Sam Woolhead, Project Office at Transition, St Andrews

The guest speaker was Sam Woolhead, one of the Project Officers for Transition St Andrews.
The Transition initiative at the University was launched in 2009 by a group of students and has since gained momentum, with both academic and non-academic staff being involved, as well as local residents.
They work within the University and local community running carbon reduction projects in response to the threats of climate change. Through practical activities and events suggested by people within the community, they help individuals and groups minimise their impact on the planet, helping them become more self-sustaining and helping strengthen community ties.
Members heard of the themes which are spearheaded by the members of the Transition team which include local food, smarter travel, climate literacy, green spaces and wildlife, and sharing, reuse and repair.
Some of the many projects that fall into these areas of their work have been the development of 14 community gardens and orchards, a bike pool helping lead to more sustainable travel, developing a travel network safe enough for 12 year olds to travel independently, creating and developing a Crail to St Andrews shared path, developing social walks for town and gown, establishing a green corridor in town for people and wildlife, especially pollinators, making the University Campus hedgehog friendly and encouraging a sharing culture rather than a wasteful one amongst the student population.
Some members admitted that they had heard of Transition St Andrews but were not at all aware of all that was happening on our own doorsteps and Sam’s talk generated many questions and comments.
In giving the vote of thanks, Grace Morris said that in this time when we are all being made aware of Climate Change, Sam had given members a lot of food for thought and that he and the team members, through their projects, were certainly making a difference which we should all aspire to.