Sir David Attenborough helps to promote special Richard Jefferies Museum month

Swindon's Richard Jefferies Museum has announced a month of activities to celebrate the small changes we can all make towards a better future.

Launched with a message from Sir David Attenborough, the September programme will see dozens of activities and events being arranged by the museum.

The community-run museum is calling the month of events ‘Small Change’, focusing on ideas that will help people discover and share those little actions we can take to help make us all more sustainable. After receiving grants from South West Museum Development and South Swindon Parish Council, the volunteers at the museum decided to get things going by asking people to share their own ideas for a ‘small change’ we could all make. 

Their first response came from the country’s leading conservationist, Sir David Attenborough, who wrote to the museum saying: “A motto I often suggest as being useful in the battle against climate change is: Don’t Waste – Anything!”

Events include talks and workshops covering many different perspectives including, for example, Jen Gale, author of The Sustainable(ish) Living Guide, and Cotswolds conservationist Simon Smith, as well as Paul Marchant from Arval, talking about the future of car ownership, and Conservative South Swindon MP Sir Robert Buckland and Labour Parliamentary Candidate Heidi Alexander contributing talks on their own sustainable ideas. 

With the museum being the birthplace of Victorian writer Richard Jefferies, considered by some to be the world’s first nature conservationist, the month also has many activities connected to nature. These include expert gardening advice from Sara Venn, founder of Bristol’s Incredible Edible, Food foraging from Archaic Revival’s Ross Shepard, bug-hotels, Hügelkultur (a type of gardening ivolving growing on raised ridges), tool maintenance and a number of art-based workshops, all using recycled and natural materials.

Following different themes there will be fairs every Sunday throughout the month, celebrating different aspects of sustainable living, accompanied by a ‘Forum Tent’ where short talks and discussions about sustainability will take place. 

The days will also have live music, with Bob Bowles, Splat the Rat, Na-Mara, Monty’s Cat and Musicalitea all sharing their talents without the usual electric equipment, and there will be the museum’s usual cream teas, cakes etc, though this month with full vegan alternatives as well.

Inside the museum, tying in with Swindon Open Studios and Heritage Open Days, a double art exhibition will be on display by Cornish artist and environmentalist Kurt Jackson and local nature artist Jo Beal.

Three new displays will celebrate the themes of the month, and the museum’s normal activities will all be focusing on making small changes, such as reduced use of plastic, switching to LED lights, nature-based activities for children, alternative food and drink in the café, better travel choices for volunteers, and even greener options in the gardens.

The Small Change month will go out in sustainable style with a weekend of apple-crushing on 24 and 25 September. The museum has been holding this event for a number of years, with Colin Hatch and his heritage engineering gang turning thousands of apples into juice with their vintage crushing gear. This year, however, the old machinery is to be powered with the very latest technology by being connected to a Hyundai Ioniq car supplied by local firm Pebley Beach. The idea is to make the most of nature’s bounty, with a very modern sustainable message.

A full list of the fifty or so activities is available at www.small-change.org, and the museum is keen to involve as many people as possible. 

On the website there is a section where anyone can contribute a ‘small change’ idea of their own, and the museum would be keen to hear from any other individuals or organisations that would like to get involved in other ways too.