The challenges facing us today can be difficult to even think about. Climate crisis, war, extreme inequality, economic upheaval and the dying back of nature together create a planetary emergency of overwhelming proportions.

How can we face the mess we’re in with hope, resilience and power?

HEAT is offering a course that aims to strengthen our capacity to think about and respond to the future without falling into despair and denial by strengthening our resilience and giving us tools to act with hope.

There are six x 2 hour sessions once a fortnight on Tuesday evenings facilitated by Emily Myers and Lindsay Panton. Through reflection, listening and practical activities  explores how we can find gratitude, feel loss and fear and begin to see a way forward with new eyes.

There are 10 places available on the course and we ask you to commit to all 6 sessions. The total cost is £30.  The course is being held in the Community Room at the Baptist Church. This is the nicest meeting room in Hadleigh, although course itself is not religious. The dates are as follows:

April 22nd 7.30pm Introduction and free taster session  

May 6th

May 20th

June 3rd

June 24th

July 8th

Plus 1 tbc

Interested? Not sure? Know someone who might like to join? Then come along to the introductory session on the 22nd to find out more and meet the facilitators

Our guest for this talk, Tony Juniper, is one of Britain’s leading environmental figures and has been defending nature for nearly 40 years. He has led major organisations (such as Friends of the Earth), run global campaigns, written many books and advised governments nationally and internationally. Today he is Chair of Natural England, the official government organisation working for the conservation and restoration of the natural environment.

Admission is free, no need to book. Refreshments will be provided. Donations are welcome.

WildEast is a movement of people living and working in the villages and towns in the east of England. They believe that by taking positive action together we can reverse the depletion of nature and biodiversity, as well as restore our own connection to nature – our wild hearts which have been starved of oxygen.

To find out more about WildEast, check out their website WildEast

This is the first in a series of fascinating talks by guest speakers during the spring of 2025.

Admission free, but donations welcome.

Got a question about Climate Change?

Why not come along and ask our panel of local experts!!

‘What exactly is ‘Net Zero’?!’

‘How can I make my period home more energy efficient?’

‘How much are solar panels likely to cost me?’

There’s no such thing as a silly question!!

All are welcome to a talk about Wolves Wood by Shirley Sampson, the RSPB Warden there. Come and hear about one of the best RSPB reserves in Suffolk that is right on our doorstep!

Please note the earlier start time and change of venue.

We are fortunate to have this lovely, peaceful reserve on our doorstep. This summer the Bat Group had an interesting evening walk through Wolves Wood detecting several different species of bat and many of us know Wolves Wood as a place to hear nightingales in the spring. Yet lots of us also realise that we know little about the reserve, what to look out for and when. So we are delighted to have Shirley Sampson as our guest speaker at the next HEAT meeting.

‘Could the Brett be Bretter?’ Paul Hogger will be summarising the results from the HEAT volunteers’ river monitoring and the group’s work with local and national partners

ALTERNATIVES TO DISPOSABLES

From birth to old age we use disposable nappies, period products and incontinence materials. Disposable nappies are one of the biggest contributors to plastic waste globally with a baby getting through as many as 5,000 nappies before they are potty trained. It’s not just nappies. Other personal products, such as period wear, are adding to the plastic epidemic with up to 2 billion menstrual items being flushed down Britain’s toilets every year causing sewage blockages and ending up in the sea. A year’s worth of period products has a carbon footprint of 5.3Kg CO2 equivalent. As well as the costs to the planet these items are costly for women and families too. Disposable nappies can cost on average £825 per baby and on average a woman will use 11,000 disposable period products costing £5,000 during her reproductive life.

We’ve grown used to these being disposable but there are now environmentally friendly products available. Reusable items are improving and are easy to use, as well as being kinder to the environment and cheaper. More families are switching to reusable nappies and different forms of period wear can be found in any High Street these days. HEAT is building up a supply of reusable personal products, such as cloth nappy demo kits for new babies, and will be giving people the opportunity to see what they are like and think about whether they would work for them and their lifestyle. Even using reusable products now and again will make a difference.   

Our first workshop is on period products at 5pm on March 27th.

Following on from the talk about bats in January, this half day workshop will be led by ‘Back to the Wilderness’ and held at Benton End - details including start and end times TBA. Only 15 places available.

HEAT is working with Benton End on their community engagement and biodiversity work.

We are very excited to be joining with Benton End for a talk by Dennis Kell 'An introduction to Bats, their ecology and the work of the Suffolk Bat Group'. The meeting will be at Benton End giving us the opportunity to see and find out about latest developments there. There is space for 25 people and very limited parking so please let us know if you would like to book a place and have a lift to Benton End.

The talk will be followed by a half day workshop building bat boxes on February 16th led by ‘Back to the Wilderness’. More details ill be available nearer the time but workshop numbers will be limited to 15 people so get your name down early.

We all wonder what we can do to help the planet. Come and hear John Hall talk about local and practical things that we can all do to make a difference. Until recently John was Chief Executive of Essex Wildlife Trust and really knows his stuff. John now chairs PACE, our sister organisation in Manningtree.

The meeting will be at St Mary’s Church, Hadleigh. Donations on the door.

Hawk Honey - a local expert on bees - will be talking about all the native bees that we have in Britain. We heard him talk in Elmsett and it’s a great talk so come and hear what he has to say in Community Room at the Ansell Centre. Its free but donations on the door.

HEAT is at the Hadleigh Show! Come and see what we have been up to and tell us what you are thinking. We will be there all day in the HEAT tent (pitch D5)

Looking after the river - building a partnership

There are loads of people with an interest in the Brett. Anglers, scouts, the Environment Agency, water companies, Babergh - and you and me. So HEAT have organised a meeting of all the partners who work together to maintain and use the river. It is on February 24th at 7.00pm. Places are limited so if you want to come email HEAT

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Next time we’re planting trees!

After all those dying elms that we have been chopping down, it’s time to plant a few trees instead! So we will be planting saplings on Broomhill. Meet at the Toppesfield Bridge car park at 10.00. Come and join us!

And we just wanted to thank the wonderful Ash and Alisma from Hibberds Limited here in Hadleigh who supplied tea and sandwiches for all the volunteers on our last action day! How good was that! So generous of them - thank you!

Come and help us make the Railway Walk even nicer for people and wildlife. Meet us at the car park on Station Rd. There is a range of work to suit everyone. All you need are working clothes, good shoes and a pair of gloves. We provide the teas and coffees and all the equipment. Easy peasy! See you there.

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