We have been undergoing quite a few changes at en-form in recent months and reviewing the way we provide information.
In addition to our 2 Yahoo Groups we have set up a range of Facebook accounts and a Twitter account.
Unfortunately, our website is a bit old and broken at the moment and we are currently moving a lot of the information to our NEW BLOG. This offers us more flexibility in the short term whilst we review our website.
The new Blog can be found at www.enformuk.blogspot.co.uk Please take a look at the new site. You can follow updates to the blog by e-mail and support us by being a follower (this helps with funding bids).
We will continue to review our online services and will be sending all our followers/supporters a short online survey shortly so that you can tell us how you want these services to work.
You can find a full list of all our Social Media and online services on our Blog under Contact us.
You may wish to subscribe to these by clicking the various links.
Your support is greatly appreciated and as already stated the more people that subscribe to these services the better as it helps with our funding bids. Every Little Helps.
Monday, 30 September 2013
Tuesday, 24 September 2013
Save Money Save Energy Course £20
Please find below details of a course that may be of interest to some of you. Breifly
- course costs £20 but includes overnight accommodation and all meals and refreshments.
- Its in Chester
- Help with travel costs is available to individuals travelling long distances. (If you do go please let us know in case travel costs can be shared)
If you want to go on a course but are not a member of a group let us know and we may be able to help (info@en-form.org.uk)
**SPECIAL OFFER PRICE - JUST £20 PER PERSON**
Save Money, Save Energy
9-10 October 2013
Trainer - Brian Whitington
With winter starting to creep up on us, now is a good time to look at how best to improve the energy efficiency of your home or community building to help keep you warm as well as saving money on your energy bills.
This course will look at how to undertake an energy audit on your home or community building and identify ways in which you can improve efficiency .
You will also be encouraged to think about how you can promote the ideas to your local community.
Find out about what practical help is out there and what funding is available to help take your ideas forward and how to apply for grants - Including the Green Deal and Energy Company Obligation (Free money for energy efficiency!)
You will look at example devices such as smart meters which can be used to help monitor your energy usage and practical examples of insulation which can be replicated cheaply and easily back home.
As we at Trafford Hall, are striving to become carbon neutral, the building is used as a real life example of what can be achieved, you will be given a tour of the building and grounds to look at what practices have been put in place.
This course will be fun, practical, and effective in helping you keep those energy bills down.
"Great tutor, passionate on subject, very genuine enthusiasm, very knowledgeable"
"Very informative and easy to understand, encouraged to take part in the training"
The cost for this course for community volunteers is just £20.00. This price includes accommodation and all meals and refreshments for the duration of courses.
Help with travel costs is available to individuals travelling long distances.
On completion of the course, groups can apply for a grant of £500 to help with a community project.
If you would like to talk to a member of the training team then please email Gary Dutton(g.dutton@traffordhall.com) or call 01244 300 246.
Wednesday, 18 September 2013
Green Links
Energy Management
Good Energy
Energy Saving Trust
The Green Deal Guide
National Energy Foundation
Renewable Energy Production
Green Energy Team
Grow your own
Landshare
Online matching service that allows you to find or offer land to growers. If you have a big garden you can offer it on this website for instance.
Grow Your Own (Magazine)
Colchester Allotment Association
Community Projects
Big Garden Project
Colchester Carrot
Local Produce
GFB
Vegetarian
Vegetarian Society
Vegan Society
Wholesale Foods
Suma Foods
New Economics
Sharing Skills
Exchanging skills with other members of your community has taken many forms over the years, from LETS schemes and Timebanks to web based services. In Colchester we have both a timebank and, internationally the web based service Just For The Love of It. Like all community sharing services however, they rely on having lots of members and the members using them both to offer their skills and to request skills. The Colchester LETS scheme folded in 2002. Details of schemes are given below:
Just for the Love of It
This is a web based Community service that lets you share skills, tools, land and buildings.
LETS UK
Time Bank Colchester
Timebanking UK
Finance
Colchester Credit Union
ZOPA UK
KIVA Loans
Sustainability
en-form – The Colchester Environment Centre
Essex University Green Task Force
Transition Town Colchester
Transition Town Wivenhoe
Transport
Climate Care
Off-set your emissions by planting trees
Car
The Environmental Transport Association
UK's only breakdown organisation that campaigns for a greener transport policy
Vehicle Certification Agency
Vehicle fuel consumption guide and database
Wombat Car Club
The Colchester based Car club
Essex Liftshare
Free local online car share matching service
Cycling
CTC
UK cyclist's membership organisation, including cycling insurance
Colchester Cycle Champions
Cycle Colchester
Colchester Cycling Campaign
Sustrans
Information on the National Cycle Network
Public Transport
Colchester Bus Users Support Group
Transport 2000
Campaigns for Sustainable transport in the UK
Walking
Walk Colchester
Waste – Reduce, Reuse and Recycling
Reduce
Love Food Hate Waste
Stop unwanted Junk Mail
Reuse
Ebay
The famous online auction site that lets you sell everything legal.
Freegle
Freecycle
Give or Take Essex
Like ebay but free. Lets you post unwanted items you want to give away or request items you want.
ReUse Essex
Online directory with search facility listing organisations throughout Essex that collect and redistribute unwanted items, primarily by Charity and Community Groups but also includes some commercial organisations.
Bookcrossing
Recycle
A-Z Guide to Dispose of Waste
Directory of how to reduce, reuse or recycle specific items in Essex.
Recycle More (VALPAK)
Recycle Now (WRAP)
Information on what can be recycled together with a postcode search of what you can recycle in your area through kerbside collection and recycling bank facilities.
Colchester Borough Council
Details of the recycling facilities available in Colchester.
Use It Again
Waste Busters (Essex County Council)
Water
Water Companies
Anglian Water
Essex and Suffolk Water
Affinity Water (formerly Veolia Water East)
Water Use
Blueprint for Water
7 groups who have set out a blueprint for the UK's Water Supply
Centre for Alternative Technology
has an extensive guide to water harvesting
Environment Agency
Water efficiency advice and to report cases of pollution
Rainwater Harvesting Association
Links to member companies
Waterwise
Campaigns for sustainable water use. Has a useful list of water saving devices
Thursday, 12 September 2013
Volunteers Available
If your organisation or project needs volunteers, the following organisations and websites may help you to recruit them.
University of Essex Students’ Union vTeam.
vTeam is a student volunteer group that wants to build long term relationships with local organisations and benefit the local community. If you have any projects in mind where you might need extra help, we are here to help. We can’t fund any materials, but we will happily provide man power. We have done a variety of tasks in the past, such as painting, digging, surveying, fundraising and helped moving offices.
Student volunteers are available during term time.
A searchable database by postcode and category operated by the Volunteer Centres.
Wednesday, 11 September 2013
Local Farmers’ Markets
Bury St Edmunds - every Wednesday and Saturday Contact Tracey (TW Markets) 07870 437254 or e-mail bury@indoormarkets.co.uk
Brightlingsea – 4th Saturday of the month 9am-1pm at the Brightlingsea Community Centre CO7 0LG Contact Helen Bishop 01206 302055 secretary@bseacc.co.uk www.bseacc.co.uk
Burnham on Crouch - 3rd Sunday of month 9am - 12.30pm Contact Jo Broughton 07932 627574
Colchester – 1st Friday of the month 9.30am – 12.30pm at the Colchester Arts Centre, CO1 1NF. Contact Rowly Castiglione 01206 367776 localfood@btinternet.com
Felixstowe - 1st Sat of Month 9am-1pm Contact Eric Moss 01728 688166
Frinton - 4th Friday of the month 9.00am - 12.00 noon McGrigor Hall, Fourth Avenue, Frinton-on-sea, CO13 9EB. Contact Ivan Clarke phone 01206 230524
Lavenham - 4th Sunday Contact Justine 01787 249168
Long Melford - 1st Sat of Month 10am-1pm Contact Ann Deasy 01787 269502
Maldon - 1st Tuesday Month 9am-1pm Contact Paul Irvine 07768 574407
Needham Market - 3rd Sat Month 9am-1pm Contact Joan Hardingham 01449 720820
Rowhedge - 1st Saturday Rowhedge Village Hall CO5 7HX Contact Yvonne 07780923688 e-mail rowhedgevillagehall@me.com
South Woodham Ferrers - 2nd Friday month 9.30am-1pm Contact Jo Broughton 07932 627574
Stowmarket - 1st Friday 9.30am-1.30pm Contact Emma Roberts 01449 612060 e-mail emma.roberts@stowmarket.org . This is a bit off the beaten track customers have to go through a shop to get to it.
Sudbury - last Friday of month 9.30am-1pm Contact Ian Clark 01787 372331
Jimmy's Farm Wherstead - 1st Sat of Month Contact Tanya Sadler 0870 950 0210
Witham - 2nd & 4th Tuesday of Month 9.30am-2pm Contact Wendy Harlow 01376 519440
Wivenhoe – 3rd Saturday of the month 9am – 12 noon at the Congregational Hall, High Street, Wivenhoe, CO7 9AB Contact Rowly Castiglione 01206 367776 e-mail localfood@btinternet.com
Woodbridge - 2nd & 4th Sat of month 0.30am-1pm Contact Ian Whitehead 01379 384593
Thursday, 4 July 2013
COMMUNITY FREE-PAINT! Celebrate 20 Years of Paint Re-use with our Great Giveaway
A project that collects and re-distributes leftover and surplus paint to help brighten the lives of others is offering community groups the chance to win FREE paint as part of a competition entitled ‘Getting Colour from Every Drop’.
