Ketton Green Festival

As part of the Great Big Green Week, community groups in Ketton came together on Sunday afternoon to stage a Green Festival. The fine weather encouraged a strong turnout, with visitors enjoying a range of activities suitable for all the family. The Ketton Green Spaces Group organised hands-on activities, showing people how to plant trees from seed and how to measure the carbon stored in a tree.

Younger visitors enjoyed making wildflower seed bombs, courtesy of the Pride of Stamford Litter Pickers. For those not wishing to get their hands dirty while making their own seed bombs, the Ketton Seed Swap team was on hand, giving away seeds and explaining how to use the seed swap box outside the village shop.

The Ketton Darby and Joan Club was championing re-use and recycling, with a bring-and-buy stall which raised £77 for local good causes. Meanwhile, for the adventurous visitors there was a chance to try out either an electric motorbike or an electric tricycle, offering a taster of future transport options.

The Ketton Climate Action Group gave visitors an opportunity to test their knowledge of recycling and also to visit the “Museum of the Plastic Age,” an amusing view of how people of the future may attempt to explain our plastic waste when they dig it up in the centuries to come.

Village residents also contributed ideas for a vision of “Ketton 2030”, as the UK transitions towards the Government target of net zero carbon emissions by 2050. There was a lot of input around the need for safer cycling routes and better facilities for cyclists of all ages, both within the village and on the main routes out of the village. Other popular suggestions involved a big increase in solar panels on buildings across the village, wind turbines, electric charging points provided by businesses, community growing spaces, a repair café, more frequent bus services, and supper clubs for sharing food and recipes.

David Lewis from Ketton Climate Action commented: “This was a brand new event and it was wonderful to see so many people taking part. Events like Ketton’s Green Festival help to stimulate debate and the sharing of ideas. While the challenge of tackling climate change can seem overwhelming, small scale community actions can have a huge impact if they are replicated across the country.”

Ketton Climate Action’s next event will be a community litter pick at 10am on Sunday 23 October. To learn more about the group’s activities follow the group on Facebook.