…on a grey and rainy morning, here’s a bit of a livener to perk you up before the weekend and bring cheer in the face of all the gloomy news.

Next week Montpelier folks are planning, connecting and celebrating a bunch of lively and positive community actions, all of which are open, welcoming, free, run by volunteers, and looking for help.

So turn the TV off, get your bum of the couch, leave the pub out for a moment, and join in in any one of next week’s events outlined below.

Or forward this to a mate, neighbour, dog or dinosaur – and subscribe for our newsletter.

Sunday 20th March: all day in various people’s homes
Insulation Celebration – visit homes to learn more about insulation from the horses’ mouth
View Insulation Celebration page on website

Wednesday 23rd March: 6:30pm, Arts House, Stokes Croft
Beanfeast planning meeting: if you want this fantastic free party again, join in and help make it happen – they need the help
View Beanfeast planning event page on website

Thursday 24th March: 7 – 9pm, Fairfield Resource Centre, Montpelier
Big Open Meeting: Worrying about all the grizzly cuts? Get together with neighbours to work out how to take the edges off
View Big Open Meeting page on website

Saturday 26th March: 12-2pm: Montpelier Park
Picnic in the park: Celebrate the fantastic work of the Montpelier Park Group in the new and amazing Montpelier Park with BBQ, planting, boules, picnics and more
View picnic page on website

Other stimulating stuff while you’re here:

• Transition Heathrow celebrates its first birthday: inspiring stuff
• What are we for? George Monbiot knows what we’re against.. but not what for…
• Transition Montpelier drop in evening: 5th May, after work, location to come
• 10 reaons why nuclear was a mistake: stirring thoughts from Transition Culture
• Turning banks into Libraries: 19th March: fun (serious) from UK Uncut
• On being shortlisted for Climate Week Awards: more stirring thoughts from Transition chairman and local chap

Some quick notes on the Streets discussions for reference:

• We *think* we know what the situation is, but do we? Lots of talk about ‘too many cars’ but we don’t really know how many, owned by who, why, etc. etc.
• Get knowledge of area and situation through a survey – door to door, online, in the shops
• Leads to meetings and discussions to explore the topic and frame the situation in a reasonable way (ie not just ‘give up cars’, but ‘we all want to use our streets’)
• Start practically mapping the streets to get an idea of what can and can’t be done
• Need community buy-in to get formal council support (which will be vital to any significant change)
• There are alternatives to car ownership – city car clubs, neighbourhood hire schemes
• Need to find benefits for individuals to give up their cars, not just demonise them

The ‘Streets’ ‘group’ has struggled to find a path to finding its feet, and this may be a way to mix small actions with getting the neighbourhood’s input while finding out more about Montpelier. In a parallel group, the ‘energy’ group were interested in doing an energy survey to find out how much energy the neighbourhood is using – maybe we do a big survey in 2011?

Here is Pete’s presentation:

Autumn is now officially with us, we’re moving back into gear after summer’s growing, camping, walking, and generally not being indoors-ing.

The Urban Greening group are having their next meeting soon, we’re holding a big open event in November to catch up on the projects’ work and find more things to do, we’re giving hundreds of trees away to Montpelier households, Bristol Green Doors have written up their amazing event, we’re doing a showing of ‘The Yes Men Save the World’ and more… read on…

Urban Greening Meeting: 14/10/10
Get your diaries out for the Urban Greening’s Autumn meeting on October 14th, 20:00 – 22:00
The Autumn meeting will be Thursday October 14, 8-10pm in the old Fairfield School.  Hope you can come!  At the moment, this will be discussing group progress and how to keep momentum going.
Read more about the Urban Greening meeting

Free Tree Giveaway: advance notice
The Urban Greening group are delighted to have joined forces with a local tree planting fund and will shortly be distributing FREE TREES to Montpelier households. A mix of fruit and native trees will be available to chose from.
Read more about the Free Tree Giveaway

