The Trustees of the Barthol Chapel Community Hub have been brilliant at engaging with the community to find out what kinds of groups people would like to see—and then helping bring those ideas to life. Thanks to their support, we held our very first Barthol Chapel Climate Group meeting back in March.
We were joined by Jamie from NESCAN, who has been fantastic from the start—always ready with advice, encouragement, and practical support. Our group usually has around six or seven of us at each meeting, but it’s very relaxed and welcoming. Anyone is free to join in whenever they can.
We were also grateful to George from Udny Climate Action Group who shared insights from their Action Plan, which gave us a real boost of motivation and ideas. Although many of us were already environmentally conscious in our own ways, we agreed that our group would focus on two key aims:
- Raising awareness of climate issues and sustainable living.
- Benefiting the wider community and encouraging community spirit.
Since then, we’ve been meeting regularly to talk about the issues that matter to us locally and how we can take action. We’ve made some improvements to the Community Hub, explored future plans, and made sure the Climate Group has a presence at Hub events. We’ve also encouraged other groups—like the Youth Club and the Craft Club—to get involved.
Inside the Hub, we’ve created a dedicated book swap space with organised shelves that everyone is welcome to use. The Youth Club helped decorate recycling bags for use within the Hub, which has added a lovely personal touch.
At the plant sale in May, we hosted a table for seed and gardening book swaps, and John and Kate Malster from CuramFyvie kindly donated native plants for people to take home and plant in their gardens. It was a lovely way to share and connect.
For NESCAN’s Climate Week North East, we organised two events. One was with the Craft Club, where we made draught excluders from upcycled materials and tried out the donated sewing machine. The other was a sell-out wildflower seed collection workshop, run by NESBiP and CuramFyvie. It was held around the Hub and brought people together to learn about the importance of local wildflowers—everyone really embraced nature that day.
We’ve also now got a separate gardening club, which is open to anyone who’d like to join.
Looking ahead, we’re exploring ideas like:
- Community gardening plots around the Hub
- Courses on growing fruit and veg
- Surplus produce donations
- A community wildflower corridor for bees
- Talks on home renewable energy and sustainable heating
- Clothes repair workshops
- Environmental film screenings
- And possibly even a repair café!
It’s been inspiring to see how much can grow from a shared passion for sustainability and community. We’re excited for what’s next—and always happy to welcome new faces. Come and join us on the second Thursday of every month at the Community Hub at 19:30.