Cargo-Bike - project update
There has been excellent progress on the Cargo Bikes project in recent weeks.
Two electric assisted cargo bikes, one with an open compartment, and one with a lid are saved for us to purchase in the next few weeks for the rental scheme. They are currently being checked and serviced.
Other elements of the scheme are being worked on and we will publish times for trials, rental terms and volunteering opportunities as soon as we can.
We look forward to hearing from people who are interested in using the bikes and helping with the rental process. Contact us on info@lcwo.org.uk
We’re looking forward to sharing more details very soon — watch this space!
Community Energy Schemes - project update
LCWO still has a long-term aim to achieve a community-sourced heat system, which could help with an alternative to individual heat pumps.
As part of this we met with a representative form Venneit Close, a complex of flats to help consider if a link to a larger community scheme was viable, the pro and cons of a system supplying water individual households can extract heat from, or a hotter water system that needs smaller conversion units in each flat, and alternatives to these systems that would be viable on a long-term sustainable basis.
If you are interested in any aspect of Community Heating Schemes, please email us: info@lcwo.org.uk.
Ways to get involved!
If you’d like to get involved in an existing project or event, have an idea for something new, or know of a project or event that could benefit the West Oxford community, we’d love to hear from you.
We welcome your ideas and suggestions.
Email us: info@lcwo.org.uk.
