Summer is now in full bloom and it has been great to see so many of you in our recent summer activities! Open Eco Homes in June was a great success, thank you to all those who helped or visited! Thank you also for your patience during our recent move. We are now fully up and running once more. Please note our new phone number: 01223 659962.
CCF kicks off July with the Cambridge Skillsfest at Ross Street Community Centre this Saturday! Do pop around to revive old skills or learn something new, more information on all the things you can do below. Later this month we are cycling to Lode Mill, organising a lunch meeting to old and new volunteers and showing a film on low-carbon lifestyle, so join us for an interesting chat, bit of exercise, carbon reduction tips or like-minded company.
We also have more freebies! As well as loft pillows (still some left), we have boxes of low-energy lightbulbs and kitchen compost caddies to give away. If interested, email Mary.
Cambridge Skillsfest! 2 July
Saturday 2 July 2011, 2.00pm-5.00pm, Ross Street Community Centre, Ross Street, Cambridge
Learn and revive forgotten skills that could help us all in an uncertain future, including:
Kitchen skills
2pm – Yoghurt making
2:30pm – Sprouts
3pm – Vegan cooking
4pm – Jam and Chutney Making
All afternoon – upcycling and DIY clothes
Knitting
Crochett
Jewelry making from tin cans
Bag making
Spinning
All afternoon – bikes
Cycle maintenance
Misc workshops
2-3 Grow your own
3-4 How to make bugboxes OR Chicken keeping TBC
4-5 Herbal medicine workshop
To find out more visit our website. Also have a look at a great feature on the Skillsfest in the Cambridge News!
Organised by Transition Cambridge and Cambridge Carbon Footprint.
CCF Bike Ride and Picnic 10 July
Sunday 10 July, 10.30a
m – 2.30pm
Join us on a bike ride to Lode Mill, a watermill at the junction of Quy Water and Bottisham Lode, near Anglesey Abbey. We’ll be meeting at 10.30am in front of the Fort St George on Midsummer Common. We’ll be having a tour of the Mill once we arrive and then a picnic in the gardens (entry is £5.30 for adults and £3.10 for children) If you’re not cycling we should be arriving at around 11.15am, there is a possibility of lift sharing, please contact the office to find out. Bring food and drink to share!
More information and a few photos of our picnic spot on the CCF website.
If possible let us know you’re coming by emailing Beejal or calling the office (01223 971353 or 07837 183271 on the day).
CCF Volunteer Lunch 21 July
Thursday 21 July, 12.30pm-1.30pm
If you are a volunteer or would like to become one, then come along to this lunch to meet the CCF staff, trustees and other volunteers! Find out what’s been happening and what’s coming up, and have your say too. We’ll be discussing our autumn events calendar, so bring along your idea hat.
Booking necessary – email the office and let us know of any dietary requirements. Find out more on our website.
No Impact Man – Free Film Screening 25 July
Monday 25 July, 7.30pm-9.30 pm, Friends Meeting House, Jesus Lane 
Follow the Manhattan-based Beavan family as they abandon their high consumption 5th Avenue lifestyle and try to live a year while making no net environmental impact. Mornings at the Beavan household look pretty ordinary. The Beavans have breakfast, brush their teeth and get 2-year-old Isabella ready for day care. But look a little closer: There’s no morning paper, no morning television and no coffee. Coffee isn’t grown locally, so it’s off-limits.
The film screening will be followed by discussion. Donations welcome towards the cost of room hire. More information on our website.
Sustainable Come Dine With Me – Autumn
September – October
Many of you may have seen Channel 4′s ‘Come Dine with Me’ – well CCF is organising it’s very own version, with the theme of ‘Sustainable Food’!
We’re looking for people with a passion for cooking – and for the environment – to take part. 
Over four evenings in September or October (one evening a week) participants will take turns to host a ‘sustainable dinner party’ for each other. This is your chance to show off your culinary skills, enjoy three nights of dining out, meet some new local people, or just a creative way to get rid of surplus veg from your allotment!
So if you’d like to have dinner with a few Cambridge folk, and eat some seasonal, local, home-cooked food (or just to find out more), then get in touch…
Find out more on our website. To register an interest please email or phone in with your:
– Name, address, telephone and email
– Any dietary requirements
Ro’s AGM speech
A number of people who couldn’t attend the AGM have asked for the text of the speech that Ro made. Find it now in Ro’s blog.
Outreach work and environmental justice
Outreach work is frequently a ‘must do’ for 3rd sector organisations and campaign groups. The aim is admirable but the idea is not value free. Unless we understand the power relationships that frame outreach we are unlikely to deliver environmental justice.
Read Ro Randall’s full article on outreach work in her blog.
CCF Gardening in July – Keep up the mulching
By Keith Jordan 
Fortunately the long dry spell came to an end in June, but there is still plenty of time for another drought this growing season, so keep up the mulching (covering) of soil to reduce evaporation and keep the water where plant roots need it.
Read more tips for gardening in July on our website.
When swordfish conservation biologists eat swordfish
From Bev Sedley, CCF fund-raising trustee
One of my Carbon Conversations participants just sent me this article, which I thought was worth sharing as an example of the dilemma many of us face about “walking the walk”.
When swordfish conservation biologists eat swordfish
Cambridge Campaign for Better Transport – get involved!
As you probably
know, the government is reviewing its transport policy at the moment – and trying to convince them not to introduce the largest train fare hike in a generation. We already have some of the most expensive train fares in the world without the government doing much at all to tackle overcrowding. A reliable and strong public transport system is vital for a sustainable future – and current plans will simply price people back into their cars.
Cambridge is one of the key stations and constituencies the Campaign for Better Transport is looking for local volunteers to get involved in their Fairer Fares Campaign – for more info see http://bettertransport.org.uk/fairfares/
If you are interested please contact Casper.
Draught Proofing and Ventilation 5 July
Tuesday 5 July, 7.30pm-9.30pm, St. Lukes United Reform Church, Victoria Road, Cambridge
Experts and experienced householders to answer your questions
• How do I stop the draughts?
• How much ventilation do I need?
• What are my ventilation options? (including windows, roof vents and mechanical ventilation with heat recovery)
Free entry, donations welcome
Organized by Transition Cambridge.
HOME by Yann Arthus-Bertrand – film screening and discussion 6 July
Wednesday 6 July, 7.30pm-9.30pm, Brackenbury Room, Impington Village College, New Road, Impington, CB24 9LX
A chance to see exquisite aerial views of the earth in all of their glory. This beautiful film shows just how delicate the web of life on our earth is. Yann Arthus-Bertrand is a master photographer, known around the world for his best selling books. The film shows how our over-consumption is tragically destroying our world, but also how we can change things to build a better future. Film followed by refreshments, home-made cakes and a discussion.
Free admission. Organised by the HICCA Film Club.