COMMUNITY GROUPS NEWS AND EVENTS

Sharing your news about climate change groups and events in Hart

Hart has a thriving network of community groups working to encourage sustainable living and combat climate change.

We want to hear from you if you’re part of a group and have information to share, or if you’d like to network with other people in Hart concerned about the environment.

You can use the form in this section to tell us about your group or to share ideas and good practice. We’ll do our best to publish your information where others can see it and get inspired.

We’d love to learn about your group and what it’s up to. Here are some groups in Hart, and nearby, that we already know about.

Local environmental and climate change groups and events

Buses in Fleet

This group campaigns to protect and improve local bus services. It’s asking for feedback from Hart residents about their ideal bus journey, including whether they’d like to see more zero-emission (electric/hydrogen) buses on routes in our area.

Learn more about Buses in Fleet and give your feedback

Countryside events and activities

There are loads of fantastic outdoor spaces in Hart, where the Council runs a variety of walks and activities throughout the year. For example, bat walks and pumpkin carving at Halloween are always popular.

You can sign up to attend an event, or even apply for approval to run an event yourself at one of the Hart sites.

Learn more about countryside events and activities

Friends of the Earth (Blackwater Valley)

This local group is part of the national Friends of the Earth organisation. It was set up to promote sustainability in the UK and globally and to do what it says on the tin: be a friend of our planet.

The Blackwater group is dedicated to protecting the natural environment in our area, and improving it wherever possible.

Among its many projects is a campaign to stop the use of plastic grass, particularly in private gardens and developments. These fake lawns can poison the soil beneath them and trap heat, which is bad for animals and plants. The absence of real grass means that less carbon is being captured from the atmosphere.

Learn more about the group’s activities on its website.

Friends Of The Earth litter pick

As part of Big Green Week Friends Of The Earth are holding a litter pick on 8 June. Meet at 10am near the Frank Whittle roundabout on the grass next to the road leading to the airport entrance.

Strong boots and tough trousers are recommended, the road being cleared is not suitable for young children. The event should be finished by 12pm.

Hampshire and Isle of Wight Amphibian and Reptile Group

The group focuses on conservation of native UK species. It surveys reptiles at more than 200 sites and amphibians at about 60 sites. Together, members complete over 10,000 records a year. All are passed on to land managers to help them manage their sites in a sensitive manner.

It’s involved in habitat management tasks, such as scrub clearance, pond creation, controlling invasive pond plants and much more. Public engagement and education are also important activities.

Membership is £6 per year.

Your contact for Hart

Pete West can be contacted at amphibians@hiwarg.org.uk.

You can learn more about the group at:

Hampshire and Isle of Wight Amphibian and Reptile Group
Facebook − Hampshire and Isle of Wight Amphibian and Reptile Group
Instagram handle: @HIWARG
X (Twitter) handle: @HIWARG

Hampshire Kitchen Heroes

This is an interactive programme for people in Hampshire. It rewards you for taking steps to reduce your food waste.

You can collect Green Points by taking action to cut your food waste, such as:

shopping smart by making meals plans and lists
keeping your food fresh for longer by improving your storage
getting creative to make the most of your leftovers

The hero with the most green points at the end of the month can choose from a selection of prizes including a £20 Love2Shop or M&S voucher.

Learn more about Hampshire Kitchen Heroes

Next section: Use our webform to share your news, event and stories with Impact Hart

Fleet Repair Café

Take your broken items and see if volunteers can get them fixed. Occurs on the first Saturday of every month from 10am - 12.30 pm, at The Harlington. Please do not bring phones, petrol equipment, large domestic appliances, watches or clocks, medical equipment, microwaves or antiques.

North Hampshire Repair Café

This volunteer group holds monthly meetings around the district. People can bring along stuff that's broken – anything from lawn mowers to teddy bears – and the groups repairers will do their best to fix it.

Next scheduled event:

25 January at Rotherwick Village Hall, from 10am to 1pm

To confirm this date and to book your slot, please go to the North Hants Repair Café website.

Hart Voluntary Action

Thanks to Fleet BID and Terracycle, Hart Voluntary Action is again collecting waste items for recycling, which cannot be recycled in your kerbside waste. You can drop off the following items at the Fleet BID fronted shopping unit (next to the Card Factory):

Plastic tea and coffee packaging
Pringles tins - branded Pringles tins minus the lids
Laundry and air freshener packaging - includes outer packing from laundry washing capsules, rigid plastic packing for wipes, plastic air freshener containers, cartridge caps and car air fresheners (but not electric plug-ins), Lenor tumble dryer sheets, tinted fabric condition bottles and caps.

Hart's Community Garden

Fancy trying your hand at gardening with a friendly, supportive group? Check out Hart’s Community Garden at Edenbrook Country Park in Fleet. It’s a joint effort by Hart Voluntary Action, Hart District Council and Hart Allotment Association.

Learn more about Hart’s Community Garden

Hart District Council volunteering

The Council’s countryside rangers are always looking for people to help out as volunteers on parks across the district. Most of the sites are internationally or nationally recognised for their wildlife.

Several volunteering roles are available, including:

practical management
events and activities support
litter picker
bike track maintenance

Taking part in a taster day with the rangers could be the best way to start.

Learn more about volunteering with Hart District Council.

Hart Eco Action Team

This is a group for “Hart residents who share a common passion for saving our environment and improving biodiversity”. Set up in 2022, it aims to work on projects that make a positive impact on the environment in Hart.

The group is growing and has a Facebook page with over 200 members to date.

Keep Hart Clean

This anti-litter and pro-sustainability group encourages people to reduce waste, pick up litter and keep Hart beautiful. Active since 2018, it has more than 2,000 members on Facebook.

North Hampshire Sustainable Business Network

The Sustainable Business Network has a thriving group in North Hampshire. It provides regular webinars with expert information for small- to medium-sized businesses.

The group is run by local experts Carbon Footprint and provides regulatory updates, how-to information and local case studies relevant to each topic.

We've gathered some of the Network's videos in our Business section. You can view the videos here. They'll give you some fantastic insights into making your business more sustainable.

Yateley Sustainability Fair

This event in June 2023 was part of the nationwide Big Green Week. It was organised by Yateley Climate Action Network, the Yateley Society and the Creation Care Group of St Peter’s Church.