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News from

Transition Town Forres

The EV Charging Station is here!
You did it!! Nearly 40 supporters funded the installation of the first public-access electric vehicle charging station in Forres. Located at our new Environmental Education & Healthy Living Center (on the wall facing the A96), the charging station was donated by Zero Carbon World. A crowdfunding bid drew 37 backers, and thanks to them the station is now a reality. (This is a 32A Type 2 charging station. It will add an estimated 30 miles of charge per hour.) Our new charging station was installed by local renewables men Graham Meacher and Dave Stott, of GMRenewables. (Contd on page 3)

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Our Beautiful New Centre

Were very excited to report that building works are nearly complete. Well have a work day to install some paving stones for the disabled space, and we need to kit out the whole Centre, but the main building works are now complete. Well have a Welcoming Celebration on Saturday 28 September, and aim to start up courses and events in September. Were nearly there!

Save the Dates

Work Day
21-22 Aug Help us prepare the ground and lay some paving stones.

Garden Group Meeting

31 Aug, 1 pm Garden Group meeting

Centre Welcome Day

28 Sept, 1-4 pm Come check out the new Environmental Education & Healthy Living Centre!

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SUMMER 2013

Whats New & Good

Wish List
As you know, kitting out a new space requires getting everything, so weve developed a Wish List in hopes that you might have something spare that we could use. Sofa (2-3 seater) and/or armchair in good condition Small coffee table or storage chest Wall clock Cloth to cover our plastic 2x6 tables Curtains & curtain rails (3x 1m, 1x 2m) Shelving and cabinets (bathroom, kitchen) Cleaning supplies (washing up & hand soap, etc) A guillotine for cutting paper A telephone (answerphone) Books or small items for the Lending Library A sign-out log for the Lending Library Paper Bucket & mop Floor lamp Small round tables Vacuum cleaner Book shelves A suggestion box A Visitors Book We anticipate this list will be changing a lot in the first months, so please check www.ttforres.org for the most recent Wish List.

Transition Free Press Newspaper

This quarterly newspaper is working with the UKs Transition Network. Its filled with all kinds of information of interest to Transition supporters. Issues are available at the Centre for 1.

Paper-punch Toilet roll holder x2 Toilet brush x2 Office chairs Cement pain (2 liters)

Save up now for the Food Bank

A new drop-off box for donations to the Moray Food Bank will be in place at the TTF Bogton Centre after 1 October. So its not too early to starting saving up donations of nonperishable food items (tins, pasta, etc), preferably those not high in sugar or salt. The Food Bank has serviced over 200 users since it started at the beginning of this year. Help them help more people in our local community put food on their plates.
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SUMMER 2013

The Electric Vehicle Charging Station

(Continued from page 1) Zero Carbon World will soon add us to their website map of UK charging points. On the TTF site, we plan to add a map of the next nearest charging points. And youll also see at the charging station a permanent plaque sponsored by AES Solar Ltd, who donated a massive 250 towards the installation. Amazing. Inspiring. And made possible by you!

Thank-you to the Charging Station Donors

A huge Thank You! To all of the individuals and businesses that generously donated something towards the installation of the electric vehicle charging station. Our crowd-funding bid generated an astounding 826, which covered the installation and all associated costs. A list of the funders is provided here in alphabetical order. To our funders we are working on your rewards and will have them to you in September. Thank you again for your support! AES Solar Ltd Nick Anderson Shirley Barr Matt Beard Judith Bone Alberto Del Din Cornelia Featherstone Lieselotte Franke Rita Froesch Donald Hamilton Jim Knox Paul Knox Peter McKay Brian McMullen Joanna Legard Marcus Lindner Adrian Loening Albert J Logie Gelda MacGregor Margaret Ann Milston Michael Mitton Claralynn Nunamaker Erwin Oosterhoorn Ian Reeves Leslie Robson Jane Rogers Charles Roberts Carin Schwartz Kevin Sharpe Elspeth Crichton Stuart Barbara Vincent Stacie Whitney

A local Carpool receives funding for Electric Vehicles

The Park Carpool (carpool.findhorn.cc) has now been awarded a grant to finance 3 new cars, including 2 electric vehicles. The grant also allows it to expand its operations into Forres as well as at Findhorn. The carpool is an example of how human beings can create a sense of community and fun by sharing resources in a way that benefits all. If you live in the local area and have an appropriate driving license, youre eligible to join. Members save money compared with buying their own car. And for some members, the main benefit is actually that they get convenient access to a car that they could not afford on their own. For more information on Park Carpool, contact the manager: Gordon McAlpine, 4 Heathneuk, Findhorn, Moray, IV36 3WN; tel. 01309 691 934; Email: carpool.admin@findhorn.cc
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Thank you!

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SUMMER 2013

Opportunity Knocks!
Volunteers - Help Wanted!
TTF is growing by leaps and bounds, and we need you! Volunteers are urgently needed to help staff the Centre and also to fill specific roles. Theres definitely room for you do you want to be involved? Some of the current opportunities include: Staff the new Centre! 2-hr shifts, 12-2 pm daily Tu-Sa Help create and distribute flyers Help write & distribute press releases Take part in a work day Designing and decorating the chatter boxes (the carrot boxes used as raised beds) Gardening (everything from weeding to hedge trimming) And theres loads more. If theres something in particular you want to do, let us know. Well also be recruiting for a Food Coordinator (contracting 12 hrs/week for 21 weeks) and Volunteer Coordinator (contracting 12 hrs/week for 44 weeks) in the very near future. Watch the website for more information, or contact Claralyn to register your interest. Our biggest need right now is with help in staffing the Centre, each day Tuesday Saturday. Can you volunteer for a 2-hour shift? We need the most help with the 12-2 pm shift, but earlier or later times would be helpful as well. Interested? Sign up on the sign-up sheet on the bulletin board at the Centre, or you can contact Claralynn at rose@compassion.org.uk, 07921 211 434.

Project Reports & Updates

TTF Online
Our web presence is now strong, and people are visiting our website and Facebook page regularly. Check us out for the latest news on whats happening, and also to leave your comments and feedback. www.ttforres.org

The Garden Group

The garden, whilst slow to get going because of the spring weather, has been catching up quickly with the recent good spell, and most areas appear to be thriving. The last meeting of the garden group indicated that the chicken coop area should be redeveloped into a larger and better laid out composting site. This is currently being planned. The weather has also delayed the introduction of the bees, but by the time you read this hopefully the apiary will be in full swing. It is hoped in the future to be able to include the bees as part of the educational element of TTF. Diary Dates next meeting of the garden group is Saturday 31st August at 1pm and the next workday is Sunday 29th September, 11am 3pm. Ian Osgood, Garden Group Chair
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Make & Mend

The Make & Mend group continues to meet on Mondays at Forres House. This is a drop-in group, and new people are very welcome to join in. From 26 Aug - 30 Sept therell be Q & As, 1-2:30 pm. Come with your questions! Project leader Kay Fielding encourages anyone to attend to look at things like basic repairs, knitting, crochet, or reading a pattern. Contact Kay on 01309 696898 to find out more.

twitter.com/TTForres www.facebook.com/ TransitionTownForres Many thanks to Diana McPartlin for the regular social media updates.

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SUMMER 2013

Updates From the Board

Notes From the Chair
The TTF board has had a busy number of months leading up to August, primarily with fundraising. In May our Centre refurbishment was completed. We are very grateful for the professional and beautiful work done by our local builders: James Grigg, Andrew Newlands and Mark Jones. Their work shows dedication to the project in many different ways. We are delighted that the funds we raise can be put in to the local economy, particularly as research shows that every pound spent locally (in the local economy) generates another 4 for the local economy. Over the years this means that TTF has generated in the region of 1,470,000 for the local economy through our fundraising efforts (currently totaling 376,000). This compares to only a total of 25pence remaining locally if a is spent in a non-local supermarket. (See New Economics Foundation for full details http://www.neweconomics.org/ and the multiplier effect) Now that we have our temporary occupation permit, we are busy planning the next phase which will include growing of food in chatter boxes and sessions cooking the food. We are cooperating with Moray Food Network, groups and individuals in and around Forres to provide an exciting program of events in the coming year. We have had our first few visits to the new Centre. One group of Chinese teenagers listened attentively to a talk about climate change and learned what the concept of Peak Oil means, after they were saturated we had a whellbarrow race across the carpark. That was truly amazing to watch, how city children had a first time experience of a wheelbarrow, and then to race with it. They also worked on our chatter boxes by filling them up with leaf mold, ready to be planted. We hosted a visit by the SeedTruck (part of the FifeDiet) on their journey across Scotland, from Ullapool to Aberdeen. A good number of people enjoyed the seed kist, seeing threshing and winnowing, as well as sampling their pancakes cooked on a woodburning stove. On the day we also learned how to make sauerkraut (pickling of vegetables) and samples of freshly pressed carrot/turnip/marrow juice as well as healthy smoothies made their rounds to appreciative visitors. BBC Alba spent 4 hours with us and resulted in a 4-minute segment on the news broadcast on 14/8. In the evening we enjoyed a magical storytelling session with our own local storyteller Margot Henderson, joined by the SeedTrucks musicians Ian and Fergus and their storytelling cook Marie-Louise. Much enjoyment was had by all. I am looking very much forward to seeing an increased footfall to our Centre now that we are planning to be open 5 days a week, Tuesday to Saturday, for two hours each day to start with, from 12 to 2pm. I hope you will come and see for yourselves what TTF is all about and how you can be involved. Carin Schwartz, Chair
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Fundraising Committee
Were still busy with fundraising and following up on successful fundraising bids. We received news that our application for 10,000 for a Volunteer Pilot Programme was approved by the Voluntary Action Fund. And the crowd-funding bid for an electric vehicle charging station exceeded our goal, and we raised over 800. Also, a huge thank you to Highland and Island Enterprise, who awarded us over 23,000 in match funding for our Healthy Living project, including the kitchen, workshops, and a market. Weve been working closely with HIE for months on the application and are thrilled that our application was approved. We have yet to raise some of that match and so are still hard at work. In early August we received notice that weve been awarded 10,000 from Awards for All that will help match the HIE contribution. We have two applications outstanding and will be submitting a few more to get that last bit of match funding. Claralynn Nunamaker

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Join or Renew your Membership

If youd like to join or renew your membership (that also ensures youre on the current email list), please fill in the form below and return it to us at: Transition Town Forres 20 Tolbooth St Forres IV36 1PH

Welcome to TTF!
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Please return to Transition Town Forres 20 Tolbooth Street Forres IV36 1PH