From The Ground Up Festival of Sustainability at St Philip and St James Church on Saturday, 12 February at 10:00.

A one day Sustainable Festival, held at St Phillip’s & St James’ Church to inform and encourage Cheltenham residents to explore and engage more about how they can make a difference in their home, business/work, life and community.

Everything comes from the soil and, it is from the ground up, that we will make the essential changes to ensure a more sustainable future:

Businesses: A Sustainable Festival showcasing local/regional companies who are either offering sustainable and green products/services for the public benefit and purchase or through their practices making changes to become a more sustainable organisation. It will be an opportunity for companies to demonstrate how viable it is to make our homes, places of work, lives and communities more sustainable and thereby reduce our impact on resources at all levels.

Charities/Not for Profit: We all know how vulnerable our Earth is and, how essential it is to engage with people at all ages, to do their bit: from wildlife in the garden, buying seasonally, locally (and ideally organically), actively connecting with, and protecting, the natural world around us, the future through children’s education and career choices, and engaging with the local council’s plans around the changes that are being implemented now and in the longer-term.

Art Competition: Local primary schools in Cheltenham are invited to enter an art competition themed on “It’s a Bug’s Life”. Selected paintings will be exhibited on the day.

Speakers: True to Cheltenham’s reputation as a “festival town”, we will invite speakers. During the day, we there will be talks, workshops and interactive events. The festival will culminate in a selected panel discussion in the evening, with audience participation through a question/answer feature.