East Devon SkillShare
A brilliant bunch of East Devon folk turned out for the East Devon SkillShare at The BeeHive in Honiton on Saturday 26th of April. The energy and enthusiasm was invigorating! It really showed how grassroots sustainability is alive and thriving in the district. It was also an opportunity to demonstrate the benefits of coming together as a network.
The day started with 30 people, all representing different community groups across the District, gathering at The BeeHive, a community venue in Honiton. They had come because they were passionate about building community resilience. In their spare time they were contributing to projects and activities for a more sustainable future and they wanted to connect with other like minded people across East Devon.
In the morning a lively bunch jumped onboard a minibus for an excursion to the Blackdown Hills Eco Hub, just 15 minutes from Honiton. The hub is a project of Blackdown Hills Transition Group, a CAG Devon member.
At the hub they have been championing organic vegetable cultivation in healthy microbe rich living soils. Engaging the community in both Devon and Somerset and regularly hosting local schools. On the visit people learned about the hub’s pioneering biochar research and how they are supporting and promoting regenerative agriculture.
Those who didn’t visit the hub joined a walking bus to the Thelma Hulbert Gallery where we had partnered to connect with their Climate Conversation Programme and Sensing the Planet exhibition.
At the Gallery they met East Devon based artist Anne Marie Culhane, a founding member of Culture Declares Emergency, who has created award-winning sustainable arts projects in the UK. Anne-Marie led them through a creative activity and helped them understand how they could tackling the challenges of the climate crisis through creativity and working with artists.
Everyone returned to The BeeHive with excitement and chatter about what they had found out. Over a jacket potato lunch they had time to get to know each other, and digest the morning’s inspiration.
In the afternoon participants shared experiences and learned from each other in workshops on supporting climate action and building community through food.
Exmouth Town Council’s Award Winning Climate Officer, Zoey Cooper led discussion which explored ways to support local people to take climate action. Zoey shared insights that contributed to Exmouth Town Council’s 2024 “NALC Climate Response of the Year” win.
In a separate workshop Exmouth based community food champion, Craig Jolly, shared the lessons he’s learned from running Mushroom – Exmouth & District Food Network’s projects. Including ‘Over A Bowl’ shared meals using surplus food and ‘Saturday Loaf’ community baking sessions. The workshop also helped people learn how cooperative buying works and the benefits of running a food coop.
To round the day off everyone gathered in a Climate Café—a welcoming space where conversations from the workshops continued, and new discussions emerged. Local people shared ideas and experiences on topics ranging from rewilding and biodiversity to strengthening local networks and finding better ways to promote their group’s activities.
Before we closed for the day we asked people to feedback and say how the day had made them feel…
“I feel like I’m not alone”
“It’s been great to meet new people doing things in my local area, we don’t get to do this enough, it’s going to keep me going”
“Really interesting day. Met some wonderful people, who have really inspired me. Thank you.”
“We’d like to join CAG as member”.
We ended with a group photo. Some people wandered back to the Gallery to view the Sensing the Planet exhibition. Some people stayed to network a little. There were hugs and lots of smiles all round. It was a great event, thanks to those who attended, for their commitment to community action and their positivity and motivation.
If you would like to find out more about CAG Devon membership and how you can be part of a thriving collaborative network we would love to talk to you.
