Welcome to Transition Horsham!

Transition Horsham is a community group of local Horsham area residents who are concerned about the effects that such events as climate change, peak oil and economic problems will have on our lives in the near future. We support the ideas and practical solutions of the Transition Towns movement set up by Rob Hopkins in 2006 in Totnes, Devon, where people like us wanted to do something positive to build in flexibility and resilience to their community, so that we not only survive future changes, but thrive.

So Transition Horsham is all about building community networks, sharing and learning new skills. It is about cutting our carbon emissions through establishing new community based ways of producing energy and heating our houses efficiently, reducing our individual carbon footprint, recycling and reducing waste. It is about growing healthy local produce, encouraging local biodiversity through seed swaps, mending clothes and knitting, baking bread and making preserves, learning more through reading groups and film nights, having fun and travelling lightly.

We have a number of projects on the go, so look through the website, join us on Facebook, check out the events page, sign up to get notifications, and if you think there is something you could help with or want to start, then don't hesitate, come to an event and let us know. We look forward to getting to know you.

To find out more about the Transition idea, you can start here.

May Fayre

Transition Horsham set out its stall at the Unitarian Church annual May Fayre on Saturday 11th May, 2013. We were promoting the new Community Allotment with plants for sale and free seeds. Many people were interested in the project and wished us well. A good afternoon, assisted by the excellent cake and tea provided by the Church.

Saturday, 23rd February saw the fourth annual Transition Horsham Seed Swap organised by Maggie Weir-Wilson as part of the Community Allotment team. The Friends Meeting House was packed with ten stalls as well as the seed swap tables in the centre of the hall. The event was declared open by Bob Sherman, Chief Horticultural Officer of Garden Organic who reminded us how important and wonderful seeds were in the sustainability of good food and beautiful flowers. This year there was a raffle with books, jam, dibbers and tickets to Wakehurst/Kew donated by stall holders.

Not surprisingly given the weather in 2012, there were fewer seeds to swap than last year, but some interesting varieties of tomato and lovely heritage beans turned up amongst other seeds, some strange and exotic like Achocha, a lost crop of the Incas. We were grateful, as always, for older seed donated by Newbridge Nurseries, our local supporter, and by Barnhaven Primroses from Brittany who propagate particularly good strains of primroses and polyanthus. We had some new stalls this year; Josie Jeffrey introduced us to Seed Bombs, a fun way of distributing wild flowers. Carrie Cort’s recycling stall had some excellent jewellery and bags for sale made from recycled materials. Javier offered us lovely fresh olive oil from small Spanish farms to taste and buy. Gaye Neve came with her jams, chutneys and marmalades all made with locally sourced ingredients. In addition we welcomed back the usual informative stall from Wakehurst, the local horticultural societies and Warnham Nature Reserve. Transition Horsham informed people about its new Community Allotment at Chesworth and encouraged those who wanted a more social gardening experience to join in. Look out for a Community Allotment stall in the Carfax on the 16th March to find out more. There was much to interest people and a lot to talk about over tea, coffee and homemade cake.

It was a lovely event, very friendly and interesting, and despite the cold weather many Horsham gardeners turned out, enthusiastic as ever. Many thanks to everyone who came and made it such an enjoyable and interesting event. Look out for Seedy Saturday next year and don’t forget to collect those seeds in the autumn, from the plants you love, the plants that have stories, and those that you think do best in Horsham’s soil and climate.

You can see more photos here.