Communities come together to celebrate Great Big Green Week

There was a fantastic range of community events organised, last week, to celebrate the Climate Coalition’s annual Great Big Green Week, a national event for climate and nature.

Local environmental group, Eco Communities, promoted the events ahead of the week on their dedicated Great Big Green Week Cheshire West website, showcasing the fantastic activities taking place across the borough to highlight the Climate Emergency.

Chester Zoo kicked off the week at their Wildlife Connections Festival, where families had great fun discovering the wildlife that can be found right on our doorsteps.

All things gardening was the focus over at Hope Community Garden in Blacon and Incredible Edible Handbridge on Saturday 18 September, with visitors able to see all the hard work that had gone on into both sites. Produce was available to try at Incredible Edible’s Handbridge garden and they made soup with a selection of the vegetables grown. In Blacon, an afternoon tea was served as part of the grand reopening of Hope Garden.

Throughout the week, Transition Chester organised several of their sustainability walking tours of Chester, which celebrated sustainable aspects of the city that many people may not be aware of.

The final weekend saw events taking place in each corner of the borough including the Northwich Great Big Green Day organised by Northwich BID and Transition Northwich, an Eco Fair at Frodsham Methodist Church and a clothes swap at the Grosvenor Museum in Chester.

In Neston, Friends of Parkfields came together to plant a wildflower meadow on the site near Parkgate, which will complement a pond and wetland area which had previously been created. It is hoped that, when established, this will attract a range of insects such as bees and butterflies that will benefit a community orchard that was planted adjacent to the field.

On Saturday 25 September, visitors to Grosvenor Park enjoyed the Great Big Green Week Festival, organised by local environmental group, Eco Communities, and supported by Cheshire West Voluntary Action, Vivo and Cheshire West and Chester Council. There were lots of stalls to explore, with information on climate initiatives including Eco Communities Carbon Footprint Friends project which helps people lower their carbon footprint and sustainable goods, and activities to take part in, such as yoga and a litter pick. The Lord Mayor of Chester was also in attendance and presented a prize to Passion for Learning for winning the best dressed stall competition.

Storyhouse in Chester supported the event by showing screenings of 2040, a film by Director Damon Gameau who embarks on a journey to explore what the future could look like by the year 2040 if we simply embraced the best solutions already available to us to improve our planet.

Eco Communities has also organised a Sustainable Cheshire Winter Fair at Rowton Hall, Chester on Saturday 13 November, 10am - 4pm. There will be a selection of stalls to help you plan a sustainable festive season and fun activities and workshops for all the family. To find out more visit: