Action Groups Update - October 2026
Creative Climate
The new Action Group, Creative Climate, met to discuss principles and planning a programme:
1. All activities will be offered in accord with Greener Berwick’s aims and constitution.
2. The Creative Climate Action Group aims to offer opportunities to respond creatively to the natural world and to the climate crisis in the following ways:
Connecting to nature. Creative activities help to deepen our connection to nature and heal our alienation from the wild world.
Engaging with climate anxiety and ethical issues by creating safe forums for discussion
Climate and environmental activism. Through the arts, we can articulate, communicate and campaign about the degradation of the natural world, about issues such as AI, and about the climate crisis
3. Creative Climate AG principles and activities to be embedded in Berwick’s cultural life
via collaborations with other local arts organizations, festivals & events
via our own programme of Greener Berwick Creative Climate events and workshops.
4. Creative Climate Action Group workshops and events to reach out to a wide range of participants, in particular to engage young people and schools
5. An initial programme could be a short series of banner making workshops, and a discussion on AI and Ethics - watch this space for more details.
6. A set of workshops are being planned around the 2027 spring equinox.
Growing Communities Action Group
The Town Council wardens have started the revision work on the Castlegate bed - go and have a look!
A water butt donated by Pith has been installed outside the Bed Shop opposite the Foul Ford beds on Silver Street. This will save volunteers lugging water from home, and hopefully will ensure better watering of beds next summer. There is also another water butt to be installed at the William Elder building. Thanks to Pith for their donation.
The Library Bed and Foul Ford beds are looking good but would have benefited from more watering.
Transport and Active Travel Action Group
The group is involved in continuing discussions with partners on the new Tweed Trail cycle route. Establishing long distance cycle routes also helps to improve local routes in Berwick.
We continue with background work for the Neighbourhood Plan especially in identifying key walking and cycling routes and assessment of green wildlife corridors.
Bus stop timetables are now mostly up to date, except for Chapel St.. Still no progress on installation of new cases and signs where these are missing, leaking or damaged - it is difficult to clarify responsibilities between NCC and BTC.
Tweed Estuary Pollution Action Group
Regular algae monitoring has continued through the autumn.
The Citizen Science WADER project ends this year. An end of WADER conference is being held 17/18 Nov on Holy Island, with seven members of the Greener Berwick Tweed Estuary group attending for part or all of the two days. The event will discuss projects carried out using algae monitoring data, and what next after EU funding ends this year.
Zero Waste Hub Action Group
Repair Cafe & Tool Library
Last Saturday every month, 10am to 1pm, Salvation Army Hall, Church St.
September was a slow Repair Cafe (RC) (but lots was happening in Berwick that weekend). The slower pace meant that the repairers had time to celebrate our RC's 3rd Birthday, and also look at items the RC team had brought in.
We desperately need more repairers who can sharpen tools, especially basic sharpening e.g. kitchen knives, garden secateurs
As happens in some other RCs, we now ring a bell when an item is fixed.
We are building up a range of items in our Inventory for use by the voluntary repairers during RC sessions, and we need more.
We continue to support other RCs in Northumberland and also visit Duns RC across the border.
We are needing to look at how we can encourage more realistic financial donations for completed repairs.
Berwick Voluntary Centre, 5 Tweed St.
Membership of the Tool Library - currently free. You can join here.
New tools are being purchased courtesy of the Hadrian Trust and National Lottery grants that we have secured.
There is also a steady stream of donations of tools, the latest including a kitted out tool box, a craft toolkit, and a table saw - many thanks to those donating.
A funding bid has been submitted to enable the purchase of further tools. We should know by early April whether it has been successful.
Green Reads
Last month's book was: Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy.
The group meets on the first Thursday of each month 4:30 to about 6pm.
Meetings are at a member's home - please email info@greenerberwick.org.uk to get the address.
New members are very welcome, so come along!
Warm Homes Action Group
The warm homes Action Group is bereft of a leader. We need someone to come forward to be leader of the group, or it will fold temporarily until a leader is identified. If you are, or know someone who might be interested, please write to info@greenerberwick.org.uk.
