Come along to the Grove School and Cancer Research Fashion Show! The event is taking place Wednesday 12th October at 6pm in the Grove School main hall.
Students will be modelling some of the great items supplied by the Market Drayton Cancer Research shop. Not only will you be raising money for a fantastic cause, but the event is promoting buying clothes second-hand rather than fast fashion. This reduces clothing waste and carbon emissions. It also lowers the money shoppers spend at businesses which exploit garment workers.
Write a letter to the future for Great Big Green Week
Write a letter to a loved one, send it in, and share it. It will be published, plus every day a letter will go to the Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition, to keep climate change at the forefront of their minds. Read letters, and submit your own, by clicking here.
Local business committed to progress on climate impact
Palethorpes Bakery, a major food producer in Market Drayton employing around 650 people, has a history stretching back to 1852. But under the new umbrella of The Compleat Food Group (TCFG), attention is focussed clearly on the future with a commitment to take action on climate to deliver a better, fairer future for all.
‘To deliver on our ‘Food to Feel Good’ promise we know we need to tackle the big issues. These include climate, health and affordability. We’re doing this through a clear roadmap to achieving Net Zero across our business and our supply chain and increasing the social value we create in the communities we’re part of,’ says TCFG’s website.
Plans include achieving Net Zero in carbon emissions across the business by 2035 and across its supply chain by 2040. The company has also committed to scaling its social value tenfold within the same period. It’s all part of the group’s wider mission to create food in a sustainable way and deliver a positive impact on the world.
As well as sponsoring the Market Drayton Climate Action website, Palethorpes is active elsewhere in the community. At this September’s Ginger and Spice Festival of food, drink and heritage in Market Drayton, Palethorpes Bakery and TCFG were the headline sponsor for the Children’s Cookery Theatre.
Leanne Massey, Senior HR Manager at Palethorpes Bakery and a member of Market Drayton Climate Action has said: “Market Drayton has developed a thriving community of food producers and manufacturers and so it’s important that we take time to inspire the next generation whilst educating them on the importance of healthy eating and sourcing sustainable ingredients.”
During this year’s festival, a team of chefs from Palethorpes led a series of cookery workshops for children, focusing on healthy eating and with an emphasis on the importance of choosing seasonal and local ingredients.
Market Drayton Climate Action is grateful for Palethorpes Bakery’s sponsorship and looks forward to more news as they reduce and balance their bakery carbon emissions and help consumers make lower carbon footprint food choices. https://www.compleatfood.com/impact/
Last chance to complete bus survey
People in and around Market Drayton would travel more by bus if more services were reliably available, according to bus users arriving for Wednesday’s market last week. The bus users were met by members of Market Drayton Climate Action, which is running a survey to document local people’s experience of public transport and what they would like to have available. The survey will close at the end of September.
The survey is intended to provide evidence of area demand for bus services. ‘Market Drayton is increasingly cut off from the rest of the world for anyone not in a car as more bus services are cut,’ said Belinda Sprigg from the climate group. ‘It’s a downward spiral, because without regular services people won’t use the bus, and then more routes are cut because of lack of demand. We want to provide evidence that this could be turned around if bus timetables were planned to meet people’s needs.’
Market Drayton’s bus service is one of the worst in the UK, according to an analysis by the House of Commons Library. Market Drayton has only a fraction of weekday bus departures compared to similar sized towns, and there are no buses running on Sundays.
The survey seeks responses from across the community, and is available at Market Drayton Library or can be completed online at https://mdclimateaction.uk/transport-2/ until the end of September. ‘We urge everyone to fill in the form, so we will be stronger in arguing for the services the town needs,’ Belinda Sprigg said.
The local climate group has already published recommendations for the minimum bus service needed which include hourly buses to Whitchurch to provide links to a rail station as well as medical care.
The issue has been taken up by Helen Morgan MP, who has tabled a bill in the House of Commons which would make the Government responsible for ensuring that every town with a population of over 10,000 has bus services that connect people with hospitals and GP surgeries running each day of the week.
Helen Morgan MP said: ‘It is staggering that it is 2022 and yet the people of North Shropshire are forced to fork out for a taxi to access something as basic as a GP appointment if they do not drive. If you live in a rural area and need to get to hospital there are no buses and no trains to get you there.’
Market Drayton Climate Action 