4th February Ecover refill service from 10am to 12 noon, Friends Meeting House, Worthing Road, Horsham RH12 1SL (opposite Sainsburys). Come and fill your empty bottles with Ecover. Please bring clean, dry Ecover bottles. For further details, phone 07941 338169.

5th February Seedy Sunday at Hove Town Hall from 10 am - 4.30 pm. Entry £2, children free. Come and enjoy more than 50 stalls, lots of talks, demonstrations and children's activities as well as the community seed-swap.

6th February Creative Craft Evening from 7.30 - 9.30 pm at The Park Barn (in Horsham Park next to The Conservatory Café). Exciting start to Make - a Horsham Community Craft Project which gives the opportunity to learn a skill whilst having a cuppa and some scrumptious homemade cake. The workshops are taught by experienced craft tutors but aimed at complete beginners, so no previous experience is required. Make is a non-profit organisation and plans to upcycle and reuse materials where possible. Each workshop costs between £3 - £6 pounds, follow the link to see the Spring Programme and for details of how to book a place.

8th February Green Drinks hosted by Transition Horsham at Ye Old Stout House, 29 Carfax Horsham from 8.00 pm, drop in as and when you like for some informal networking with local residents and businesses interested in sustainable low-carbon living.

18th February Seedy Saturday at Friends Meeting House, Worthing Road, Horsham. Opening at 10 am by Bob Sherman, Chief Horticultural Officer of Garden Organic and closing 2 pm. Free entry, seeds can be obtained either by swapping packet for packet, or by donation. Refreshments available for a donation. Other stalls include: Wakehurst Seed Bank, The Open Pollinated Seeds Nursery, Nymans, Horsham Organic Gardeners Society, Nicola Peel with Amazonian forest and seed jewellery and Greenshift (we'll let you know what we have planned nearer the time!). View poster

21st February Talk on Acupuncture and the Chinese perspective on health by Stephen West from 7.30 pm at Friends Meeting House, Worthing Road, hosted by Horsham Holistic Health. Entrance £5.

20th March Talk on Hand Analysis and your unique life purpose by Helen Elizabeth Evans from 7.30 pm at Friends Meeting House, Worthing Road, hosted by Horsham Holistic Health. Entrance £5.

Courses

The Weald and Downland Open Air Museum run special event days and an extensive programme of courses

The Sustainability Centre, near Petersfield run a wide variety of Adult and Kids courses and events

The Brighton Permaculture Trust are offering a range of interesting courses such as green roofs, fruit tree grafting, forest gardening and earthship building.

Green Fitness

The Sussex Wildlife Trust organises regular walks and events

HDC organise a programme of guided Health Walks to help you keep fit and explore the local countryside and villages

Horsham Green Gym meet on Tuesday mornings between 10 am - 1 pm at various sites near Horsham to get exercise and fresh air while improving the local environment, learning new skills and making new friends. See their programme and how to join.

The new Cycle Journey Planner from WSCC enables you to select the speed you want to travel at and then offers the fastest, quietest or balanced route options. It provides an illustrated step-by-step guide to the route with estimated journey time and warnings of busy sections and steep hills.

The Horsham Cycling Forum has a Facebook page 'Horsham Cycling Forum' and can be followed on Twitter@HorshamCycling.

Local Green News

The Downs Link Permaculture Initiative is a community-centred organization located in Southwater, West Sussex, which aims to incorporate the better use of natural elements into our daily lives through sustainable designs. They aim to promote the livelihood and welfare of local residents through reafforestation, natural building, education, inclusion and the creation of diverse ecosystems for wildlife and to enhance our vibrant community. They hope to produce new employment opportunities for the local community and to share resources, recirculating profits back into the local economy.

South Coast in Transition Dialogue is a communication channel which connects Transition Villages, Towns, Cities, Ports and Harbours to help people know what is happening locally and to share ideas between people who have a common interest in the resilience of the South Coast communities of all shapes and sizes. Please help keep the site up to date by contributing ideas, big and small, and news of your forthcoming events.

Your recycling questions answered - if you get confused about what you can and can't recycle and why, it's well worth paying a visit to Recycle for West Sussex. We were pleased to find out that we didn't have to continue removing windows from envelopes or staples from paper!

An Electric Vehicle Recharging Network has been launched. Twenty electric vehicle recharging bays are being installed across West Sussex, including four in the Horsham District. Called 'Charge Your Car', the network will allow members to charge their vehicles for free at any of the recharging bays in the scheme. For more information or to sign up visit Charge your Car.

Brinsbury Campus, near Pulborough, is aiming to become a regionally recognised Centre of Excellence for local food and drink. The Centre will provide a valuable resource for local food and drink producers, processors and outlets by hosting special networking and training events.

Work on a new eco-home development is underway in Horsham Town Centre. The energy saving features should make the buildings 90% more energy-efficient than standard homes and utility bills are expected to be around £100 a year. Twelve of the properties will be the first social housing in the south east built to 'Passivhaus' standard.

A Sculpture Trail has been launched in Leechpool and Owlbeech Woods, designed and made by artists and Year 9 students from Forest and Millais schools. The 13 willow sculptures include a giant dragonfly, squirrel, adder, horse and butterflies.

The West Sussex Environment and Climate Change Board has been officially launched, bringing together organisations to tackle green issues and make West Sussex as sustainable as possible.

Horsham District Council have launched their climate change strategy website: Acting Together which includes lots of advice for both households and businesses on reducing carbon emissions, details of their current activities and future plans and the opportunity to make your personal pledge of action.

West Sussex Car Share Scheme has been set up to facilitate car sharing to West Sussex workplaces. It's free to register either as a member of an affiliated company or as an individual. See website for full details.

A community charity centre, Horsham Matters, has been launched by Horsham Churches Together. The centre, based at the Tanfield Garage site in Guildford Road, is filled with furniture, electrical appliances, household items and white goods donated by members of the public. The majority of these items are given, or sold at a very discounted price, to people who were previously homeless so they can furnish their accommodation. There is also a showroom where anyone can purchase the best quality items at reasonable prices with funds from the sales going towards the charity's running costs.

To find out more, volunteer or to get help, either visit the centre in Guildford Road, telephone 01403 217381 or email horsham-matters@btconnect.com.

A new Sustainable Community Strategy All Our Futures has been produced by the Horsham District Community Partnership. This sets out the long term vision for the District up to 2026.

Local and Organic Food

West Sussex Organic Food Directory

WSCC Guide to Local Food and Produce

Farms, Farm shops and Farmers markets