Film showing: The Yes Men Fix the World
In order to lighten the load on the day all the government cuts are announced (20th October) and the fascinating Big Society saga takes another twist in its tail, we’re going to show a great film about two keen inspired young activists, who are busy hacking corporations’ tidy varnished facias.Yes that’s right – we’re showing
Read more about The Yes Men Fix The World film showing

Bristol Green Doors event write up
It is now two weeks since the first Bristol Green Doors open homes event and after a lot of very, very hard work Kate and I have both had a chance to relax and reflect. So how was it? Well basically it was great and we want to do another one next year! Here are a few thoughts and an update so you appreciate where we are at.
Read more about the Bristol Green Doors event

Well done you Beanfeast-ers!
On behalf of the organising group I just wanted to say a huge thank you for giving up your time on Saturday to help the Bean Feast run smoothly and keep the happy vibes going.  It was a really lovely day and that is in no small measure down to you.  We certainly couldn’t have done it without your generosity!
Read more about the Beanfeast-ers thank you

Make your home an eco-home course
Following Bristol Green Doors is a timely 6 week course entitled: ‘Make your home an eco home.’ This aims to demystify what it takes to start living more sustainably in your house.
Where Green Doors inspires, we hope to get people on the journey themselves! Book now – it starts on October 5th.
Read more about the Make your home and eco-home course

Wood buying in bulk, anyone?
Do you have a (efficient and clean) wood burning stove? Would you be interested in being part of a group bulk-buying wood in Montpelier? Jo has kindly offered to co-ordinate a bulk wood purchase from a recommended wood provider (approx price £85 per metric cubic tonne), but only if there is significant interest.
Read more about buying wood in bulk

Can you help research Bristol’s Sustainability history?
Our friends over at The Schumacher Institute have got some cash to document Bristol’s history of Sustainability. They are looking for some volunteers to help out. Can you get involved?
Read more about the Sustainability research

Admin meeting minutes
The TT Montpelier admin group meet every month to discuss exciting things like when to hold events, what the website does and doesn’t do, who owes who want money, etc. etc.
Read the admin group’s meeting notes from October 2010

We will send out a special announcement email to the main Transition Montpelier mailing list with more details in the next few weeks, inviting applications for trees.

We will also be designing some posters to put up around the neighbourhood, and trying to let as many people as possible know about the scheme. We would greatly appreciate any help you could offer – please leave a comment here.

Hi Everyone,

On behalf of the organising group I just wanted to say a huge thank you for giving up your time on Saturday to help the Bean Feast run smoothly and keep the happy vibes going.  It was a really lovely day and that is in no small measure down to you.  We certainly couldn’t have done it without your generosity!

If you have any comments, either things you thought went well or things that could be done better, please let us know.  If you’ve heard anyone else raving or ranting about it, please pass on what they’re saying.  It’s always a learning process and feedback is really important.  We have a debrief meeting tomorrow (Thurs) at 7pm in the Old England – if you’d like to come along you’d be most welcome.

Also, any great photos you’ve got, send them on over!

We hope you enjoyed the day and many thanks again,
Sally and the Bean Feast Team
xx

Beanfeast in local news

Download Evening Post Article 21sept2010

It goes in a sequence – 1 publishes, 2 responds to 1, 3 responds to 2 and 1, etc…

1. John Michael Greer (Arch Druid): The costs of community
2. Sharon Astyk (Science blogs): On the problem of community
3. Rob Hopkins (Transition Culture): Why community might not need organising

It’s not like that at all – we are open, welcoming, keen and happy for people to help us out co-ordinating Transition Montpelier.

In fact there are lots of things that need doing so drop us a line if you’re interested. And maybe think of it as an ‘initiating’ group, or a ‘co-ordination’ group. We’re thinking along those lines.

Click on this link to download the minutes directly

And for you in the meeting – you know who you are – these minutes are full of action points for all of us, so get busy!