Community RePaint Colchester is calling on community groups from across the area to send in ideas for painting projects that will improve the wellbeing of local people or the appearance of local places. The scheme is also offering people who pop in for paint between 15 and 21 July 2013 the chance to pick up fantastic freebies in honour of Community RePaint’s 20th anniversary – with the first 10 walking away with a superb decorating kit.
To be in with a chance of winning at least 20 litres (that’s the equivalent of four BIG tins) of paint for your project, community groups should submit an idea, along with a photograph of the proposed site, and a few details about how the paint will help. Application forms and terms and conditions are available from Community RePaint Colchester. Proposals can be artistic or practical; of benefit to old or young; pretty as a picture or for simply perking up premises!
“The aim of this initiative is to demonstrate how Community RePaint can make a real difference to the lives of local people,” said Andrew Wilkinson, Manager of Community RePaint Colchester. “Community RePaint offers a simple, local solution to the problem of paint going to waste. By re-using it in our communities we can bring a splash of colour to the lives of those who need it most, and help to protect the planet by preventing perfectly good paint from ending up in landfill.”
If your community group needs paint, no matter how much or how little, get in touch with Colchester RePaint on 01206 367776 or www.repaintessex.org.uk.
‘Getting colour from every drop’
Dulux has supported Community RePaint for the last 20 years and is helping the Network to celebrate its 20th Anniversary by making two short films about paint re-use to promote the work of Community RePaint schemes. The first of the films ‘A Tale of Two Cans’ is available to view here: http://www.communityrepaint.org.uk/
“Dulux is proud to sponsor this fantastic network and is grateful for all the work each scheme does to promote the potential of paint re-use,” said Paul Murgett, Environmental Projects Co-ordinator, Akzo Nobel.
In 2012, householders, traders and paint manufacturers donated 387,495 litres of paint to Community RePaint schemes, which then distributed 218,364 litres to some 2,214 community groups and 17,296 individuals, providing 190 jobs and 1,274 volunteer and training opportunities.
ENDS
For more information, please contact:
RePaint Colchester
01206 367776
www.repaintessex.org.uk repaint@btinternet.com
Community RePaint Network
0845 180 0501
07725 760 082
repaint@resourcefutures.co.uk
www.communityrepaint.org.uk
Notes to Editors:
1. What is Community RePaint? Community RePaint schemes collect left over or surplus paint and re-distribute it to individuals, families and communities in need, improving the wellbeing of people and the appearance of places across the UK. In doing so Community RePaint provides social, environmental and economic benefits.
2. 20 years of paint re-use: Community RePaint will celebrate its 20th anniversary during the week 15 – 21 July 2013. Activities to mark this milestone are planned for throughout the year and include competitions and giveaways at participating schemes.
3. Who runs Community RePaint? Community RePaint is managed by Resource Futures, an employee-owned, non-profit-distributing environmental consultancy based in Bristol. The Network has been sponsored by Dulux since its inception in 1993 and forms part of Akzo Nobel’s ongoing sustainability programme.
4. How to contact Community RePaint: www.communityrepaint.org.uk includes a postcode search, which can be used to locate the nearest point for finding or donating paint. Alternatively, phone: 0845 180 0501 or email: repaint@resourcefutures.co.uk
Friday, 28 June 2013
Farmers Market Celebrates 10 years
The Colchester Farmers Market celebrates its 10th Birthday on Friday the 5th July.
Andrew Wilkinson of en-form who runs the Farmers Market said ‘At its peak we had 28 stalls and over 900 customers which coincided with the great interest in local food issues a few years ago. In common with the rest of the economy and other local companies the Farmers Market has not done quite so well in recent years as customers have had to tighten their belts. However there is still a wide range of locally produced food available, not only your basic fruit, veg, meat and fish but specialist and more unusual treats to try’.
There is still a lot of interest in buying quality locally produced food particularly in the wake of the Horsemeat scandal. Although our local Farmers have had a tough time recently with challenging weather conditions and many well loved local traders have had to give up recently the Farmers Market has every intention of being here for another 10 years.
The Farmers Market will be held on Friday the 5th July at the Colchester Arts Centre from 9.30 am to 12.30 pm.
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