Our Group

Written by the Chair of the Group, David Blake

Transition Town Okehampton is a new local group that was started to address some of the challenges arising from the global climate and ecological emergency. It is only through coming together as a cohesive, kind and caring society at all levels, and transitioning to a fairer and more sustainable society, that we will be able to negotiate the coming threats posed by external change. Transition Towns groups are established in many towns across Devon and the wider country, each with its own unique identity tailored to the particular nature and needs of the local community. There has been talk about forming a Transition Towns group in Okehampton for some years, including from town councillors and the Mayor, but it was only in January 2024 that a small bunch of people got together and made it happen. Since then, the initiating group has been meeting on a regular basis to put some early ideas into action.

Transition Towns globally

Transition Towns is an international movement that traces its roots back to Totnes around 2006, where Rob Hopkins and colleagues initiated the first community group. Initially it was envisaged as a community-led response to the challenges posed by "Peak Oil", climate change and economic instability. Since then, Transition Towns has grown apace to encompass thousands of groups in towns, villages, cities, schools and universities across 50 countries worldwide. With the overall goal of making the community more resilient, environmentally sustainable and economically self-reliant, each group follows its own path, depending on local aspirations, needs and challenges. Some places may focus more on local food production, others renewable energy generation, rethinking local transport networks, re-localising economies and re-skilling, that weave webs of connection and support within the community.

Transition Town Okehampton started modestly over the first few months of 2024, putting together a constitution, discussing future plans and deciding what sort of group we'd like to be in a formal sense. At present we are an unincorporated association, but this may change in future. Our first activity was showing a film on April 6th at the Ockment Centre called 'Demain' or 'Tomorrow'. It was a highly positive film that highlighted a number of successful examples of Transition in action, from the Totnes local currency to "Edible Todmorden" (guerilla gardening) in the UK, and places abroad as diverse as inspirational primary schools in Finland, urban agriculture in Detroit and a permaculture project in France. Thank you to all those who came.

Hogs Wood Greenspace survey

Now we are up and running, joining together with other local groups to enable positive change and action on a number of issues brought to our attention.
For example, we were made aware of a neighbourhood Green Space between Northfield Road and Wonnacott Road that has been earmarked by West Devon Borough Council for potential housing development. Wild Oke have been monitoring wildlife populations there for some time and it is apparent that there are a number of species there that of conservation value to both the wider ecosystem and local people. It has been christened "Hogs Wood" by some, due to the healthy population of hedgehogs living there! We collaborated to conduct a questionnaire survey of people's views about the site, how they use it at present and what kind of development they would like to see on it, if any. The responses received were highly encouraging and we are hoping now to hold a public meeting with the local community to feedback the results and discuss future options. Watch this space as Wild Oke will be organising this in July with any luck.

Community Feasts

Another recent collaboration has been with Okehampton's "Community Feasts" group, who approached us (thank you Greta and Sarah) to jointly organise their occasional shared meals, aimed at bringing together diverse members of the local community, especially families from around the world. Look out for dates being advertised soon, with the first planned for October. The group has been going for a number of years and people report they enjoy the sense of friendship and local belonging created over sharing food and fun activities.

Film Show, Cream Tea and other Events

Our next community involvement is to show the Swedish-made film 'Imprint' in the Fountain Inn's Courtyard Bar on Friday 14th June 2024 at 6.45pm for a 7pm start. We hope you can join us and stay for a discussion. Please purchase a drink at the main bar.

It introduces 13 inspiring examples of individual and collective action that address the climate and ecological crisis, and shows how communities can come together to be stronger and more resilient.

Then on Sunday 16th June 2024 at 3pm we will be providing a cream tea at Okehampton Community Garden to support the Great Big Green Week with Plastic Free Okehampton.