Thurs 21st September - The Importance of Insects Art Workshop

Thurs 26th October - Film Screening: The Need to Grow

A unique talk and art session with Cath Hodsman, AMRSB, in appreciation of insects.

Cath Hodsman is one of the U.K's foremost entomological (insect) artists, illustrators, conservationists and teachers. She has exhibited, showcased, or taught at many relevant esteemed venues throughout her career, including the Queens Gallery, Buckingham Palace, the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, R.H.S Wisley and the Natural History Museum, London.

The event in Charlton Kings is a unique chance to spend an evening with Cath. She'll talk about why the smallest things in life are the most important things in Iife, and how her appreciation of insects influences her artwork.

Participants will also have the chance to study and sketch a bee in a way that they have never been able to before - by using Cath's microscopes or macro photographic material to produce a detailed and unique homage to these iconic and well-loved insects.

No prior experience is necessary, and all materials will be supplied.

Please be aware that insect specimens will be used in the workshop. The insects have either died naturally, or have been ethically sourced.

This workshop is suitable for ages 12 and up.

Reserve your free place now on Eventbrite

Save the soil - save the world? Could the fight against climate change be won by working with nature and regenerating our depleted soils?

With only 60 years of farmable soil left on Earth, The Need to Grow offers an intimate look into the hearts of activists and innovators in the food movement who are fighting to create localised & sustainable food systems and regenerate our soil.

We follow an 8-year-old girl as she challenges the ethics of a beloved organisation - a renegade farmer who struggles to keep his land as he revolutionises resource efficient agriculture - and an accomplished visionary investor as he faces catastrophe in the midst of developing a game-changing technology.

Narrated by Rosario Dawson (Marvel's The Defenders, The Lego Batman Movie), discover alarming evidence on the importance of healthy soil - revealing not only the potential of localised food production working with nature but our opportunity as individuals to help regenerate our planet's dying soils and participate in the restoration of the earth.

AWARDS & ACCOLADES

WINNER - Best Documentary, Sonoma International Festival

WINNER - Best Environmental Documentary, Sedona International Festival

WINNER - Audience Award Best Documentary Feature, Edmonton International Film Festival

WINNER - Audience Favorite, Philadelphia Environmental Film Festival

WINNER - Best Documentary, Beaufort International Film Festival

You can book this event for free through Eventbrite.

Find out why water is so important in our gardens and how to create the ideal water source for wildlife.

All life on earth needs water to survive.

Providing a water source in a garden doesn't just support the obvious creatures like frogs and toads, it can be a lifeline for a wide range of wildlife. Even the smallest water feature can make a huge difference.

Find out how to make the most of this important resource in your garden in this fascinating talk by Jo Worthy Jones from Haven 4 Wildlife.

Find out how to plant fruit trees to suit your garden, field or green space with Martin Hayes, an experienced and skilled practitioner.

Martin Hayes gives an informal talk on the planting of fruit trees and orchards as a positive response to climate change and the need for food security. He will give lots of information and tips on how to plant fruit trees to suit your environment, and how to make the most of them for food production.

Martin is well placed to advise on all things orchards, having worked in both commercial and traditional orchards for 45+ years, learning his trade through experience. A skilled practitioner, he works as a consultant and orchard creator for estates such as Tortworth and Althorp Park.

He is also on the steering group for the new government Environmental Land Management scheme, Elms.

In this interactive event, William Shotton, owner and creator of Tibico Fermentary, will talk about his passion for fermentation, how he came to start Tibico, and the health benefits associated with fermented food and drink.

A life-changing health crisis motivated him to change his career and assess his lifestyle, leading him to an exploration of the impact that gut health has on our bodies, health and wellbeing.

He went on to study Functional Nutrition at Cornell University in the USA and changed to a 95% plant based diet. Through experimentation in fermentation and the power of gut bacteria, William recovered his health in 9 months.

There will be lots of tasters to sample, and he will answer any questions you have about them, and about how the microbiome affects our health.

You can book this event for free through Eventbrite.

Community Voice

CK Futures in collaboration with FRONT Community Café welcomes the opportunity to host community talks, activities and workshops for and by local residents. These will be informal gatherings held at FRONT at Sixways. Community Voice topics will focus on sustainability and health and wellbeing. Knowledgeable local volunteers will be on-hand to inform and guide.

How do we communicate climate change, and get people involved in meeting the challenges and spotting the opportunities?

