There is quite a lot of vigour around in the hands of the grass roots. People seeing a need and getting on with it in “crowd-sourced” effort.
Totally Socially (Charlotte Angus, CaVCA) helped get the Cala Beck allotment off the ground that Shedder Elaine Marsh joined in as one of the pioneer volunteers. Elaine added to her quiver of arrows help and leadership with beach cleaning. That marshalled many to a cause and to a lot of productive fun. Thanks to Charlotte and Elaine for initiative on initiatives!
Now, two new initiatives rooted in part in Street Angels (the Saturday night guardians :-))
For a year or so Street Angels debated defibrillators. They can be life savers. There are some in Whitby in public places but none near the patrol routes of Street Angels and the crowded town centre. They also need to be within running distance to get. Sandra Turner co-ordinates (exceedingly well we add) Street Angels and with a couple of others has kept plugging away at the idea, including some fund raising. Others have joined in (there will be a press release soon) and there is the prospect of 10 devices for Whitby. They require servicing, so there is not just capital cost, but maybe businesses in Whitby might contribute towards that. How good is that grass roots initiative and our Sandra.
Now, Sandra again. She is involved in yet another nice initiative (another community builder) that she is leading as part of a wider plastics cause. It is Boomerang Bags. Bags that keep coming back!
Like Sheds, this is another very practical initiative with community participation at its heart. The idea is simple. Make material shopping bags that can be taken free of charge from participating outlets and returned there or passed on to others in the queue at the checkout.
Boomerang Bags was adopted in Whitby as an initiative to reduce single use plastics by Whitby Against Single Use Plastics (Wasps). This is a small group of people who want to do something positive about reducing single use plastic after seeing the film Plastic Ocean. Jane Pottas spoke about Boomerang Bags and Sandra bounced in like a kangaroo to organise it.
These bags are now international and there are town initiatives in UK but mainly, yes, in the South. But Whitby Can!!! Sandra has recruited interest in bag making (nothing fancy) from Dalewood Trust and Creative Stitchers. If you are interested, please email Sandra at whitbyboomerangbags@yahoo.com.
https://boomerangbags.org/ https://boomerangbags.org/boomerang-bags-toolkit/#makingbags
Sticking to Street Angels, Chris Koller was interviewed at Dock End this morning by BBC Tees. Street Angels would welcome new recruits, especially men!
