November 2025 News
Carol held three Christmas decoration willow weaving workshops this month – always a popular activity each year at WEN. Those attending made lovely wreath and heart decorations by shaping the willow and then adding some festive greenery. This technique is a beautiful way to bring a bit of the outdoors into your home for the festive season.
Carol was also guest speaker at the November meeting of The Sunlight Gardening Club, where she demonstrated how to use willow to make plant supports and a Christmas wreath.
You can see more photos from the workshops on 11th, 14th and 28th November on our Facebook page.
Wreath and heart-shaped Christmas decorations made from willow
Showing off the results of the willow weaving workshop
We held our AGM on 12th November and were most appreciative to all those who ventured out on a rainy night. We weren’t expecting such a good turnout! We showed our appreciation to the WEN Trustees for dedicating so much time to support and guide WEN’s work this year and thanked the three Trustees who are standing down.
- Anne (WEN Trustee) spoke about COP30 and the actions we can all take to reduce our collective impact on the planet.
- Dave regaled us with the litter picking adventures of The New Brighteners.
- Louise and Ray of Wirral Fox Rescue gave an insight into the rescue, rehabilitation and release of foxes back into the wild, and the fundraising and educational aspects of the charity.
- Joy from Liverpool Friends of The Earth told us about concerns about HyNet, the proposed Mersey barrage, and developments on the Liverpool waterfront, as well as publicising FOE’s ‘Just One Thing’ discussion groups.
- Barbara provided an update on this year’s successes and activities at Wirral Repair Cafe.
- Naomi introduced WEN’s Eco Tools Library, which will include items such as water testing kits, wildlife cameras, litter pickers, air pollution monitors, bat detectors – all available to borrow.
Shelagh rounded off the evening with her poem about Falkland Road Organic Gardeners (FROGs), before we tucked into Carol’s delicious soup and enjoyed some parkin and mince pies.
Our report into WEN activities during 2024/25 is now online.
Read about workshops, classes, Crafters, community gardening, networking events, and all of our projects.
We’ve also put together a video, showing photos of a few of the things that Wirral Environmental Network, volunteers, members, partners and community groups got up to in 2024/25.
Put your feet up for 5 minutes and give it a watch!
On 14th November, Naomi attended the first meeting of Seacombe Community Connections at Diversity Hub 67. Seacombe has been awarded £20 million through the Government’s ‘Plan for Neighbourhoods’ scheme, to be spent over 10 years on projects to improve the area.
People who live and work in Seacombe are being asked to decide how the money will be invested and so the meeting was a chance to talk with lots of other community organisations about how we can share information and support local needs. We will be working together to help give a stronger voice to local people in shaping the future of Seacombe.
If you would like to have your say on how the funding is used, please fill in this survey.
WEN has already been approached by residents wanting help to clean up and green up streets, run an eco small business hub, link up with all the fabulous local businesses that are taking environmentally positive action, help create some local eco high street shop options (fresh food, repair cafes, reuse shops) and offer opportunities for young people.
The first Seacombe Community Connections meeting. Photo: Diversity Hub 67
The first of our furniture workshops took place on 15th November. Twenty people learnt how to fix a wobbly chair, sort out scratches, dents and stains, and upcycle a table.
Everyone left inspired to tackle their own furniture restoration projects and we were really pleased to receive such positive feedback. Here’s a selection of comments:
“Brilliant demonstration, clear and fab. Carol’s session was great, loads of tips, very engaging and practical experience to show quick but effective fix/changes of items.”
“Lovely staff and session. Thank you.”
“Very useful demonstration.”
“Very interesting.”
“Great ideas for creating and reducing waste.”
“I loved the table renovation. It was great to see.”
The dates and times of the next 3 workshops will be:
Saturday 7th March, 10am – 12.30pm
We’ll have more details soon on what will be taught in each session and let you know when they are open for booking.
Carol showing some furniture upcycling techniques
John teaching how to fix a wobbly chair
We hosted a Cool Communities meeting at WEN on 20th November. Cool Communities is part of the Cool Wirral partnership and brings together climate-engaged organisations in Wirral. The location of the meetings changes each month so it was good to welcome people back to WEN and hear from representatives from groups including Grow-Wellbeing, Faiths4Change, Cool Heswall, Wirral Multicultural Organisation and Forest Wellbeing CIC. During the meeting, we were able to get updates on projects and funding opportunities and set priorities for Cool Communities.
Thank you so much to everyone who came to our pre-Christmas Fair on 22nd November! It was lovely to see so many people enjoying the event – and the rain didn’t dampen anyone’s festive spirits. The money raised will help support WEN’s activities – every sale and donation is much appreciated.
Massive thanks too to the WEN team who made it all happen – the organisers, cake bakers, food and drink makers and servers, crafters, woodworkers, growers, and washers and tidiers.
Finally, thank you to all of our fabulous stallholders for sharing your skills, knowledge and produce. The range of groups, makers and businesses was wonderful, as you can see from the photos on our Facebook page.
Jill’s homemade cakes
Plants for sale at the Christmas Fair, alongside wooden items made by the WEN Reclaimers.
On 25th November, Naomi was interviewed as a contribution to research by the European Centre for Environment and Human Health at the University of Exeter. Their five-year research project aims to improve public health via urban green and blue spaces and improve decision making around these issues.
The results will assist researchers at the University of Exeter in understanding the role of urban green and blue space in cities and local authorities across the UK, and to identify the barriers and challenges to improving these spaces. The research forms part of the UKPRP funded Groundswell project which aims to maximise the contribution of green and blue space to the prevention of non-communicable diseases (NCD) in urban settings.
You can read more about Groundswell here
Naomi was busy on 26th November too, attending the Community Of Practice meeting held by Wirral Council for Voluntary Services. The COP meetings are designed for colleagues across Wirral’s Voluntary, Community, Faith and Social Enterprise sector to come together, share their missions and strengthen the partnerships that help our communities thrive. This meeting was the final one of the year and so it was a chance to shape our shared priorities for 2026.
Our Crafters group’s recent hard work paid off with lots of their handmade items for sale at our pre-Christmas Fair. Do check out Linda’s report on the Crafters on page 3 of our annual review for an insight into their busy year.
Some of the knitted items made by the WEN Crafters ready for the Christmas Fair
Part of the Crafters’ festive display
The Falkland Road Organic Gardeners have broad beans, leeks and garlic growing in the raised beds – all veg that can cope with the cold weather. The FROG members are delighted to have been awarded a grant for improvements to the wood and structure of the beds and plan to have a tidy up before they take a break for Christmas.
