THE Transition Town Wellington group has won the financial backing of local councillors to reprint 3,000 booklets.

TTW – as it is known – was set-up as an environmental community group in 2008 with the aim of taking steps to combat ecological and climate emergencies and help build a healthy, thriving biodiverse and sustainable future.

The group produced two publications – Gardening for Wildlife in 2021 and Foraging Guide & Recipe Booklet in 2022 – and although they are both available online it has decided it would like to go-ahead and have a reprint of 1,500 copies of each booklet.

Members of Wellington Town Council’s policy and finance committee agreed on October 12 agreed to support the group after submitting a grant application to the tune of £2,752 to cover the printing costs.

Cllr Mike McGuffie said: “This grant would be a big help to them.”

Cllr Andy Govier said: “Transition Town is an organisation that does a lot of work and helps to support the town council.

“I would be minded to support the application, but I was wondering whether we should be thinking about lowering the grant amount?”

Cllr Mark Lithgow said that the grant money would help the town to “achieve its goal.”

And Cllr Janet Lloyd said: “Transition Town has been recognised nationally about the work they do and I think these booklets would be very useful.”

Not all of the committee members were quite so supportive of the application.

Cllr John Thorne was not so keen on supporting the application and queried whether the group could not get a cheaper deal for printing and wondered if 1,500 copies of each leaflet was too many.

“I’m also a little bit concerned that they are asking the town council to cover all 100 per cent of the costs of the project,” he added.

And Cllr Gareth Williams said: “This would be something nice to have, rather than something that is vital. I think we should look at giving them a lower grant.”

Cllr Thorne suggested that the policy and finance committee should only award TTW with 50 per cent of its requested grant, but councillors voted in favour of supporting the whole amount.

Founded in 2008, TTW is part of the international Transition movement, which began in Totnes, Devon, in 2006. The organisation became a registered charity in 2026. It is run entirely by volunteers and relies on grants and donations.

It runs a surprisingly wide range of practical community projects, including:

Fox’s Field: Developing a community forest garden at Tonedale, with fruit trees, wildlife habitats and opportunities for residents to grow and forage food;

Community food growing: Maintaining sites around Wellington where residents can grow or pick fruit, nuts and herbs;

Wildlife conservation: Planting trees, creating wildflower meadows and protecting biodiversity;

Apple pressing: Collecting surplus local apples and turning them into juice, which is sold locally;

Repair Café: Encouraging residents to repair household items rather than throw them away;

Water monitoring: Checking local rivers and ponds for pollution.

Green energy: Supporting renewable energy projects, including solar panels at Wellington Rugby Club.