"Stories are the secret reservoir of values: change the stories that individuals or nations live by and you change the individuals and nations themselves." Ben Okri

The language we use, especially how we refer to the natural environment (plants, animals, nature, weather) can influence our behaviour and how we see ourselves in relation to nature and the climate.

Arran is a Professor of Ecological Linguistics at Gloucestershire University and author of 'Ecolinguistics: Language, ecology and the stories we live by'. In this session he will explore some of the stories that underpin our unequal and unsustainable industrial civilisation. This includes stories of unlimited economic growth, nature as a resource and meat as a symbol of masculine identity. He will then explore inspirational new stories to live by from nature writing and Japanese haiku and animation.

ABOUT ARRAN STIBBE

His research and teaching examines how language encodes the stories we live by, and shapes how we see ourselves and our relationship with other animals and the earth. This involves linguistic analysis of a wide range of discourses, from advertising which encourages people to buy unnecessary and ecologically damaging products, to the inspirational language of nature writing.

He is founder of the International Ecolinguistics Association, which has more than 650 members, and has been awarded a National Teaching Fellowship for excellence in teaching.

You can book this event for free through Eventbrite.

Would you like to make your garden a haven for wildlife? Come along to our free event and put your questions to a panel of experts.

Together, the UK's gardens are larger than all of our National Nature Reserves combined, making them incredibly important for wildlife, and giving us gardeners an incredible opportunity to make a real difference in the fight against the loss of our native wildlife species.

And wildlife gardening isn't just something we do to help nature. There are benefits to us too. The happiness we feel when we get our first tadpoles in our wildlife pond, the excitement when birds build a nest in our nest box, or our child's pride when they spot a bee landing on one of the flowers they planted. Nature gardening can bring real joy to our lives.

But what can we do in our gardens to make them welcoming to nature? What plants should we plant? What does our local wildlife need?

A group of local experts will join us for this interactive event, coming armed with a wealth of nature gardening knowledge to help them answer as many of your questions as possible.

The panel will be answering a mixture of pre-submitted and live questions. To help us prepare for the event, it would be great if you could email your questions in advance to ckfutures@charltonkingsparishcouncil.gov.uk. Thank you!

You can book this event for free through Eventbrite.

In this relaxed workshop, we will eat together and discuss the impact of our choice of food, both on the planet and on our health.

In the first of our new Community Voice events, Su Billington will provide a nutritious meal at FRONT Community Café on Wednesday 10 May 2023 from 7pm until 9pm. We will eat and discuss the impact of our choice of food, both on the planet and on our health.

We will look at what we eat, how our food is grown and what impact food production (and waste) has on the environment.

How much difference does vegetarianism/veganism make? Is organic and free-range better? Is it always best to buy local produce?

Come and enjoy some delicious food and share your experiences, favourite dishes, and thoughts about how we can eat well and sustainably.

A donation of £10 per person is suggested for this event to cover the cost of the meal provided. The meal will be plant-based and attendees should inform the hosts on arrival of any allergies.

Want to help tackle climate change but don't have the time to become a climate scientist?

In just 3 hours, the collaborative Climate Fresk workshop will teach you the fundamental science behind climate change and empower you to take action.

Work together as a group to understand the science and impacts of climate change over this 3 hour interactive workshop.

More info about the Fresk model is available here: https://climatefresk.org/

This event is hosted by Planet Cheltenham and CK Futures.

Reserve your free place now on Eventbrite

CK Futures Talk - Responding to the Energy Crisis

CEO of Severn Wye Energy Agency, Sandy Hore-Ruthven (awarded an MBE in the recent honours list), is joining us for our February talk to discuss all things energy.

He will give an overview of the UK's current energy situation, and his thoughts on the strategic and policy changes that will be needed to tackle the problems we are facing.

He will also discuss some of the options for householders and companies - giving top energy tips and information about retrofit and business energy.

This is a free event hosted by CK Futures, a Charlton Kings Parish Council Initiative.

ABOUT SANDY

Sandy is the CEO of Severn Wye Energy Agency – one of the UK's largest charities tackling fuel poverty and Climate Change across Wales and Western England. It works to support those struggling with fuel poverty through advice and retrofitting their homes. Each year Severn Wye supports 7000 households, saving over £1.5m in energy bills. Severn Wye also invests in cutting edge technology to capture carbon and generate renewable energy saving over 20,000 tonnes of Carbon each year. Sandy has been a charity CEO since 2006 managing large charities supporting young people and disadvantaged communities across the UK.

