Last year marked the tenth anniversary of our group. That’s quite an achievement, with a huge amount achieved in that decade.
We were set up in 2011 as Transition Hythe (with a rebrand in 2018) and have been busy on many fronts ever since.
The inspiration came from the Transition Network (https://transitionnetwork.org/), after a public meeting in South Road Pavilion where we heard from, among others, the transition group in Sevenoaks and Elham’s excellent environmental group (which is still going strong).
Many people have been involved and have helped to shape the group since then. Particularly important in the first formative year or two were Derek Kenyon and Zoe Phillips, who have both sadly passed way.
The kick-off meeting in 2011 at South Road Pavillion
We started with litter picks (in many ways, the simplest activity to kick off with and still an integral part of our monthly calendar – thanks to Giles from F&HDC for all his support in that time) and we moved on to talks, films, bug hotels (in most local schools), community growing and tree and hedge planting, environmental fairs and many other activities.
The overarching aim, in keeping with the Transition Network ethos, was to build community resilience in the face of the climate crisis, something that has become only more pressing over the decade.
Today, the Hythe Hops project has arguably brought in more people to the group than any other activity. We are part of the national Grow Beer movement, starting in 2018 with lots of help from the Deal Hop Farm. You can read all about the project here: https://hytheenvironmental.community/hythe-community-hop-farm/
An early beach clean on a winter’s day in 2013
We learned what worked and what didn’t. The free energy studies for local residents is a long-running winter pursuit, only disrupted in the last couple of years by Covid restrictions. The apple pressing and seed and plant swaps in the High Street are always a huge success.
The gleaning group has also been amazing. In 2020 we ran 63 gleans, and rescued 35 tonnes of fruit and veg which would otherwise have gone to waste. 27 tonnes went to local charities, schools and other organisations and the other eight tonnes were picked by our teams for supply to London and Thanet foodbanks. Having our own trailer has been hugely useful (we also have our own apple press and we make both available to any other community group).
Local wildlife has been a running theme, from guided bee and bird walks to courses to moth discovery evenings. We have a community orchard project with Hythe Civic Society. The aims are to enhance the Eaton Lands site and help preserve local historical fruit varieties for posterity.
What does our next decade have in store? Largely, that’s down to everyone. All of the projects have come about and are run by enthusiastic volunteers. There’s lots of inspiration and resources on the Transition Network website – https://transitionnetwork.org/stories/
So if there’s an area of interest to you that’s not currently part of our activities, make contact and we can try to make it happen in our next decade!
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