Here at Abbotswood Action Group we pride ourselves in doing our bit for the environment... And we hope that you can help us!

September is very nearly upon us... We know, where has the year gone, right? Well September for us means one thing... SUSTAINABILITY! Throughout September we support and promote sustainable living in a number of ways, including lots of different events and activities. Take a look, we'll help fill your diary! New for this year is the sustainability blog... one post for every day in September. Would you like to hazard a guess about what may be in it? I'll give you a second...

You guessed it!! SUSTAINABILITY!

Every day we'll post a trick or two that you can put to good use.

You might be asking, why bother? What difference will me switching a few extra light switches off make? Have you ever heard the story of the man and the starfish? Story time, folks! Are you sitting comfortably?

​People hear the word sustainability and think it's all about saving the planet. True. But think a little closer to home too. Here's just some of the things you could be doing by following our simple Sustainable September tips:

• Save some of your hard earned cash.
• Help the animals that are visiting your garden.
• Give your social life a boost with some new things to do.
• Get creative with the kids.
• Sample some new exciting recipes.
• Become a little fitter.
• Take on a new challenge.

Join us this September and make a little difference... To you as an individual... To your community... Or even making a difference to our planet. Remember, we're with you!

For those of you who don't know, we were joined last week by a fantastic group of volunteers from Mercer Financial Planning, so we just wanted to take a moment to say thanks on behalf of Abbotswood. 

We were initially approached a few months ago by the lovely Helen, asking if there was any possibility of having a volunteer work day in the area. The poor woman had been asking around several groups before us who were all more than willing to help, on the condition that Mercer pay for the privilege. We don't know about you, but charging people for volunteering was news to us! Anyway, being the heroic obliging group that we are, we happily welcomed them on board. 

What started as a few emails between Helen and Alex, very quickly developed into a cuppa while taking a stroll around Abbotswood with Ruth. This gave us a few ideas of some areas that could use a little TLC. We asked around the local community groups to see if there were any jobs that could be added to the day's itinerary, and all of a sudden Mercer were the exciting new toy in town! People came out of the woodwork with suggestions from the Abbotswood Action Group committee, St. Nicholas Family Centre, Dodington Parish Council and Mercer themselves. Even Barnwood Buddies threw a surprise task in at the last minute...

We think the children from Barnwood particularly enjoyed supervising that last one... Mercer must have saved at least 20 lost toys that day. Who knew ceiling turtles were a thing? The various teams outside did a fantastic job with the other tasks. It's been a long time since we've seen the staircases looking so pristine! We also owe a thank you to Kemp's Garden Centre, who kindly donated some plants to give Abbotswood a fresh look, when they were approached by Mercer. It looks brilliant out there, beautifully bright and vibrant!

​We were kindly joined by Dodington Parish Council in the afternoon, to help guide the volunteers around the area for a good litter picking session. OK, so there may have been a few grumbles to start with when the litter picking equipment (borrowed from South Glos. Council) made an appearance... But, in the end, we lost a large group of the volunteers. It seems that a gentle stroll with friends, having a gossip, while doing something good for the community is actually quite a nice way to spend an afternoon. We suspect they may have deviated from the map and just kept walking, so if parts of Yate are suddenly much tidier than they were a few days ago, thank Mercer! Eventually they reappeared after one of the rubbish bags starting smelling particularly, umm, ripe...

We hope you enjoyed the well earned trip to the pub, and that you weren't too stiff and sore the next day. If all goes to plan, see you again next year... We're already in cahoots, aren't we Helen?

Thank you to everyone who made the day a success, you have all been fabulous!

Photographs supplied by Mercer Financial Planning.