‘The Town Centre comes alive!’: Thurso Climate Fair
On Saturday 16th September, Thurso Community Development Trust held a Climate Fair as part of the Highlands and Islands Climate Festival. The Fair was held in Thurso Precinct just outside the Socially Growing shop. It was such a lively and eventful day, with stalls from local community groups, live music, and the chance for Scottish ceilidh dancing was enjoyed by all!
The groups that attended with stalls were:
Caithness Beach Cleans
Caithness Voluntary Group with the Warmlie Project
Cycling UK
Dunnet Community Forest
Natures Path Natural Ways
Caithness Beach Cleans’ innovative wheelie bin clips made from material collected at beach cleans!
Caithness Beach Cleans had a lovely selection of items made from the litter they had collected from along our beaches. With over 54 tonnes of plastic lifted since 2019, they’ve had a significant impact on the cleanliness of the seashores of Caithness. They make door mats out of rope and some wonderful wheelie bin clips! After buying one myself I can highly recommend them, as it has solved the issue we have been having with our recycling bin in the wind. No more chasing cardboard around the garden on a windy morning!
Caithness Voluntary Group had their stall set up to engage with the public about the Warmlie scheme that they are running a feasibility study for. The Warmlie scheme is looking to build a district heating system that would provide more affordable heating for homes and a low carbon alternative to fossil fuels. They had a successful day of engagement, some very good questions were asked and answered. Hopefully they will see a boost in local people filling out their survey as a result. Getting enough information back through the surveys is critical for their feasibility study and the whole Warmlie project. If you live in Ormlie or the wider West Thurso area, fill out this important survey here and be entered into a prize draw!
Dunnet Community Forest and Natures Path Natural Ways had their stalls filled with information about nature, the local environment and how they’re supporting communities through climate action. Dunnet Community Forest had a lovely ‘name the tree quiz’ along with a make your own tree decoration using mini wood slices from the forest. Natures Path Natural Ways had a display of all the items they had foraged from the local area and a selection of jams and syrups that were made from them for everyone to try. I was lucky enough to head out on a Foraging Walk with Amanda earlier this month as part of the Highlands & Islands Climate Festival, which really reinforced how valuable connecting and learning about the nature and land around us is.
Cycling UK had a selection of their electric bikes with them, there was a selection of larger every day bikes along with a three wheel bike with a carry compartment for doing your shopping with! These bikes are available to individuals and organisations looking to lower their carbon foot print through active travel. Cycling UK also discussed the benefits that cycling has for mental and physical health, an electric bike would be an excellent way of getting started! If you live locally and are keen to borrow a bike, get in touch with George from Cycling UK here.
The event was so fun and lively with lots of people joining in in the activities and speaking to the stall holders. The town centre really came alive! The Pentland Brass Band and the bagpiper gave the Precinct a lovely atmosphere. Once they had finished up their pieces it was time for some dancing! The centre of the street became a stage for everyone to have a go at learning to dance to ‘Strip The Willow’. I have to say, it’s not something I have tried since school, but the muscle memory started to come back and it was a great laugh. It was lovely to see people of all ages giving it a go (even if some were quite nervous to begin with). As we went along we had more members of the public joining in and our line got longer each time.
When our town comes together we can have a blast! It was lovely to see the interactions between the groups and public and the support that was given to one another. A huge thank you to Thurso Community Development Trust for organising such a wonderful event which enabled the community to come together around climate action! We’re already looking forward to next year!