What is the Climate Friendly Parish Project?

St Merryn Climate Friendly Parish is a long-term village project which aims to:

• reduce our collective carbon emissions
• strengthen community resilience in the face of climate change and the predicted scarcity of oil.

The project will involve:

• setting up Action Groups to look at housing, energy, food, tourism, waste, transport and education in and around St Merryn
• encouraging community groups and individuals working together to share skills, ideas and resources
• organising social events that increase awareness, raise funds and celebrate success
• making it easy for people to connect with each other and get things done.

St Merryn Climate Friendly Parish is a properly constituted voluntary association, but there's no leader. The idea is that it's a community project operated by villagers on the basis of consensus. There is a steering group, which takes care of day-to-day organisation and reports to the general meeting of the SMCFP association. Alongside the steering group is a growing number of supportive individuals who are really beginning to give the project some momentum.

Although we're completely independent, the scheme has its roots in an initiative of Friends of the Earth which was first implemented in St Endellion. It also embraces elements of the Transition movement. (You might have heard of Transition if you're a fan of The Archers on BBC Radio 4.) We have strong connections with people from these organisations, who have generously supported, and continue to support, our efforts.

What Can I Do?

We're on a long journey, but every journey starts with a single step. You can do something to make a difference, whether it's reducing your usage of plastic bags, insulating your house, recycling and re-using, growing some of your own food, or supporting one of our many community groups. Use the navigation links to find out more, or contact us. You could even come along to our next meeting. Meeting dates are shown on the community page. You can have your say and maybe get help with a climate-friendly project of your own. The members of the Steering Group dislike meetings as much as any sane person, and we try to keep them short and friendly.

Children and young people are most welcome. The voices of our young people count as much as anyone else's, perhaps more.

What's in it for me?

This depends on you - people have many different reasons for supporting St Merryn Climate Friendly Parish. Perhaps you want to save money on fuel bills or get a grant to insulate your home. You might like the idea of a village project that could unite everyone in the community, from the young to the not so young. Perhaps you want help to set up a vegbox scheme or just grow a few vegetables of your own. Maybe you have a skill that you would enjoy passing on, such as knitting, hedge-laying, carpentry or gardening.

With all this talk of climate change, oil shortages and the food crisis, you might be worried about your children's future but feel that there's nothing you can do to make things better. It's true that it's hard to make a difference alone, but St Merryn is a wonderful village with a great community spirit. We can achieve great things together, prepare for whatever the future has in store and strengthen the bonds between us in the process.

Go on, give it a try. Join us!