Nature & Climate Festival 2024
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Thanks for visiting the Nature & Climate Festival 2024 page.
The Thames Ditton & Weston Green Residents' Association’s Nature & Climate Festival is returning Friday 4th - Sunday 6th Octobber 2024!
Now in its third year, the festival will be a celebration of our natural world and a platform to raise awareness of issues around climate change and sustainability. It's a unique chance for our whole community to come together for an unmissable three days of fun, interactive and educational activities for all ages.
Programme of Events
Please note: All events will take place in the Vital Village centre in Mercer Close, Thames Ditton.
Most events and activities are free, and there is no need to book ahead unless specified.
Events requiring booking are marked with a Vital Village logo - clicking on this will take you to the event booking page.
Or you can go to the Vital Village What's On page by clicking on the adjacent logo, and scrolling down to the Nature & Climate Festival event listings.
Enquiries: Gill Coates: gcoates@residents-association.com 020 8873 3040
As before our Festival has four themes:
WHAT’S ON - FRIDAY 4th OCTOBER
The opening day where you can learn to save energy and take part in our fun general knowledge quiz.
12.00 - 1.30 pm HOW TO SAVE ENERGY AND SAVE MONEY in association with Surrey Climate Commission
An informal ‘lunch and learn’ event in which you can discover tips on how to reduce your energy consumption and put money back into your pocket. Drinks and snacks are available to purchase, or feel free to bring your own. FREE but please reserve your place by clicking on the Vital Village logo to the right. 
1.30 - 2.30 pm Garden Social at Vital Village
A chance to visit the new community garden at Vital Village, meet the volunteers and get your hands dirty as you find out what is planned for the garden next Spring. FREE but places are limited. Please reserve your place by clicking on the Vital Village logo to the right.7.00 - 10.30 pm THE BIG GREEN QUIZ NIGHT
Come along and test your general knowledge in the Residents' Association’s Quiz Night, with the occasional ‘green twist’. Teams of six (max). Form your own team or let us know your numbers and we can make up scratch teams. £5 per head. Licensed bar available - courtesy of Thames Ditton Gin. Kell's Kitchen will be on site in the car park preparing fresh food from 6.30pm and in the interval. To enter as an individual or a team, please click on the Vital Village logo to the right..
WHAT’S ON - SATURDAY 5th OCTOBER
An action-packed day where you can drop by and pick up essential tips on living sustainably and listen to great music.
All day from 10.30am:
TECH-TAKEBACK - Cancelled - Dr David Greenfield from Tech-TakeBack in Brighton will be here to collect unwanted tech (desktop PCs and laptops plus power cables and chargers, but not monitors or accessories) to repair and re-use in the circular economy. Since 2016 TTB’s innovative solutions have diverted 65 tonnes of electrical waste from landfill and saved over 525 tonnes of CO2 emissions. FREE but TTB is a charity and David welcomes any donations towards their work. Find out how to prepare your items and learn more about TTB on www.techtakeback.com. UPDATE: Dr Greenfield regretfully has had to cancel this event due to unforseen family circumstances. However it is hoped to arrange for a future one-off Tech Take-Back event.
CRAFT FAIR AND ECO SHOP A handful of local pop up shops and stalls to enjoy. UPDATE: Eco Stalls are cancelled. (Too many other eco/farmers markets on this year!)
10.45 am - 12.00 pm HOW TO DIG THE EARTH
Your sustainable gardening questions answered, in association with Squires of Long Ditton. Mahatma Ghandi said ‘To forget how to dig the earth and to tend the soil is to forget ourselves‘. But in our changing climate our gardens and wildlife are suffering and traditional methods are increasingly unreliable. How can we keep our gardens and allotments resilient and productive, for pleasure, food or biodiversity? Rupert Sleight, manager of Squires Long Ditton, will chair a panel of experienced gardeners and enthusiasts to answer all your questions. FREE but please reserve your place by clicking on the Vital Village logo to the right.
12.00 noon VISIT BY THE MAYOR OF ELMBRIDGE, CLLR NEIL HOUSTON
The Mayor has kindly agreed to visit the festival, plant some bulbs in the new community garden in Vital Village and enjoy the next item on the programme.
12.30 pm ‘WE ARE THE VOICE’ CHILDREN’S ENVIRONMENTAL CHOIR
We Are the Voice are the brilliant local children’s choir who have sung at both previous Nature & Climate Festivals. They are back this year for an informal lunchtime concert. Drinks and snacks are available from our own Green Cafe, so grab a bite, settle down and enjoy a very special performance. FREE.
2.00 - 5.00 pm KEYNOTE EVENT: JUST ONE GREEN THING, a Climate Cafe event in association with Green Elmbridge
If you want to start changing your lifestyle but don't know where to start, this is the event for you. We have brought together a fantastic panel who have done the hard work for you and they are ready to share their top tips about the small changes you can make TODAY, to lead a more sustainable life. Panellists include Diana Thornton (Oxshott Net Zero and Take the Jump); Jo Ingham (Our Fashion Fix); Dr David Greenfield (Professor of the Circular Economy at Brighton University), Winston Holland (Wildlife Aid Foundation’s iDOT); Victoria Ebrahimzadeh (Waste to Plate). Includes a break-out room with Adrian Turner of Killik & Co talking about sustainable investing. FREE. This is an informal session so please feel free to wander in and out and ask as many questions as you like.
