Annual general meeting and celebrations

Here at Transition Town Tooting we love a chance to celebrate - and we don't mind a good birthday cake either!
Last month was our annual general meeting and party, the perfect opportunity to reflect on the past year, look forward to the future and celebrate the now.
We had feedback from some of our main events and projects of the last year and it was lovely to hear from some new faces.

The projects represented were: Foodival (Mal), Future Tooting (Eleanor), Restart/Sewstart (Jeni), Vegetanuary (Sharon), Tooting Twirl (Lucy & Richard), Carbon Conversations (Peter), Caras (Jeni & Egle), Outdoor Learning (Sharon), Tooting Community Garden (Christine) and Green Drinks (Richard).


This list shows the diversity of our community activities - some long standing partnerships, some one-off events - and of course covers just a snapshot of the many things TTT is involved with.

We then moved to the formal part of the evening - reports from the treasurer, secretary and co-chairs and the reelection of the officers. Your chief officers remain: Sharon Gray & Jeni Walker, co-chairs; Eleanor Glen, secretary; and David Thorne, treasurer. We look forward to hearing from you!




Time for a fun activity - we asked everyone present to write down some ideas for future TTT projects or wishes for Tooting on a 'cookie' and these will be stored in our TTT Cookie Jar to be enjoyed when we have a lull in our calendar - there was certainly plenty of food for thought.

A quiz followed, put together by David, which provoked much debate and brain-straining and then we rounded off the evening with a gorgeous chocolate cake to celebrate TTT's 10th birthday, some delicious snacks and many enjoyable conversations.
Huge thanks to everyone who came and contributed to a great evening. We look forward to seeing you at next year's party, or before then at any of our TT activities. Just email us on transitiontowntooting@gmail.com to find out how you can get involved.
Sharon

Welcome to TTT's new governance team!

There's been another election recently in Tooting: TTT has a new governance team who will be carrying out their roles until spring 2019.

TTT was established in 2008, and by 2011 we agreed to formalise the key governance roles and also fill them with willing volunteers who serve a term of two years. That means that:

• no one has to do (or get stuck doing) the same role 'for ever'
• there's an expectation that different individuals can step into these roles and carry them out in their own diverse & fresh ways
• we share between us the responsibility for doing these useful roles which support us all in TTT

Give them a wave! Welcome to TTT's new governance team:

From the left: meet the Treasurer David, the two Co-Chairs Jeni and Sharon and the Secretary Eleanor. They look forward to meeting you!

All these roles are voluntary, and these four people work alongside TTT's project co-ordinators - and maybe lead TTT projects themselves. Earlier in the year we shared the role profiles. The Co-Chairs, for example, fulfil a leadership rather than a management role for TTT as a whole.

The election was part of TTT's Annual Celebratory Extravaganza, where we invited partners, volunteers and the curious to join us to recap strategy and activities in the previous year and look forward to the next.

We had an evening full of energy and heard from many colleagues who explored 15 projects large or small, long-term or one-off:

• Thank you to all who spoke about projects and asked questions - and brought refreshments

• Thank you to Dr Rosena Allin-Khan MP for her vivid summary of the value of bringing people together in a practical and creative way across the Tooting community's diversity of views, voices and concerns.

One group game we did was partly aimed at meeting new people and finding out who was in the room, and partly aimed at imagining (on the spot) some new potential taglines for TTT. There are some great comments written on these balloons! You'll have to click to read them.

There's plenty to be involved with right now in TTT - no need to wait for the 2019 AGM. Please read the events listing and blog, sign up to our monthly email and keep an eye on facebook & twitter. Come and chat!

Sowing the seeds in TTT's ACE goody bags

If you took home one of our TTT goodie bags and are wondering what to do with the packet of seeds in it, here are some simple planting instructions.

Radish 

You can grow these in the ground or in containers or window boxes.

Sow thinly in soil and cover with 1.5cm fine soil. Firm down gently and keep moist.

Seedlings should appear within 2-3 weeks.

Thin out the plants if necessary and keep soil moist. Radishes should be ready to harvest in 4-6 weeks.

Lettuce

You can grow these in the ground, containers or even hanging baskets (good for evading snails!)

Sow thinly in soil and cover with 1.5cm fine soil.

Firm down gently and keep moist.

Seedlings should appear in 7-14 days.

Thin out seedlings if necessary and keep moist and weed-free.
Pick and use when needed

Peas 

Grow these in the ground of a large pot. You will need to support the plants with netting or bamboo canes and string.

Plant seeds 5cm apart and cover with 5cm of fine soil. Firm down gently and keep moist. Seedlings should appear within 10-14 days.

Protect young plants from birds with twigs or netting and remember to support the plants. Keep moist and weed-free. Pick when ready.

Send us some photos of your vegetable-growing successes!

Come to our Annual Celebratory Extravaganza Friday 28th April

On Friday 28th April we are hosting our  

Annual Celebratory Extravaganza!

Everyone is welcome to join us at:   

Derinton Community Centre
101a/b Derinton Road
Tooting, SW17 8HZ

From 7:00 pm to 9:30 pm

If you’re on our mailing list, like or follow our Facebook or Twitter accounts, have been to any of our events, or are just interested to find out what we do in Tooting – come along. And share with your friends!

Celebrating and sharing at TTT's 2016 ACE

We will be celebrating all of the past year's achievements and the partnerships that have developed to help deliver those projects.

We will also be signposting the exciting projects we have planned for the future and inviting people to get involved in their own way.

It’s a place to meet other local people who share our goals:

Making Change in How We Live, Where We Live, 

in Light of Climate Change.

What to expect:

• TTT sustenance: a.k.a tea, cake, samosas, Turkish bread & hummus
• Energy and participation: a Tooting-themed quiz & more
• A celebration of past successes
• Information about TTT’s projects
• Sharing ideas you might have to improve our neighbourhood
• Looking ahead and an invitation to get involved
• Conversations with friends new and old
• A TTT goody bag
• Please note: so we can open the door and celebrate with our whole community and all the local people and partners who support us, the celebration will be alcohol free

Eleanor writes about last year's ACE: 

"I attended for the first time last year and it was a fantastic event. The presentation of the successes really opened my eyes to what can be achieved when like-minded people get together on a common theme and don’t give up. 
Even though I was already involved and getting the regular newsletter, there were lots of activities going on under the radar that were ready to shared by the enthusiastic people leading the charge. All of the activities presented together showed an incredible achievement.

The activities included things like: workshops inspiring beginner gardeners, carbon conversations, helping to create a neighbourhood plan, running a community garden, sustainable art projects and restart parties.

The main theme that stood out to me on the night was partnerships. It was clear that it wasn’t just TTT working on their own. The strength comes from the partnerships that TTT has developed and nurtured. These partnerships were not all with other environmental themed groups either. They cross a variety of sections of society and combine the interests of both parties to create amazing results.

Last year's event inspired me to get involved in more TTT projects.
I hope I have inspired you to come along and see what is going on."

See you there on Friday 28th!

Facebook invitation to share: https://goo.gl/lviVH1