Sandy was the Green Party Mayoral candidate in the elections in 2021 and received 44% of the vote – the largest green vote outside Brighton.

He is currently chair of Children in Need in the South West and has held a number of board positions including the Chair of Youth Action Networks and VOSCUR and has been a board member of the Quartet Community Foundation. He was founder member of the Bristol Mayor's 'One City' board where he initiated the plans to reach Net Zero by 2030 and worked with business, charities, communities, and local authorities to tackle a range of other environmental issues.

Sandy has cycled in many places across the globe including the Andes, the Tibetan Plateau, Himalayas, and central Africa. He has two adopted children who are grown up and making their way in the world.

The talk will start at 7.30pm on Wednesday 22nd February in the Stanton Hall (next to the Charlton Kings Library), Charlton Kings.

This is a free event hosted by CK Futures, a Charlton Kings Parish Council Initiative.

You can book this free event via Eventbrite

CK Futures Talk - An Introduction to Doughnut Economics

Join us in th Stanton Hall on Church Piece, next to Charlton Kings Library, for an introductory talk on economics featuring The Liminality's, Raechel Kelly.

Kate Raworth, the author and economist behind the award winning Doughnut Economics book of 2017, came up with the theory after becoming increasingly disillusioned with the state of economics and the core theories we have based our economic system upon.

Come along to this interactive event to learn more about the doughnut concept, explore the seven key ideas behind it and maybe question some of our long held assumptions about the current economic system.

What is GDP? Why the obsession with growth? Is there another way? How can we get into the sweet spot where both people and planet can thrive?

There might even be some actual doughnuts involved!

The talk will start at 7.30pm on Wednesday 25th January in the Stanton Hall (next to the Charlton Kings Library), Charlton Kings.

This is a free event hosted by CK Futures, a Charlton Kings Parish Council Initiative.

You can book this event Free via Eventbrite.

ABOUT RAECHEL KELLY

Raechel Kelly is a local mother of three who works in the sustainability sector, helping organisations of all sizes tackle complex environmental and social issues. She is also working with local charity Vision 21 on an exciting new project 'Planet Cheltenham', which aims to empower Cheltenham's citizens to take meaningful action on climate change. Before setting up her sustainability consultancy The Liminality, Raechel spent 13 years working in sustainable finance.

CK Futures Talk - The Science of Trees and Climate

Join us in the Community Hub at FRONT on London Road as Patricia Thornley, Director of Supergen Bioenergy Hub joins us to discuss the question, do trees really help fight climate change?

In this fascinating talk, Patricia evaluates the science of planting trees to save carbon, discusses other forest and deforestation related controversies and shares some of the ways trees benefit all of us.

The talk will start at 7.30pm on Wednesday 30th November in Community Hub at FRONT, 197 London Road, Sixways, Charlton Kings, GL52 6HU.

This is a free event hosted by CK Futures, a Charlton Kings Parish Council Initiative.

You can book this event Free via Eventbrite.

CK Futures Talk - How to Make the Invisible, Visible – a Blueprint for Tackling the Climate and Ecological Emergencies

Join us at a talk hosted by CK Futures, featuring Birmingham City Council's Green City Manager, Nick Grayson. He will discuss how we can fix the climate and ecological emergencies and will talk about the extensive work he has done in Birmingham.

Nick is passionate about transforming cities to create places that deliver wellbeing for the planet and for their citizens.

Towards this aim, during his time as Green City Manager in Birmingham, Nick has implemented a plan to tackle issues in four main areas: Climate, Nature, People and Justice (or health and wellbeing). In this fascinating talk, he will talk us through this plan, the benefits of it, and how it can be made a reality, and to see what might transfer to Cheltenham or Charlton Kings.

The talk will start at 7.30pm on Wednesday 26th October in the Stanton Hall (next to the Charlton Kings Library), Charlton Kings.

ABOUT NICK GRAYSON

Nick is Birmingham's Green City Manager and he established Birmingham as a founding member of the Biophilic Cities Network and in 2022 saw the city commit to a City of Nature, a 25-year vision to put nature at the heart of decision-making. Nick is also a Senior Research Fellow at University of Birmingham working on air quality.

You can book this event Free via Eventbrite.

Join us in the Stanton Hall in Charlton Kings to see the powerful and inspiring environmental film 2040, being screened by CK Futures as part of The Great Big Green Week.