2.00 - 4.00 pm SERENA HASSAN AND THE TAP DANCING PIGEON (storytelling and craft activity for 4-8 years old)
Join award-winning chidren’s author Serena Hassan for a lively, interactive storytelling performance session of The Tap Dancing Pigeon of Covent Garden. Bring to life the adventures of Pigeon as he discovers a love of opera, learns to dance and tangles with the perils of plastics pollution. £5 for first child, £2 for siblings (includes one free book per family.) To book your ticket please click on the Vital Village logo to the right. This event is running alongside the Climate Cafe (above) and will take place in the next door room, so your children can join Serena while you attend the Climate Cafe.
7.00 - 10.00 pm AN EVENING WITH BERNE
Meet Deborah and Gian who together make up Earth-pop duo Berne, who are EU Climate Pact Ambassadors . They are returning to the Nature & Climate Festival following their short but decidedly sweet performance at our comedy night last year when they treated us to two of their ethereally beautiful songs. They were so good we’ve invited them back for a whole evening in which they will perform more of their music and tell us about how they use it to influence people and campaign for change. TICKETS £10 per person. To book your ticket please click on the Vital Village logo to the right.
WHAT’S ON - SUNDAY 6th OCTOBER
Join us for a fun-packed day of community recycling and eco-activity.
10.00am Wake-Up Walk and Forest Bathe with Liam Grimley of Elevate Sport
Personal trainer and fitness expert Liam will lead a gentle excercise class designed to introduce the benefits of outdoor exercise, whatever the weather. Learn how we can improve our our health and wellbeing with stretching, an outdoor walk and an introduction to Forest Bathing in nearby woodland. £8 per person. Numbers limited so book early on the Vital Village logo to the right. Meet in Vital Village cafe by 10.00am.
10.30am onwards ECO FAIR - including a selection of local craftspeople. UPDATE: Eco Stalls are cancelled. (Too many other eco/farmers markets on this year!)
11.00 am - 12.30 pm FAMILY FUN ACTIVITY - BUILD A BUG HOTEL in association with the Wildlife Aid Foundation
The engaging and informative Winston Holland from WAF in Leatherhead will take us through the steps to create a ‘bug hotel’ to encourage wildlife in the garden. Build your own shoebox version, or join in filling the giant permanent residence that we will erect in Vital Village’s community garden at the end. FREE but please reserve your place by clicking on the Vital Village logo to the right. Any contributions of twigs, pine cones, straw, bamboo, small logs etc to share will be very welcome.
1.00 - 4.30 pm THE BIG COMMUNITY RECYCLE ‘Bring and Buy’ Sale and SUSTAINABLE FASHION SAMPLE SALE
Bring your good-as-new, pre-loved items along to find new homes for them and maybe grab a bargain of your own. Details for how it works are on the Vital Village website. PLUS: We have sample sale of sustainable fashion from Dedicated and Knowledge Cotton Apparel with discounts up to 80% on retail prices AND Jo Ingham of Our Fashion Fix will be on hand to offer styling advice to personalise your recycled fashion finds.
3.30pm Presentation of the Nature & Climate Photography Competition prize winners
Click here for entry details. Closing date Friday 20th September.
4.00pm Grand Raffle Draw
PLUS - RIVER THAMES LITTER CLEAN UP in Association with the Dittons Skiff and Punting Club (time t.b.c.)
We are partnering with the Dittons Skiff and Punting Club to organise a waterbound river plastic clean up at some point on Sunday 6th, subject to tides and water safety concerns. Updates will be posted here and on the DSPC website (www.dittons.org.uk) closer to the day. (Boarding at the DSPC clubhouse in Queens Rd). UPDATE: The river conditions are unsuitable for the planned river plastic clean-up by Ditton Skiff & Punting Club. Not to be deterred, the club members will be doing a riverbank clean-up along Albany Reach from 11.00am on Sunday. Well done to the club for doing their bit to support the Festival!
Follow the Nature & Climate Festival on Instagram: @TDClimatenaturefest and X: @TDNature
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The TD&WGRA reserves the right to change dates/times or cancel events altogether in unavoidable circumstances.
We would like to thank Festival organisers Cllr Gill Coates, Cllr Caroline James, Libby McIntyre (TD&WGRA) and Laura Pring (Vital Village). Thanks also to Alison Lam (stalls), Stephanie Dare, Alexandra Lewington, Nick Davis and Mona Saad (Green Elmbridge) and Lisa Tolley (lovely logos and tea towels!). Special thanks to all of our wonderful Festival partners, contributors, speakers and performers.
The Nature & Climate Festival would not be possible without the generous support of HJC Estate Agents and Killik & Co Financial Advisors, and we are very grateful to Alex Langdon and Lucy Roshier respectively. Finally, a mention to Festival co-founder, journalist and environmental campaigner Lucy Siegle, who sadly could not join us this year but who remains our biggest supporter.