We face huge challenges – but what can we do about them? What alternatives do we have to leaving it all to the ‘powers that be’?

 

A desire to answer these questions led to the formation of Transition Waltham Forest (TWF) in autumn 2008. It initially set out to host public discussion and show films about climate change and peak oil, while establishing a series of Transition initiatives in the borough.

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The group’s purpose was to create ‘a happy, healthy Walthamstow, where through working together as a community we can reduce our energy use and increase our resilience’. After 18 months of activity TWF went into hibernation, as most of the active participants migrated to other projects. These projects included the successful Transition Leytonstone, which formed in September 2009.

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Transition Walthamstow formed in autumn 2011, with the group’s first meeting taking place on 21 October 2011, and a steering group established in April 2012. Transition Walthamstow’s headquarters was Hornbeam Centre on Hoe Street. Members met once a month. Green drinks also regularly happened at Ye Olde Rose & Crown pub.

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This first incarnation of Transition Walthamstow successfully ran such projects as skills shares and workshops, a food-buying co-operative and the popular annual Apple Day. However, after a couple of years of activity, it went into hibernation.