Here’s a photo of us:

Transition Montpelier 'core' team

(Richard, Janie, Sally, Dan, Ciaran – Ed taking photo, Simon, Ralph and Bronwen not there)

The Agenda:

TT Montpelier core team agenda 16/12/09

The minutes from the meeting:

Transition Montpelier
Core team meeting
16/12, 20:30 – 23:00
Dan’s kitchen

Attendees:

• Dan (DW)
• Simon (SL)
• Sally (SJ)
• Ralph (Ralph)
• Janie (JD)
• Ciaran (CM)
• Ed (EM)

(apols: Bronwen)

1. Winter Fayre:

• TT Mont to host stall at Winter Fayre from 12 – 6/7 with soup, wish tree, chestnuts, host
• Wish tree to represent TT Mont and the project groups that are emerging
• Host will explain TT Montpelier, encourage people to make baubles and add them to the tree
• Will need some protection for bbq for chestnuts

Rota:

• 11:30 DW set up
• 14:00 CM
• 16:00 EM
• Others: Bronwen, Jess, John…?

Actions:

• DW: build wish tree for stall
• CM: make soup: incl. pots, cups et.c
• JD: produce nuts, protective gloves etc.
• DW: produce barbeque
• EM: produce two ring cooker for soup
• EM: contact Bron, Jess, John about hosting stall
• SL: produce bbq protection (sheets of ply)
• SL: pass Scrapstore card to DW!
• DW: get some scrapstore stuff for bauble making

2. Bean Feast

• Marquee needs repair following Bean Feast
• Organising was a significant job – also for Winter Fayre – need buddies to help with events – burn out risk
• Bean Feast needs separate de-brief
• ‘Events’ team need a meet to share on events work, agree budgetsGood to publish all budgets/accounts for transparency and ‘transferability’ to other initiatives
• ‘Events’ team to organise open meet in January – 1. BF de-brief, 2, General

Actions:

• SJ: working on marquee repair
• SJ/SL: organise events meetup in January

3. Group dynamics

• Core/initiating group meets now officially regular – every 3rd Wednesday
• Open meetings need to be regular and in a cycle of 1. projects work, 2. open space, 3. awareness raising
• TT Mont isn’t quite at ‘constitution’ stage but we see it as future goal
• Could we think of the current ‘core’ group as an ‘initiating’ group?
• Need to think about group dynamics: decision-making, ‘core’ and working groups
• TT Mont provides: connections, advice, knowledge, support, events, awareness, web, lists
• TT Mont has value set and philosophy in line with TT movement
• TT Mont does not look for ownership of local activism – more the social glue for groups
• Need a short clear purpose and position statement to work outward from (toward constitution)
• Role and relationship between ‘core/initiating’ and working groups needs more clarity
• Need to avoid burnout with buddying up with partners, clarifying roles and responsibilities, bringing activists in
• TT training discussed – group facilitation, TT training
• TT theory and training in general – need more discussion on what is TT

Actions:

• ALL: think about the ‘constitution’ track – our purpose, structure and dynamics for next meet discussion
• EM: organise ‘what is TT and its training’ meetup: January – interest: SJ, SL for starters
• ALL: regular core/initiating groups: every 3rd Wednesday.

4. Energy:

• Clearly identifiable and action-able stuff can be done around energy – it’s good for money, ethics, education
• Range of energy projects from adding insulation to rented house to co-owing a wind turbine
• Set up energy group proper – start small – start brainstorming
• Other neighbourhoods doing similar stuff – need connections
• Idea: Energy action team – voluntary group help out house dweller with insulation, heating tips etc. focus on one street – like a pilot
• Idea: we have deal with good energy, what can eco-tricity do?

