GO WILD! Kent ECO Event

This event took place on Saturday 22nd June at the Bat and Ball Community Centre in Sevenoaks, Kent. Despite the Restore Nature Now march happening in London on the same day, we had a reasonable audience, and they showed great engagement with the event. Rotary was pleased to partner with other community organisations: Spirit of Peace and Sevenoaks Unitarians. We were glad to have support from the broader Rotary district.

Thanks to Sevenoaks Town Council for supplying us with a grant towards the use of the wonderful facilities at the Bat and Ball Community Centre. We are very fortunate in Sevenoaks to have such a welcoming and well-appointed community space. Tea and cake were provided by Sevenoaks Unitarians.
We were delighted that the Mayor of Sevenoaks, Councillor Libby Ancrum, opened the event and spoke about the importance of working together. 

Top left: jars of wildflowers; Top right: audience during introduction to Quiet Gardens; Centre: Heather-Jane Ozanne, David Craik (Rotary Co-President) and the Mayor, with audience; Bottom left: Heather-Jane Ozanne and David Craik (Sevenoaks Rotary Co-Presidents); Bottom right: jars of wildflower.

Heather-Jane Ozanne (CEO of Spirit of Peace) and Isabel (Spirit of Peace) introduced the Flourishing Process which Heather-Jane has developed, and shared an introduction video to the concept of Living for the Whole. (These resources are also available at the website of Spirit of Peace https://flourishing.global/about-us/)

The keynote talk by Caroline Halfpenny was highly informative and inspiring, covering examples of rewilding, as well as small actions that anyone with a garden or windowsill can take. 

Linda Later from Sevenoaks Town Council gave us hope by showing that the Town Council has been making considerable efforts in the areas of biodiversity preservation and greener transport.

Isabel de Berrie gave an introduction to the Quiet Gardens Movement, and some attendees have expressed interest in opening their gardens to people who are looking for a green space for quiet contemplation (www.quietgarden.org). Here were just a few of the actionable tips which gardeners took away from Caroline's talk:

Many people hadn't heard of glycophosphate, but it's an ingredient used in many weedkillers. It poisons the soil around it so it's important to avoid. There are a range of other ways to deal with unwanted plants and pests.

Everybody loves to see a hedgehog in their garden! But Caroline also explained how hedgehogs need freedom to travel, so that they can find enough food.

People had a lot of questions to ask about this tip - using your over-ripe bananas to fertilise plants. Caroline suggested that there are a couple of different ways to do this, such as infusing for several days in cold water or boiling to get a faster result.

Many thanks to Caroline for answering all our questions after the talk.

If anyone is keen to hear more from her, she is giving another talk at the beginning of September. You can find out more via her website: https://carolinehalfpenny.wixsite.com/