Dear
Welcome to our spring newsletter! It’s been a little while since our last update and lots has been happening. We have new projects in the pipeline this spring which is exciting news!
The Friends of the Stop Line Path was formed over the winter months, following the news that Sustrans would no longer be taking responsibility for the upkeep of the Ilminster to Chard cycle path – a group of enthusiastic local volunteers formed, determined to make sure that this valuable local asset would not be allowed to become untidy. Green Ilminster ‘adopted’ the group, making it possible for them to get up and running quickly with the use of our governance and insurance, etc. This project has unsurprisingly garnered a lot of support from the community, raising the profile of Green Ilminster and attracting more volunteers across the range of our projects – it’s a win, win, win!
Green Ilminster has also started initial conversations with our Town Council and FWAG (Farming & Wildlife Advisory Group) regarding Natural Flood Prevention in the town. After another extremely wet winter and more flooding in the town we are looking at low tech but potentially effective ways of managing flood water, such as an ‘adopt a drain’ scheme, tree planting, ditches and hedge creation. Its early days but this project has the potential to make a very positive impact on Ilminster as the effects of climate change increase.
Our existing projects are all continuing, driven forward by the motivation of brilliant volunteers, making a positive difference right here in Ilminster. More by the project leaders below:
The Share and Repair Shop continues to be a hive of activity! Our mission to drive down waste in Ilminster continues. We’ve very quickly grown into our larger premises as the flow of repairs continues and this has allowed a bit more space for some repairs to take place on site which has created a great collaborative workshop feel when the shop is open. In less positive news, unfortunately, we have lost our brilliant sewing volunteers recently and we are currently turning away sewing jobs – so if you can sew (or know someone who can!) and think mending is better than throwing away, please do consider joining the team; we’d love to have you on board!
Our ‘pop up’ sales table, selling second hand items continues to be very popular and is doing a great job at finding a new home for unwanted items.
The refill product range is growing steadily and is proving very popular as more people hear about this great service in the town. We’re hoping to add eco loo roll and kitchen roll to the range very soon to complement these products very soon.
We remain really invested in the Share element of the shop, despite business remaining disappointingly slow! Borrowing could and should be such a fundamental part of a sustainable lifestyle – we just have to convince Ilminster of that! [Sarah Hunt]
Green Ilminster Talks. Since September we have had some excellent speakers at our monthly sessions at the Arts Centre:
- Colin Ryall on Non-native Invasive Species
- Vicky Whitworth gave us an Update on the River Axe
- James Hitchmough spoke on What gardens can do for biodiversity and sustainability in a time of clime change
- James Lowe from South Street Honey enthused about Honey Bees
- Carolyn Dare gave us an introduction to the Wonders of Biochar
- John Bagnall from Wessex Water gave us an update on Water Quality in Somerset
If you missed any of these excellent talks you can find them all on our YouTube channel here.
Our last talk for this season will be on 15th April – Liz Walsh from the Somerset Bat Group will be talking about Bats of Somerset (and beyond) [Chris Bestley]
The Tree Group has planted 475 new trees in and around the Ilminster parish in the last calendar year.
We have recruited several new members during that year, and the planting sessions on the last Saturday of every month from September to February have each attracted a dozen or more volunteers.
These sessions are always rewarding for those taking part for the sense of achievement, and they also contribute a sense of well-being. The plantings are almost always on rural sites away from the main roads, on land where the countryside is very present. Our last planting up near Combe Dingle nursery (which ended up being slightly damp and overcast) was accompanied by the calls of the resident ravens. Many other woodland birds and butterflies are regularly seen, and roe deer have been spotted too.
From now until September 2026, we will be doing site maintenance as the planting season has come to an end. Our next session, on the last Saturday in March (28th) will find us removing Himalayan Balsam from the banks of the River Isle.
I hope that we will also be able to combine this with some citizen science. The British Trust for Ornithology has launched a new initiative called Birds in Greenspaces and one of our designated greenspaces is the Ilminster Rec. This covers the fields on both sides of the Canal. They are calling for people to spend 30-60 minutes in their local greenspace to count all the birds they can see and hear. With a one-off bird ID session led by Colin Hyde, this should give tree group members (and others who may be interested) the confidence to make and submit their own observations. [Colin Hyde]
Water Testing – we have a band of folk who test the quality of the water of the River Isle on a monthly basis, but we are always looking for more to fill in the gaps. Every little counts, so if you fancy adding your efforts to fight for improved water quality, please let us know. You can sign up (for this or any of our projects) here.
And if you are just curious to know about the Storm Overflows that operate near you, give this link a try – we were directed towards it at our recent Wessex Water GI Talk.
Thank you for continuing to read our newsletter and supporting Green Ilminster. If you haven’t already joined one of our teams, please consider getting involved here – the more the merrier!
Best wishes
Sarah and all the Team