Date: Monday 5th May (bank holiday Monday) —
The Winterbourne Down Carnival on the May bank holiday was our first outing with the Energy Help Desk after receiving training from Bristol Energy Network. It was great to have our stall alongside Retrofit West and hosted by one of our founding members Winterbourne Environmental Group (WEG). They’d booked a spot in prime position in the middle of the high street, so we had front row seats to see the parade of classic cars burp up the high street with the chauffeurs in hats and the passengers in the open tops getting blown in the wind.
We talked to a lot of people who were proud to have installed solar panels, or carried out various aspects of retrofit: loft insulation, cavity walls, double glazing… and to a few who had trouble with damp and mould. Sharing a stall with Retrofit West was great, as we could direct people to sign up there and then for a free home visit from Matt for any trouble shooting. And on the other side WEG attracted kids and adults with the fun roulette wheel – with joy if they landed on ‘pick a second hand toy’ or ‘pick a sweet’, and disappointment if it was ‘sign up to our mailing list’ or ‘take home a copy of our survey’. The nature facts were somewhere in the middle, and inspired us to create some energy facts for next time, at the Bradley Stoke Fair.
Emilia went home with a few plants for the garden from the Horticultural Society stall, and we both very much appreciated the free teas from the Methodist church.