Actions:

• DW, RRM, Ralph: clear leaders for energy group – get heads around how to proceed
• RRM, Ralph: email/share with DW thoughts on group
• DW: collate and form in preparation for communications
• EM: find Bath TT group reps and connect with Mont energy group
• CM: contact Bristol City Council sustainability team to open conversation

5. Announcements:

• Park Project: underway – AGM coming up – Fences going up soon – constitution underway
• Food project idea: food growing everywhere – like distributed allotment share – raised beds around hood
• Road Feature group idea following Thali Cafe corner success: council looking for connections
• Richard knows where to get railway sleepers cheap
• Bristol City Museum research project for TT groups: RRM, Bron going in
• Bristol Free shop on Stokes Croft: offer space for reps

Actions:

• EM: connect RRM, Bron with Museum people
• SJ: likely to be championing the food workings

6. ‘Widening’ TT Montpelier

• How to reach out and make TT Mont more ‘diverse’ (class, ethnicity, climate change deniers)?
• Projects provide approachable front to do stuff
• Film was very inclusive
• Good meetings are vital – use of Open Space – people want to ‘be heard’
• Knocking on doors and introducing selves is direct
• Target one street with (e.g.) energy project and go help out as a pilot
• Action tracking: displaying what you’ve done – online or at events – map of activity
• For those who don’t own houses: list of things you can do to keep costs down
• Keep looking for contacts in religious groups

Actions:

• DW: connect EM with web guy in Easton
• EM: researching mapping tools – noise map, other activist maps
• ALL: every meeting: clear purpose and big call out

7. Next open meeting:

• Purpose – action, workgroups, projects – encourage all to get onboard with some project work
• Key question – from ‘how is TT Mont supporting me’ to ‘how can I support TT Mont?’
• Also to have some introductions – and a talk from another initiative? Easton offered a while back?
• Flyers needed
• Meeting owner needed: DW with support – EM? Can we call for another?
• Group leaders needed: DW/RRM: energy, SJ: food…
• Meeting summary needed
• Date: either 03/02 or 10/02
• Also discussed setting regular patterns for open meets: 1: projects and action, 2: Open Space, 3: Awareness raising

Actions:

• ALL: do doodle on Open meet date
• ?: Write newsletter update week commencing 03/01 – 2009 summary, call for volunteers, open meeting date

8. Close and what can we do better next time?

• Meeting design and facilitation good
• Next meet 8 – 10
• Food at first is good
• Venue different – Ed’s house

Here’s the blurb:

• Fed up of not being able to walk along the streets in your home town, without ads telling you to buy more stuff you don’t need?
• Sick of your kids having their heads filled with someone else’s ideas about what you should be buying them this Christmas?
• Happy to make your own mind up about what you need, without the ‘help’ of marketing tactics?

If we want to live better lives that leave our world intact, we need to have a clear head: help Bristol become an international beacon for free thinking, free of street advertising.

Sky advert (the adbusting was nothing to do with us)

Fight back against the millions of pounds poured onto street adverts, endlessly persuading us what to do and what to be like.

Meeting details:

7:30pm – 9:00pm, Wednesday 9 December, 2009.
The Resource Centre, Fairfield Road, Montpelier, Bristol, BS6 5JP
(use Fairfield Road Entrance, not the main gate)

If possible, please let Tom know that you are coming by emailing him

Events

1) Love Easton Community Café:  5 Stapleton Rd, Bristol, BS5 0QR – around the corner from the Trinity Centre.

Opens to the public for one month from Saturday 3rd October 2009
DROP BY – Come and say hello to us throughout October
A community cafe will open at the old paint stripping shop. Come and join us
for tea and cake, and tell us what you want from Easton.  Also, log on to
Love Easton website to find out dates for specific design workshops to get
involved in.  Be a key participant in the organically developing exhibition.