This free showing is bought to you in collaboration with Cheltenham Borough Council.

While many environmental films focus on the damage being done to the planet that threatens human existence, this documentary-style film 2040 focuses instead on solutions.

Award-winning director Damon Gameau (That Sugar Film) embarks on a journey to explore what the future could look like by the year 2040 if we simply embraced the best solutions already available to us to improve our planet and shifted them rapidly into the mainstream.

Structured as a visual letter to his 4-year-old daughter, Damon blends traditional documentary with dramatised sequences and high-end visual effects to create a vision board of how these solutions could regenerate the world for future generations.

Watch the trailer https://youtu.be/sR51ZDNSRFQ

Motivated by concerns about the planet his 4-year-old daughter would inherit, Damon embarked on a global journey to meet innovators and changemakers in the areas of economics, technology, civil society, agriculture, education and sustainability. Drawing on their expertise, he sought to identify the best solutions, available to us now, that would help improve the health of our planet and the societies that operate within it. From marine permaculture to decentralised renewable energy projects, he discovered that people all over the world are taking matters into their own hands.

This journey is the central premise for the documentary '2040', a story of hope that looks at the very real possibility that humanity could reverse global warming and improve the lives of every living thing in the process. It is a positive vision of what 'could be', instead of the dystopian future we are so often presented.

The film is being screened on Friday 30th September at the Stanton Hall on Church Piece, Church Road, Charlton Kings, Cheltenham, GL53 8AR. Doors open at 7.00pm (refreshments available) and the film will begin at 7.30pm. There will be a discussion about the film afterwards.

This is a free event hosted by CK Futures, a Charlton Kings Parish Council Initiative.

You can book this event free via Eventbrite.

Join us at Community Hub at FRONT on London Road, Sixways as Tom Whipple, Science Editor of the Times, and Patricia Thornley, Fellow of The Royal Academy of Engineering explore the science, some of the solutions available to us, and discuss how Government, business, communities and individuals can play their part in tackling climate change.

The talk is on Weds 8th June at the Community Hub at FRONT, Sixways, Charlton Kings. Doors will open at 7.30pm (refreshments available) and the talk will start at 8pm.

This is a free event hosted by CK Futures, a Charlton Kings Parish Council Initiative.

You can book this event free via Eventbrite.

Join us in the Stanton Hall next to the Charlton Kings Library as Rob Gould, the Cotswold Forager and Jenn Haigh, owner of Little Hoots Forest School in Charlton Kings, talk to us about family activities to engage children in nature.

Love the great outdoors but want to engage your children beyond going for walks?

Rob and Jenn are ready to answer your questions in an informal setting where you will have lots of opportunities to ask questions.

This is a free event hosted by CK Futures, a Charlton Kings Parish Council Initiative.

You can book this event free via Eventbrite.

Join us in the Stanton Hall next to the Charlton Kings Library as Mike Bush, Gloucestershire Master Composter, teaches us about composting, worm poo and comfrey tea!

Know nothing about composting or your composting attempts fail?

Are you successfully composting but would like to find out about other composting methods such as leaf mould, vermicomposting and active aerated compost teas.

Mike is ready to answer all your questions and set you on the path to composting success!

This is a free event hosted by CK Futures, a Charlton Kings Parish Council Initiative.

You can book this free event via Eventbrite

Join us in the Stanton Hall next to the Charlton Kings Library as Karen Watson, Environmental Partnerships Manager at Cheltenham Borough Council, joins us to dispel the myths and explain the destinations of your kerb side recycling.

Cheltenham Borough Council is keen to engage with the local community to look at new ways of doing things to improve the recycling service in the future. Share your thoughts on how they might collect different plastics at kerbside and how they can make it easy for residents to increase levels of recycling in Cheltenham.

A great opportunity to ask questions and help to shape the future of recycling in Cheltenham.

This is a free event hosted by CK Futures, a Charlton Kings Parish Council Initiative.

You can book this free event via Eventbrite.

Join us in the Stanton Hall next to the Charlton Kings Library as Councillor Max Wilkinson, cabinet member for climate emergency, talks us through the Borough Council's Climate Emergency Action Plan.

The Plan sets the pathway to a Net Zero Borough, while highlighting the shared responsibilities across different levels of authority, including the Borough Council, County Council and government, as well as communities and businesses

This is a free event hosted by CK Futures, a Charlton Kings Parish Council Initiative.

You can book this free event via Eventbrite.