Our first networking/support meeting on Education for Sustainability in Millfields Community School at the end of November gave attendees (varied school community members – parents, teachers, governors, admin staff) in depth information on waste minimisation.  As well as covering the 5 or 6 Rs Refusing (as well as Replacing plastic with other materials), Repairing, Reducing, Reusing and finally…

Statement of Support from Diane Abbott



"So sorry that I cannot be with you this evening to watch and discuss this very important film.



Visiting the Calais refugee camp is something that will never leave me. The refugees were desperate and living in absolutely appalling, dehumanising conditions. There were thousands of people, including babies and very young children, living in freezing conditions with no…

We had a fab day co-hosting the zero waste market with Plastic Free Hackney, educational activities such as DIY vertical salad leaf planters and ofcourse the screening of 'A Plastic Ocean' in the evening followed by a lively panel discussion.…

On March 28, at 6am I boarded a train bound for Wigan, filled with anticipation and excitement for the great un-known for what was set to be the first of many CTRL Shift emergency summits for change. Thanks to the Permaculture Association (the organisers), along with the most forward thinking solution based organisations in the country, I was very lucky enough to get a bursary ticket for the event. These…

A new campaign to win public support for the UK’s first solar powered film venue was launched on March17.

The joint campaign led by Hackney Energy, the Wilton Estate Tenants Association and the Rio Cinema aims to raise around £40,000 to install 55 solar panels on the cinema’s south facing…

Image: Fairtrade Foundation

Celebrations of Fairtrade Fortnight in Hackney were made extra special this year as, thanks to a grant from Hackney Council, we were able to ‘buy in’  presentations from Ketra Kyosiimire, a visiting female coffee producer from Uganda who gave interesting, illustrated talks on how coffee is grown and how fairtrade benefits the…

Sustainable Hackney – Education for Sustainable Education (EfS) Network -  gave a presentation to the Hackney Primary Headteachers’ January meeting on the urgency of introducing EfS into their schools. 

The presentation was supported at the meeting by Councillor Jon Burke (lead cabinet member for sustainability) who aims to make every Hackney council department function sustainably.…

Recently, we have seen the demise of the outsourcing mogul Carillion under a £1.5bn debt pile with a possible loss of up to 20,000 jobs in the UK. This was followed 2 weeks later by profit warnings of another outsourcing giant, Capita, whose share value plummeted by nearly 50%, wiping £1.5bn of its stock market value. The process of outsourcing public services started under the Thatcher years, but accelerated under the Blair-Brown years with the private/public financing initiatives.…

Work could start early in 2018 on Hackney's second rooftop solar farm if a joint bid to the Mayor of London's Community Energy Fund gets the go-ahead.

Dalston-based Wilton Estate Tenants and Residents Association (WETRA), supported by volunteers from Hackney Energy, wants to install 50 kilowatts of solar panels and a set of batteries to store energy for nighttime lighting for communal spaces, stairwells and the community centre.

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Hackney Stand up to Racism held a successful and widely supported solidarity evening on 2^nd December that raised over £2000 for Care 4 Calais to continue their work helping refugees rendered homeless after the camp at…

This weekend was welcomed with warm mince pies, mulled wine and handy crafts galore at Hackney City Farm's annual Christmas market. 

Sunday saw Do-it-yourself Christmas workshops, such as wrapping paper decoration for children and big kids. Christmas trees bustled out the shop door, as a…

Walthamstow Wetlands is Europe's largest urban wetlands, spanning a giant 211 hectares of rare natural habitat, and reopened its doors to the public for the first time on October 20th after 150 years.

(Photography: Clare Taylor)

The project has undergone much redesign and investment to enrich existing habitat whilst…