2) Stapleton Road Street Fair: Saturday 3rd October 2009

Live Bands, Open Mic, Live Graf Art, Circus, Food, Drink, Face Painting and
much, much more

3) Debate:  Duty to Involve- What it means to community led design – Tuesday October 6th 2009

Architecture Centre, Bristol
How much say should the public have in how their communities are developed?
Event page

4) Green Spaces – Drop in Day: Wednesday 7th October 2009

At Love Easton Community Café, 5 Stapleton Road. Start time 10am – 8pm.
What do you want from your existing green spaces?/ Where would you like them?
/What facilities do you need? /How do you get to the green spaces?
Come and speak to Rob McGovern, Area Green Space Plan Project Officer for Bristol City Council

5) Design Workshop: Saturday 10th October 2009

10am – 6pm – Starting at Love Easton Community Café, 5 Stapleton Road.
Visit some of Easton’s potential development sites and share your own
development ideas, with the help of architects and designers
If you are interested, contact them on this email address
£3 for a day of fun and exploration in Easton.
Hosted by Departure Lounge

6) One vision for Old Market: Sunday 11th October 2009

10am – 4pm – Love Easton Community Café, 5 Stapleton Road.
4pm – 6.30pm – Meeting at the Trinity Centre to discuss the future of Old Market

7) Competition: Deadline for entries- 19th October 2009

A competition to create a work of art that represents the spirit of Easton, or
take a photograph which reflects the best and worst aspects of Easton. The
winning work of art will receive £50 and the winning photographs showing the
best and worst aspects of Easton will receive £25 respectively.
For more information visit the Love Easton website

8 ) Connectivity – Drop in Day: Wednesday 21st October 2009

10am – 6pm – At Love Easton Community Café, 5 Stapleton Road.
The day will be spent on Junctions, roads, footpaths and cycle networks
Come and speak to Adrian Roper between 10am – 1pm
SUSTRANS – South West Regional Director

9) EXHIBITION : November 3rd – 22nd 2009

Elevating Easton: Developing the city through community consultation
An exhibition showcasing local residents’ views and aspirations for Easton
Main gallery, First Floor: Architecture Centre, Bristol

Drop in consultation days to be confirmed:-

1. Energy and Sustainability
2. Rubbish and Recycling
3. Visionary use of space
4. Housing development
5. Amenities

The Bean Feast was a much loved annual event in Montpelier in the 1700s.  This year we are bringing it back to life as a community celebration of local heritage, local harvest and local genius.

Expect a feast for the ears, eyes, noses, tastebuds and imaginations!  With plenty for everyone to experience and enjoy, you’d be a fool to miss it.

Here’s a few of the Bean Feast happenings:

Two live music stages…Feast zone…Election of Montpelier Mayor and Queen Bean…Spoken word area…Local chef bean cook-off…Village green games, races and sports…Market stalls…Crafts for children…Garage door art transformations…Local produce exchange market…Procession…Park developments consultation…Giant freecycle…Skate features…Skills sharing workshops…Great food and drink…and more!

If you are a Montpelier resident, we actively seek your involvement. Whether you can volunteer a couple of hours on the day or are able to help with  preparations, we want to hear from you!

For more information please email montpelierbeanfeast@yahoo.co.uk or call 07866 748193

Can you help build the Bean Feast Garden?

Do you have a container (bath, boot, pot or other) which has plants (ideally herbs or vegetables) growing in it? Much loved and hyperlocal charity GROFUN are looking to borrow enough plants to create a temporary garden for the Bean Feast. The garden will hopefully demonstrate the diverse and creative ways people without suitable garden space can grow in random found containers and your help will make a wonderful oasis to inspire and educate everyone.

GROFUN could collect from you that morning or better still you could deliver to St Andrews Road if you have your own car. Containers will be stored somewhere nearby for collection afterwards.

Please message or phone the GROFUN posse with your details, collection/delivery info and what you can lend/donate……. info@grofun.org.uk / Tel 07973847894

(GROFUN is a local organisation seeking to empower and inspire communities to meet some of their food needs. Look at our websites for details of how our projects meet these needs and achieve these aims.)

What can I do?

Can you put a poster in your window please?

Download the poster from here, print it, pop it in your window

More information about the Bean Feast:

• Indymedia article
• Bean Feast looking for artists for garage doors
• Definition of a bean feast on wikipedia